How to Stay Connected Without the Sales Pitch: Real Relationships That Refer | LeadingLane Podcast | Ep 97

Like, we went to dinner last night and we had somebody stop us and ask us questions. We had nothing branded on, but they knew exactly who we were and they wanted to know how the market was. So we had a great conversation and it moved on. Right, so then here comes the next couple. You know how it is in small town America. So that's why we try to typically get a booth and like being in the middle of everywhere. So, yeah, but now, now we are known of who we are, what we do, and we're looked at as professionals, if they use this or not.

Welcome to the Leading Lane Podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros, with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Stephen Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic and raw perspective, you found it.

Welcome back, everyone, to the Leading Lane Podcast. Today we're going to talk a little bit about how you're staying in touch with your people. So I think that there is a lot of automation and a lot of AI and I think sometimes we're getting lost in the shuffle of what staying in touch actually means, which it really is part, integral. Part of your business is staying in touch with your people. So, Stephen, how do you define your people?

You know, I think that really. Let me, let me first say this is going to be do as I say, not as I do. So I'll give that disclaimer, right? Like, I haven't sold in a good while. And so when I first started in real estate, I didn't have a CRM, I didn't have systems, I didn't know anything about it. So if I know or knew what I know now, back then, things would have been totally different. But how I train it is just making sure that you have your roster, your A game people, your biggest cheerleaders, your sphere of influence, whatever you want to call them, and those are the people that are going to refer the most business to you. So I really look at it as making sure that you're not just sending the just listed, just sold and the salesy type of thing. This is true connection. This is true relationships. And in my personal opinion, the more that you try to automate or try to find the easy button to keep in contact with those people, it actually somewhat dehumanizes. I'm not saying you can't do those different types of things, but, you know, doing Popeyes, you know, fourth of July, our agent Robin is fantastic about doing the freaking Popeyes. I love her stuff. Um, and she puts it in a position to where it's not a sales tactic of hey, use me or hey, refer me, it's hey, I'm thinking about you and your family and here's a little gift for the holiday and I hope you enjoy. So I love that approach of removing the sales aspect of it and putting all the, the relationship first. So that's definitely something that the, the our agents do here too. But what are some of the things that you currently do? Because I know that you do a lot and a lot of personal touches.

Yeah, I mean, I think going back to like, who are your people? I think a lot of people get lost in the art of like, it's only people that you've done like business with or that you think are going to have a transaction with. And I think that that is a mistake. There's a lot of other people that will still refer you that like, may, may not ever use you. They might be in their house for 40 years. Right. So I think it's just remembering it's true community people. It's your other like, referral partners. Like for me, like our plumbers, my electricians, like, they're never leaving the house maybe like in 10 or 15 years. Right. I know that they're never going to potentially be. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. But I trust them to do work on properties when we're getting them ready or home inspections. So then they turn around and when they meet new clients. Right. So it's not necessarily just people that you're looking to have a transaction with. You know, it's even for me, it was like the local coffee shop. Like that was never an intention of mine. I just always went to the coffee shop and then you get to know people and then all of a sudden when they needed a real estate need, you were the one that you knew. So I think it's just thinking outside of that box. But yeah, I think I'm going to.

Jump in here real quick and interrupt you. But I also think that here too is making sure that you, yes, you have your people, but you have your vendors and then you have your past clients. I think it's important to make sure that you know, to categorize these people and making sure that the way, you know, you speak to them or the way that you market to them, the way that you reach out to them is each going to be completely different. So I think it's great to have multiple different categories and the more organized that you can get with all of that, the more specific and targeted audience that you're going to be able to do with your marketing to get a better result out of it versus just trying to, you know, take everything and throw it against the wall and see what sticks.

