Real Estate: Strategy and Marketing Concepts

When it comes to referrals, few companies trust them more than the Real Estate Industry. When it comes time to choose who to help us buy or sell a house, very few people actually look in the phone book. We all know it’s old fashioned anyway. People ask around. Who did you use? Who would you use? So not only is it vitally important that you do your homework on proper home marketing, or quickly find suitable properties for buyers, but taking that extra step AFTER the purchase or sale is what keeps your name. etched in the minds of customers. When you do something totally unexpected, once the transaction completes, it will stay in memory much longer than the other aspects of the transaction. And that’s where greeting card marketing fits in nicely.

1. First of all, greeting card marketing is not necessarily the best use of mass mailing. If you’re planning to announce a recent large-scale open house or sale, it’s not always profitable. Sometimes it’s best to buy cheap wholesale postcards at 0.15 cents each per 100 or 0.10 cents each per 1,000, and so on, as long as those cards are generic and not intended for a personalized touch. But if you have some specific leads you’re working with and would like to personalize a greeting card, then mass printing definitely won’t work. You need a system that allows total and complete customization of the card. For example, maybe put a picture of the house you just sold on the front of the card, and then on the inside put a picture of the potential customers house with the words sold very well, with a note that say “This could be you,” or “Wouldn’t that be great?”, or “We did it for XXX, let us do it for you.” What you want.

2. The idea that I really like is to send business thank you cards that contain a number of elements. First, a Home Depot gift card to ‘help with those initial upgrades’ or a Starbucks card for ‘those redecorating nights.’ Also included inside is a calendar and a list of phone numbers they may need if they’re new to the area: a trusted plumber, electrician, handyman, non-emergency police number and the like, including a small percentage of discount if they mention you, as a real estate agent. The choice of numbers is entirely up to you, but I think it would be a stellar idea to develop a referral program with those people. So when the customer calls and mentions you for the discount, the contractor returns a referral fee. Otherwise, it’s business they may not have received. And you can do all of that with Send Cards.

3. I really think the gift card option gets a lot of attention since the customer just let you earn a nice commission, and $25 thank you is really meaningless in terms of the business generated. But what I really advise is to send a card with a ‘referral reward’. In other words, after the purchase or sale, a client refers you to another client who comes under contract for either the purchase or sale of a home, the original client will earn $25 or $50 (I really don’t think it has to be higher than that, as most people would be very happy with an easy $50 just for telling someone else about YOU) once the sale or purchase is complete. Easy money for them, more business for you.

4. When it comes to card design, the options are only limited by your own creativity. Imagine the visual impact when a customer opens a thank you card and sees, across the card, a photo of them holding the sold sign in front of their new home, with a note that says “thank you” and the gift card inside. Your company logo is placed where you want it, both front and back, AND your image as a real estate agent will create a lasting impression on that client, in addition to the wonderful job you did for them in selling or buying their new home.