Realtor Promotion - How to Slash Your Marketing Costs and Triple Your Closings Using Plumbers

What do you ponder if you hear the marketing term, referral letter marketing? I'll bet you $20 you think I'm talking about getting letters of recommendation and testimonials from your former clients, right?

That can also be an impressive marketing method for Realtors. However, I'm referring to you getting a career-long flow of clients from other respected professionals in your area. The most amazing part is that it'll only require a personalized letter scripted by you, the coolest Realtor in the region.

This is how I'd sum up referral letter marketing for real estate agents: Grab a list of respected professionals in your neighbourhood that may have the same type of clients you do. Then, sending it by regular mail, write a personal letter to your list of respected professionals.

Get creative on the envelope or package you mail it in, as well as some type of extra marketing piece, like a DVD you craft using Animoto. Be certain to follow up by telephone, if you can, with each professional that you've sent your letter to.

Loads of Sharp Realtors and agents borrow this single marketing technique to fuel their real estate businesses for their entire careers! It's ok to copy what the top producing agents are doing, simply put your own style into it.

First off, how about we construct a list of professionals who are most likely to have real estate buyers and/or sellers for you...

• Certified Public Accountants

• Home Loan Consultants (I'm certain you know this one)

• Certified Financial Planners

- Atto
eys

• Remodeling Companies

• Interior Designers

• Appraisers

• Title Reps

• Electricians (residential or maybe commercial, depending on your business)

• Plumbers (residential)

• Landscaping Companies

• Roofers (residential)

• Tree Service Companies

• Handymen

• You get the idea...

That list should get you off and running but there's countless more you can add in the future.

Are you questioning how to get the data for these professionals so you might send them your letter? Excellent question. You have a duo of options, depending on how much money you have in your marketing budget.

You can sift through the online yellow pages, which is an economical option. I'm certain you already have a particular area you work in, as a Realtor, so it'll be best to stick to that. If you don't mind the manual labor, this can be a nifty option for you.

You have to go through each individual listed and get their name, phone number and mailing address. This alte
ative is completely free of charge but surely more time consuming than some Realtors might like.

Another choice for building this marketing list of professionals is to merely buy a list. Exactly like you're probably on a Realtor list for sale to the public, just about every other profession has their own list for sale as well.

Relax, these types of lists aren't dishonest or unethical. Whenever professionals, such as us Realtors and agents, sign up for random publications and associations, these lists are compiled and made available for sale to anyone.

Surprised? Now you see why you get so much real estate junk mail and email.

Now, there are a few list companies out there to pick from, who will sell you these lists. The list company you choose ought be able to provide you with every profession you'll need, rather than going to one company for a CPA list, another company for an atto
ey list, and so on. I tell you, it'll cost you a few dollars for this list but it's going to save you hours of precious time!

Whether you prefer to buy your list or compile it yourself, as soon as you have it, you can start crafting your referral letter for these professionals. I don't have space here to tell you about copywriting, unfortunately. That's certainly a topic all on it's own.

All you need to realize right now is that this letter can't be "salesy" like a letter you'd send to your farm list of homeowners.

When one of these professionals gets this referral marketing letter, they need to feel like they're the sole one who got it, even though you might copy most of it and mail it to other professionals.

The point is that you want to pen this referral marketing letter as if you were talking to them face-to-face. Do not be like your local bank and write some kind of "this is so boring I could vomit" referral marketing letter. Catch the reader's attention, write to them like a real individual and not like an institution.

The "meat and potatoes" of the letter needs to demonstrate that you want to build a professional relationship with them where you can refer business to one another. You would like to be their "go to" Realtor or agent for the rest of their career. You need to stress how they'll profit from this relationship without doing any selling, got it?

If you know something personal about their company or the area they work in, throw it in the letter. Perhaps you personally know of a client who's used that professional, toss that in the letter too. Unless you set off talking about their mom, there's no way you can get overly personal.

Writing this marketing letter yourself would be my huge, crucial suggestion. But, if you absolutely detest writing this sort of marketing letter, your other alte
ative is to get a good independent writer to do it.

To locate various free-lance writers, you can Google "freelance writers for hire" and check out several of your options there for companies to utilize. A few of these companies accept independent writer listings from all across the globe for you to pick from. You can see reviews on them, view what they're charging for prices, contact them to ask questions, etc. In some cases, posting a project you want written and letting freelance writers apply, is allowed. It's pretty cool.

Now that you have your referral marketing letter completed and your list of professionals to mail it to, let's get them mailed out. Only whatever you do, please do not mail your letter in a simple white envelope like we see everyday of our lives... please, please, please!

Find another unique mailing package or envelope with some color or size to it. The idea is that you want your mailing piece to stand out among every other letter that professional is getting that day. I would also hand-write the address and return address, as it'll seem to be more personalized to the receiver.

Ponder about how you prioritize your mail. The precedence goes to letters where the sender hand-wrote the address, everytime!

A bonus you'll want to enclose, in the package, is some type of marketing piece in addition to your referral letter. A fun marketing piece to include possibly could be a video you make with Animoto and copy onto a DVD (easier than it sounds).

I have a friend who sold life insurance and had the superb thought to send out little poker chips with his information printed on them. His subject was "Don't gamble with your life".

Talk about getting your creative juices flowing! If you want to be a top producing Realtor like the "big boys", that's the kind of thought you need to come up with, or at least understand where to get them!

Getting back to this referral letter, I'd suggest that you aim them not only to your phone number but also your site or blog. Make sure you offer them both options. You can never tell who hates talking on the telephone and who hates looking at websites.

Your last step is unquestionably the most crucial of them all. Repetition is king when it comes to marketing. If you look at marketing statistics in general, it's been shown that consumers and prospects need to hear or see the same marketing message more than 6-7 times before they feel comfortable enough to answer back.

So it's evidently important to keep following-up with these professionals on your list. After you've sent your initial referral letter, try following up by regular mail or a telephone call about 1 time a month. If you have it, using a professional's e-mail address would be a decent follow up as well.

You just want to be extra careful not to smother them with follow-ups. It's a fine line but you need to tell them why you must be their "go-to" Realtor without coming across in a rude or irritating way.

One final tip, if you need to save yourself a pant load of time, pay your teenager to stuff these envelopes and mailers. You can write the referral letters yourself but have your hired-hand address the envelope, stuff it with the letter and marketing piece and have them mail it out.

It's inexpensive labor, just like US companies do when they hire overseas workers for their customer service call centers (did I just throw in a cheap shot?).

Bottom line, I simply think this is one of the most outstanding marketing ideas for Realtors or agents out there. Eventually, this marketing idea can give you a free stream of leads and prospects that can build you into a top producing Realtor or agent, as long as you stick with it and build these referral relationships right.