RELATE - from DMS Connect

2019 - Number 2

Connecting With Clients and Prospects

What's Inside: Personal Connections Meet your sphere of influence face to face. Build Your Client List Who should you connect with Host an Epic Event Guest writer Sue Styles Just Listed & Sold Cards

CONNECT. PROSPECT. ENGAGE.

@DMSConnectCanada

Check out the insert for tips on hosting an EPIC Client Event from Guest Writer Sue Styles!

Personal Connections We often talk about using a mix of marketing tools to connect with your sphere of influence. We’ve covered digital and tactile marketing and how they work alone and together. Now it’s time to focus on personal connections. Meeting with your sphere face to face, over the phone or via video is an integral component of your relationship building. It’s the best way to engage and will leave a lasting impression. Ideally you should be connecting personally with each person in your sphere of influence at least twice a year. That’s through phone calls, coffee meetings, invites to events, etc. However, it may not be physically possible to connect with everyone in your sphere more than once, so thankfully there are a couple of avenues you can take and still make the most of the personal connection experience.

The first is the client event. Just inviting your sphere to an exclusive, client-only event will increase their perception of you, but when they attend and you give them a few moments of your time, you can trust that relationship you’re building ends up even stronger. People love free stuff (I know you do) and free food is at the top of that list. An event will cost a bit at once, but if you look at it in cost/connection, it’s not that bad. It will also involve a bit of planning on your part. Here are a few ideas: host a picnic, a BBQ, a paint night at a local pub, a wine and cheese reception, rent out a movie theatre to show a family film complete with popcorn and drinks…. You get the idea. Anywhere your clients can congregate, see and talk to you and get something valuable out of the experience will be a successful connection.

The next is the text message. I know you’re thinking it’s a cop out, but hear me out. When you receive a text message from someone – you know it’s actually them reaching out. (Unless it’s a group text, and please let’s agree to stop those right now.) So if you take a few minutes each day to individually text a few people from your sphere and re-connect with them, it can lead to a text conversation which will build the relationship and keep you in the forefront of their mind. And that’s the goal of personal connections. Text a quick anecdote or memory or a bit of humour... Remember when we looked at that house with the green shag carpet and thought it was the worst? Well, I just saw something even better – robin egg blue shag carpet! Right? I hope you’re enjoying your new place! If you have any friends that love shag carpet as much as you do – send them my way… I have just the place for them. The personal, casual tone will be just as personal as a phone call and many folks enjoy texts vs. calls in today’s busy world.

A final piece of advice – if you’re nervous on connecting personally, don’t be. People you have a relationship with feel valued when you take the time to reach out personally.

BUILD YOUR CLIENT LIST If you don’t have a list together of the people you need to nurture relationships with, it’s time to build one! First things first - How many people should you have on your list? Simply by working with averages, you can start with this formula: For example: If you’d like to gain 15 deals per year from your Sphere of Influence (SOI) and the average person moves every 8 years, you should aim to have 120 people on your list that you’re successfully building a relationship with. These 15 deals can come from repeat business or their referral business. Now that you know how many people you need to nurture relationships with, here’s where to find them, in order of importance. 01. ADVOCATES Advocates are the people who want to see you succeed. These include current and past clients, and your family and friends. Family and Friends want to see you succeed but they still need the reminder that you’re in the business and are looking to grow your business. Deals Wanted x Average Move Cycle = # Contacts on List

NEIGHBOURHOOD MARKETING BOOST We’ve been hearing from agents that farming a neighbourhood or community takes a lot of time and resources and the results aren’t instant. This is true. Because you’re starting to build a relationship with complete strangers, it’s going to take a while for them to recognize, trust and become interested in you and your abilities as a real estate agent. Plus, they have to be in the market for a move. You’re looking to target those people that are in the market and don’t have an agent yet. There are a few ways you can figure out who they are and engage them more so they get in touch quicker. Ultimately you want them to reach out to you and ask about your services or the market in their community. Think about a layered approach with a bus bench, door knocking, a mailed piece, a website and an e-newsletter. • The bus bench raises awareness of you. It’s going to tie in all parts of your marketing because the visual element will be recognizable. Door knocking will humanize you and quickly start building a relationship. A mailed piece will provide value, show how you’re a resource for real estate information and again increase your awareness within the community. A website or social media page (with community-specific information and statistics) will provide more value, create an interest in you as a neighbourhood expert and show that you’re active and invested in the neighbourhood. The e-newsletter is a way to gain contact information for those who have taken an interest in you and what you’re offering. Stay top of mind with them while further strengthening your relationship. Remember to have a call to action on all of your elements and direct prospects from one element to another to build your success: For example, the mailed piece mentions the website, the website links to the e-newsletter, the e-newsletter asks if they’ve found your bus bench, the bench asks them to call you… Ask about our Business Builder and how it can help with your Neighbourhood Marketing. • • • •

02. QUALIFIED LEADS

Qualified Leads are people that have expressed a desire to work with you: referrals, leads you’ve met with, open house contacts, etc. They know who you are and what you have to offer so they’re now talking to you about real estate. They are in some stage of the real estate process right now – they may be ready to buy or sell or they may be gathering information - it’s important to keep in touch with them regularly so they choose you as their agent when they move forward.

