Communicating with clients (part 1)

This is the first of a three part series on communication with clients and prospects. Today we will focus on frequency and type of communication. In the coming week we’ll take a look at messaging and focus (part 2) and then finish up with moving people through a sales funnel (part 3). Hopefully at the end of this series you will be able to evaluate your communication plan and make it better.

Frequency and types of communication:

Messaging is the most important aspect of communicating with clients and prospects, unless you either aren’t reaching them with your message or you aren’t reaching them at the right times. There are a lot of ways to communicate these days and you can do all of them for free. So why not decide the best frequency and ways to communicate? I would break down a good communication plan in to three types of communication:

1) Personal email: This should be saved for people who you know the most about. The idea being that you can send highly personalized and relevant messaging to people who want/need to receive it. This type of communication is also the most time consuming which doesn’t make it very scalable. You should save this for your most valued clients who will give you the best return on your time investment.

2) Newsletters: These are one of the oldest means for communicating with prospects that we will discuss currently in use by the real estate community. They are great for reaching a large audience with a much smaller per prospect time investment. But, you need to be careful to test your messaging and formatting options when you send. Check to see how many people read your letter each time you send it out. If you aren’t getting a great response rate, then mix it up and see if it gets better. The most important thing to know about your typical real estate newsletter is that its not as effective at getting people to act than you have been told. You will need to couple other means with it.

3) Blogging: Blogs are a relatively new medium for real estate. But they are a great way to get timely information updates to your prospects and clients. Unlike newsletters, you can (and should), update these regularly. In most cases the updates would be several per week as opposed to once a month.

In my mind, newsletters are a thing of the past. The only redeeming quality that I see from them is that you can get the attention of a larger amount of people by “forcing” your message into their inbox. But, if you could couple blogging with a newsletter I think you will get better results with less effort. For instance, you could update your blog several times a week, then once a month take your favorite posts and send them to your database as features. This accomplishes two things: 1) You get your monthly communication which keeps your name in front of people who might do business with you and 2) More importantly, you promote your blog while not having to create more new content for a newsletter.

If you can successfully create a good communication plan you should be able to move more prospects to serious clients and then really get a reward for your hard work. In the next part of this series we will talk about messaging and focus. We will be looking at ways to create exciting, rewarding content for your readers that will lead to repeat readers and business.

Adapt and convert your leads

The Baylor School of Business recently did a study on how realtors approach leads.

A national study was conducted to explore the approaches that real estate agents use to influence their clients in face-to-face meetings. Findings revealed the following insights:

1. Agents use a variety of selling approaches. However, the study revealed two approaches that have widespread effectiveness for positively influencing clients:

a. Inspiring clients through appealing to their emotions and values and,

b. Providing clear recommendations that show potential benefits for clients.

2. Beyond these approaches, results demonstrate how important it can be for agents to adapt their selling efforts to an individual client’s communication style. Specifically, results illustrate how approaches such as: (a) presenting information, (b) rapport building, (c) promising incentives, and (d) offering tactful warnings can prove to be effective, inconsequential, or detrimental depending on a client’s communication style.

3. Being “customer-oriented” contributes significantly to client influence across all situations. This means demonstrating a high-concern for satisfying clients, creating value for them, and taking time to uncover their specific desires, both big and small.

4. Overall, findings suggest that salespeople who rely on standardized scripts and influence approaches should consider altering their presentations and selling styles to increase their levels of adaptation. Results indicate that doing so will enhance the influence agents have with clients, which in turn, helps them convert more listing appointments and attain higher personal performance (measured by gross commission income).

Read more to determine what strategies you use, how effective they are, and how you can adapt to perform at a higher level….Read more of the study…