The winter months tend to be slower for the real estate industry, but that doesn’t mean your business should slow down with the season. Don't take the winter as a time to lower your activity. Rather, turn up the heat on your lead generation efforts and gain more market share.
Make the most out of your cold days indoors with these smokin’ hot business tips.
Shovel Out of the Clutter Drift
Use the time to your advantage by doing some office tidying and updating. Get organized and clean up. Shred old documents and clean out outdated binders. Set up your office to be a distraction-free success zone. Some other easy ways to make a big impact in your office are:
Don't forget to clean your computer files as well. Empty the recycle bin and organize random documents on the desktop.
Organize files by groups and label them. You can even set up a color-coding system to help you find things easier.
Clean dust hiding on shelves, picture frames, ceiling fans - everywhere. Also be sure to disinfect your keyboard and clean between the keys with a keyboard cleaner.
Light the Lead Gen Fire
Reach out to your clients by phone and ask them what their real estate goals are for the next year and if they know anyone who is looking to buy or sell in the next 90 days. While they may not want to get outside and look now, you can set them up with customized searches and start piquing their interest online.
By taking the time to reach out and talk to clients in the winter months, agents can get more activity in their pipeline and set the stage for a very strong spring.
While you have your clients on the phone, don’t hesitate to ask them for a personal recommendation too. Once you’ve compiled your client recommendations, quickly get them up on your Website and other marketing collateral.
Defrost Your Website Content
While you are on your website, look to update any areas that date your site or make it seem neglected. Many leads will be searching the Internet when they are stuck inside during the cold. Bottom-line: you want to catch their eye – and their business.
If you blog, it's a good time to catch up on your writing. Write more than one blog at a time and schedule them to be posted in a consistent manner.
Heat Up Your Client Communications
Make sure that your database is up to date. Then, organize your client communications. Knowing what your clients want in your relationships is as important as knowing their preferred methods of communication. How do they prefer to be contacted—which of them are ‘phone people’ and which are e-mail types? Be sure to organize your clients accordingly and develop your touch campaigns accordingly.
Stay in touch! Reach out to your clients and deliver news they can use. Everything you send out to former, current or future clients should contain some pertinent, valuable information to them. If you flood your clients with non-relevant emails and calls, your messages will get lost. Make a list of topics and information you can use to stay connected all year long.
Winter is such a good time to get organized, refreshed, and to revisit your marketing strategies. And, come summer, when your business is hot, start planning for winter. Don’t wait for business to slow to have an action plan in place. Get started and ...