03. ASSOCIATES

04. SERVICE PROVIDERS Service Providers are people you associate with in the course of day to day life that would fit in an acquaintance category – sales people, contractors, etc. Sending an item of value to these people at their place of work provides an opportunity to build awareness of your business – not only with them, but it can also become a source of referrals if they leave the value item out for other people to see. Associates include the most likely people to refer you to their network. They’re important to keep in your sphere as they want you to succeed as it helps their network. Though they may likely not be in a place to need a REALTOR ® right now, they know people who are. If you send them value, they’ll reciprocate by forwarding your name along to contacts of theirs. When you go through your contacts in these groups you should be able to create a good list to start. If you haven’t reached out to anyone in a while, get on the phone and start reconnecting. Make sure everyone that needs to be on your list is there. Download this handy sphere-building guide from our resources at: https://dmsconnect.cld.bz/DMS-Connect-Educational-Resources

Tell the neighbours about your new listing or the property you just sold in three easy steps : 1. Pick a template (or work with our designer to create one of your own) 2. Send us the property information 3. Tell us where you want it delivered and we’ll work with Canada Post to get it there as soon as possible! Pricing varies depending on the number of homes in the mail walk – give us a call for specifics! Follow us on Facebook @DMSConnectCanada What’s in it for you? #MarketingMondays Every Monday we post a tip that will help you grow your business with your marketing. #AdventuresOfLauraAndAmber See where Laura and Amber are travelling to and ask them to come present at your office. Reviews/Testimonials On the fence about relationship marketing and wondering if DMS is the right fit for you? Check out what our clients have to say. Product updates, announcements and questions We’ll share changes we're making and you can ask us about things you’d like to see. Fun Friday Facts We post random things that you might want to share on your social media. JUST LISTED & SOLD CARDS!

1234 Walkview Crescent Edmonton, AB

JUST LISTED $400,000

CallTAMMY JAMES for more info at:780.489.2969

NEW TEMPLATE!

Call us for more info at: 1.800.309.1747 | 780.489.2969

phone: 780.489.2969 toll free: 1.800.309.1747 consult@dmsmarketing.ca www.dmsmarketing.ca

This publication was written and produced by DMS Marketing Inc. for information purposes only. Though we seek to provide information based on factual and reliable sources, DMS makes no warranty or guarantee of the accuracy of the information offered. Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved. Printed on recyclable material.

The New Database – How To Tip Sheet

We’ve recently updated our database. If you use our Mini-Mag to keep in touch with your clients, it means an easier, more streamlined interface to maintain your client list. If you don’t use us to keep in touch with your clients, this page isn’t really for you… sorry. New Database: In order to access the new database, you have to be invited. If you try to log-in and it doesn’t work as before, you need an invitation - just email consult@dmsmarketing.ca to have one sent to you. Once you’ve activated your account, you’ll be able to log-in and maintain your client list. We have a few video tutorials as well as a User Guide available at: https://dmsconnect.cld.bz/Database-User-Guide-Video-Tutorials.

Tutorials Include How to: • Activate your Account • Open your Client List • Delete a Client

• Add a Client • Edit a Client • Export your List and Find the Record Count

You can access the new database from any browser, your mobile phone and on any platform, 24/7.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-309-1747 or 780-489-2969. You can also email consult@dmsmarketing.ca.

WELCOME!

An Epic Client Event! If you have ever thought of hosting a client event, take some tips from owner of Belmor Mortgage, Stella Tsang! Last month my husband and I enjoyed an annual event hosted by our mortgage broker and her family. Over the years her reputable dinners have become very popular and if you are an agent or client you wait in expectation for the invite, hoping you make the list! Every business owner can take away some tips from Stella; put these kinds of practices into place and your clients will remain loyal and be happy to give you their referrals. 1. To open the event she allows time for her family – husband Fred, daughters and her parents too! When she starts with family she is showing everyone her most important ‘VALUE’ and most of us value family as number one. 2. She gives credit to her partners – in lending and in business development – they are acknowledged and thanked. 3. During the dinner, like a blushing bride at her wedding, Stella slowly walks through the room, stopping at each table and sharing conversations with her guests. 4. Before the night is over you are reminded and convinced! Stella is not shy about helping you and your clients. She announces to her guests how she goes to bat for your clients, how she doesn’t stop when there is a roadblock in front of the conditions. She asks for your business and you can feel her passion in the ask. 5. 10 courses of food for Chinese New Year – now that’s epic! Ask yourself what kind of event is congruent with your brand? Next time you are planning a client event, take these pointers to heart and you will reap the same rewards as Stella Tsang of Belmor Mortgage. If you need me, I am here to help! Sue

Experienced real estate coach, Sue Styles, can help you reach high levels of success by performing strategic assessments and helping implement improvements! She also hosts a wonderful blog full of business building information. One such blog post furthers the information provided in the article inside this newsletter titled, "Personal Connections" so we thought we would share it. Contact Sue at 403-805-7710 or sue@maximizedresults.com for more info!