Monday Morning Match is a simple post – maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea – intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.
What Realtors Can Learn from Farmers
Realtors are a lot like farmers. Everything they do is designed to reap a plentiful harvest. Each day they wake up, Realtors and farmers need to plant seeds and tend to their field. Each role requires consistency, patience, and faith. A farmer has to believe that the seeds they plant today will bring them a plentiful crop during the harvest just like a Realtor needs to believe that the relationships they build today will earn them an opportunity to turn a customer into a client and eventually a contract and a closing.
I’ve told the story many times but when I left my previous role at the Director of Agent Development with my company in Central Ohio and Greater Cincinnati, I needed to listen to the advice I had been sharing with my students for years. I needed to be like a farmer and make sure I was putting seeds in the ground every day that might turn into a fruitful harvest next week, next month, or next year. Getting back to actively working with Buyers and Sellers as well as developing more opportunities to speak to real estate audiences, it was critical that I could develop some consistency in my business development efforts each day. That first day back on August 2nd, 2016 is when I developed a simple-to-follow strategy to make sure I was putting seeds in the ground each day.
The 4H Club
Handwritten Notes – I start each day’s business development efforts by writing 5 handwritten notes. If there is anyone that I need to thank for something that might have happened the day before, I start with “thank you” notes because those are usually quite simple to write. If not, I just open up my contact list and sent 5 people a note. Sometimes it’s on branded stationery and other times I use one of the generic note cards I purchase at the local dollar store.
Anyone who has ever received a handwritten note can attest to their emotional impact. Think of those days you walk to the mailbox and see a simple handwritten note in the pile. You always open that one first, don’t you? You might even read it twice and then leave it on the counter for your spouse or partner to see. Perhaps you even save it in a junk drawer or other place where you keep sentimental things that just happen to hit you at the right moment. Of all the things I have done to build relationships, solve problems and have fun over the years, it’s often the handwritten notes that people have remembered and shared with me how much they appreciated it.
Hot Sheet – Just like a doctor doing her rounds at the beginning of a shift to check on her patients, I think it’s vitally important for a Realtor to have their finger on the pulse of their local market. The daily “hot sheet” in your MLS provides you with data such as new listings, price changes, new sales, and closed properties. As I review these updates each day (sent to me early each day via email), I educate myself on the status of the current market and also think to myself as I look at each property,
“Do I know anyone that lives within 2-3 blocks of this property?”
If the answer is “yes,” I will forward that information to them via email, or I might text them, or I could call them. It doesn’t have to be my listing or even something from my company. I’m simply seeking to keep them updated on their hyper-local market and provide an opportunity to remind them that when they think of real estate in their neighborhood, suburb, or larger city, I hope they’ll think of me.
Happy Birthdays – After the real estate updates have been delivered, I open up Facebook and check to see who might be celebrating a birthday. Facebook will provide you with this information daily, conveniently located in the top right corner of your main home page. People think it’s so common-place to send a simple “Happy Birthday” message to their friends but such a small percentage of connections even make that simple gesture happen. I’ll bet on your last birthday, you received “Happy Birthday” messages from less than 25% of your Facebook friends.
Make the easy gesture to drop a message on their Facebook wall to wish them well. I suggest writing something more than just “Happy Birthday” because that won’t really stand out from the rest. If you really want to earn “top of mind” awareness, send them a video text message. I save this added touch for truly close friends of mine and it makes a huge impact on people. I often hear from people that my video message was their one and only video of the day.
High Fives – This last series of “seeds in the ground” is such a great way to make some quick, simple “touches” without being super salesy. I call it my “high fives” because there are 5 different methods of dropping into people’s thoughts.
The “High Fives” are 5 “likes” on Facebook, 5 comments on Facebook, 5 retweets or comments on Twitter, 5 comments on Instagram, and 5 text messages.
Having just finished up my Happy Birthday greetings on Facebook, I simply look over at my news feed and scroll down until I find five posts I can “like” and 5 posts that might elicit a comment. I then toggle over to Twitter (my favorite social network) and scroll through my stream until I have retweeted or commented on 5 posts. Instagram is my next stop and I’m looking to comment on 5 different friend’s posts or stories. Finally, I open up my texting app on my iPhone and send 5 people a short, simple text. It might be a “have a nice day” message, a funny GIF, a photo, or a meme. The “High Fives” aren’t necessarily done to garner a response from the recipient, but usually about half of them cause the person to reply back.
“Ding!” You just earned “top of mind” awareness…even if it’s only for a split second. Remember, I don’t need to be the only Realtor or Speaker you know. I just want to be the one you think of the next time you need help.
Earning My Iced Coffee
Once I’ve completed my 4H Club for the day, I walk across to the local Starbucks near my office. These days while I’ve been sheltering-in-place during the CoronaVirus pandemic I’ve been walking to my kitchen – a.k.a “CarpBucks” – for my homemade version of iced coffee. (For what it’s worth, it tastes nothing like “my usual” from the mermaid but I have been saving around $2.95 a day…so I got that going for me.)
The coffee is a little reward for my daily efforts. Call it a “carrot” if you want, but there are some days I really want that coffee, so the notes, market research, birthday greetings, and other simple touches get done. Funny thing is, long after the coffee is gone, I’m glad that I did what needed to be done.
I’m blessed to have had some pretty amazing harvests since that first day of “planting seeds” back in 2016. I’d even say that some of the opportunities I’ve received came from seeds that were planted long before that day. When you plant seeds long enough and do a great job watering, fertilizing, and pruning once they bust through the ground, you can really get into a nice flow. Sometimes people will generously bring you seeds that have already brought forth fruit.
One of the really rewarding things that can happen is when the same seed bears fruit more than once. I’m not sure if that’s because of the seed…or the farmer…or a little of both.
So what are you waiting for? Grab some “seeds” and start building relationships, solving problems and having fun. It’ll be fun to see what your harvest looks like later this year.