Marketing Plan in 30 Days: Day 23

Back to Day 1

Now that you have a commercial real estate website built to convert visitors into leads, let’s talk about how you will follow up.  You can gather all the data you want, but unless your follow-up system is stellar, you’ll never see a return on investment.

44% of sales reps give up after 1 follow-up (source).  This is ridiculous!  Did you know most of my conversions come from folks that have been receiving my newsletter for months?  Years even?!

The truth is a potential client isn’t likely to need you YET!  Staying top-of-mind when they’re finally ready to open that second restaurant, or move uptown is key to your strategy.  Let’s discuss some great options to keep-in-touch (without losing your mind!).

Follow-up Online

1. Newsletter.  In my personal opinion, a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter is the number one way to keep-in-touch, establish your brand, and promote your expertise.  Using articles from your blog is a great way to fill in content and keep things fresh.  If you don’t have the time to blog, consider sharing relevant news articles, opinions on those articles and a list of recent closed and new listings.  Keep self-promotion at the bottom and relevant articles at the top for maximum engagement.

2. Announcements.  One of the easier ways to keep-in-touch is the occasional announcement of a new listing and/or recently closed deal.  Not only will these keep you top-of-mind, they’ll also showcase how effect you a professional.

3. “Thought of you” email.  Sending an email with a “Saw this article and thought of you!” message can be a big win.  While this can be done individually, you can mass-send emails with a service like WoodPecker.  Separate your contact lists in categories like “Retail” “Industrial” etc. and use the autofill tags to create emails:

Hi {FIRST NAME],

I saw this article on the future of retail by the Wallstreet Journal and thought of you:

[URL]

– {Signature}

You can shoot out a bunch of these by category and your audience will have no-idea it wasn’t completely personal.  Doing this once a month could keep you in their top rankings without spending hours of time and effort.

 

New School Ways to Follow-Up in Person

1. Lottery ticket.  EVERYONE gives out that “leave behind” with your list of services and nice photo, but what about a lottery ticket?!  “Hi Bill, hope this is your ticket to buying a new building!  Think of me when you win big!”  For a $1, you could really hit a cord!

2. Chocolate feet.  Difficult to contact person?  Charm the gatekeeper with a little box of chocolate feet and a simple message with your card.  “Hi Bill, this is an attempt to get my foot in the door!”  You can make these in the office with a plastic mold with foot prints, candy melts, and decorative boxes.  Microwave the candy melts, smooth chocolate onto the plastic mold, chill in the fridge, and decorate the boxes, attach a letter and business card.

Chocolate Feet

3. Edible Logo.  Order your logo printed on frosted cookies, Oreos, macaroons, and marshmallows!   InkEdibles has extremely reasonable prices to customize your logo on all kinds of ridiculous things!  You can also purchase an edibles printer, but who wants to clean that thing?

Oreos with Customized Logo Prints

 

On to Day 24: Commercial Real Estate Newsletters – Follow Up that Converts