When I just have been having some reviews with my agents, and I think everyone struggles with their CRM and I think that a lot of that is just because it is such a beast to try to hone down on. On everything. So I do think, you know, when you're trying to do that, you just have to piece it back a little bit. And if you either. Either it's adding three new people a day, right. It'll take 10 minutes, or it's updating your contacts, right? Like, did they move? Do they have a different email address? All of that happens. So I think just spending, you know, it's time blocking is. Is what it comes down, you know, for me. But I think there's also a. A difference of staying in touch versus being top of mind. So I think that there's kind of two avenues there. So, you know, to me, like, top of mind is just that you would be the one that they think of when they think of buying or selling. But staying in touch, I feel like, is it's not just the flyers, it's not just the emails. It's the actual conversations that you're having with people. I like to try to make notes when I've had or done an update so that. See a lot of people, like, I might forget who's going on what vacation or who's, you know, expecting or whatever those types of things are. So goes back to the ninja, right, of like the forward questions, those things. Family, recreation, recreational dream, like, what type of conversations are you having? And I think that that's when it's not just peace of mind. It's being like actually part of their lives and understanding our here. You know, we have a lot of small businesses and for me it's when they open their small business, you know, being a part of the grand opening, sending them a congratulatory, I mean, just. Just as I would like them to be supporters of mine in turn being supporters of whatever they're doing. But I think, you know, Popeyes I could be better with. Right? So same thing. Like, I can preach it, you know, but I like to do them with not just clients, but also our vendors. So like our title companies, our lenders, right. Like, those are all important people. A lot of times, you know, it's a matter of pulling favors in these real estate transactions, bad as that sounds, you know, like our contractors are booked out weeks, months Etc. Right. But some of these closings are like in two weeks. So you have to be able to establish those relationships that you can make a phone call and be like, I know you guys are really busy, but do you think us in. Right. And they all, they all do. Right. And that comes with time and it comes with trust. But that's why I think the pop buys are important for your vendors. Just, it's a, it's a touch base. But I do send, you know, newsletters, which I do think mine. I've changed more so to the things to do in Marshfield because I don't want it to be salesy. Sure. Is there a real estate line in there? Great. But that is a little bit more of like the information piece. That's one thing because I get frustrated and when people say there's nothing to do in Marshville. So it's kind of my caveat to that. But I know that some people really look forward to it because they don't necessarily have the time to look for all these events and they can just pull my email and see what, you know, might be coming up. And I do think social media has its pros and its cons, but it is a way to actually know, you know, what's going on with people. And there is algorithms that you have to basically connect with people, you have to engage with them in order for yours to stay, you know, there, those types of things. And I think it's, you know, I like to be seen as like an expert of sorts too. Right. So I think it's also providing value like you talked about. I haven't done them for a while, but you know, in the past I've done video series and it's just things I like to have people, you know, know about as far as, you know, rates or home inspections or just things that when they think about it, they'll be like, oh, I, I heard that from Ashley. I should reach her, reach out to her when the time comes. But as I say, a lot of it's just showing up. Right. It's going places, it's seeing people. That's the easiest way to, to stay in touch. I like to send newsletter like mailers, not necessarily newsletters, but mailers. So quarterly mailers. I used to do like just kind of simple things, but now again I try to add value. So I like to do recipes on mine. And I do love it when someone will write back and be like, I made your cookies and they were fantastic. Why did you send this before the holidays? You know, so you just never know or. I've seen people. I've been to their house and, like, my mailer is on their refrigerator. And, you know, they probably. I don't think they were. Had any intentions of selling, but. Right. They had a job change and it was just kind of cute that I was on their refrigerator. I don't do the magnets. A lot of people do the magnets. But I think the one thing I don't like about magnets is there's been so many times I've gone into someone's house and then there is like another realtor's magnet on their fridge, but it's not listed with that realtor. So I always just a little like, that's strange. Thank you notes. Right. Handwritten. Not necessarily like thank you, but just handwritten notes as to if they had a job promotion, a change, they had a surgery, whatever that might be. People don't send handwritten notes really at all anymore. You know, other little things. Like, I don't know if you guys do. If there's a rotary in your town. We have, like an annual rose sale. So I like to. Because Rotaries got a lot of things that they do for our community and across the world. So you have rose sales and then they'll deliver all the roses for you. So I'll normally put in a bunch of my clients to get roses because. Same thing. People like random flowers delivered for them.

Yeah.

So I think it's just trying to do things that are maybe not so common. And it's not just the automated. That's kind of the hard thing with CRMs, too, is that they get set up on these campaigns that maybe don't seem so personal. You know, you have the holidays. You know, there we have one that went out, and I didn't really know what to do with it. Everyone is weird about their holidays. Right. Like, some people can say, merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, whatever, I don't care. Well, one went out on Monday that said Happy Indigenous People Day. And then someone wrote back and said, I think you mean Happy Columbus Day. It's like, I'm not.

Hey, at least they responded.

Right.

Right.

Okay. But I was also, like, I didn't look. Right. I didn't realize that that was going out because it was on automation. And then I was like, I. I don't really feel like doing that one today. So I think I'll just be right back. Like, how's the house?

Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. You know, And I think that's where it's so important to make sure that you're categorizing those different things for those different people. Because it doesn't make sense for you to go and send, you know, an investor that buys multiple flips or rentals from you and send them, you know, first time home buyer information. That doesn't make sense. So it has to make sure that it matches your, your target audience. Something that I did used to do like a long time ago was I would put people's wedding anniversaries in my calendar. But what I would do is I would put the husband's name and phone number, my calendar on their anniversary, but give me a reminder a week prior. And so what I would do is I would be like, hey Ben, I just wanted to check in with you, see how everything's going, what's new, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Hey, you know, your guys anniversary is next week. You guys doing anything fun? And the mass majority of the guys that I did that like and told them to, they're like, oh my God, I totally forgot that our anniversary is next week. Thank you so much. Right. Like so then they would actually get a gift, whatever. So then I would call the wife on their anniversary, do the same thing and just, I just wanted to wish you a, you know, a happy anniversary. Hope everything's great. You know, Did Ben get you anything special? Are you guys doing anything special? And then they would, you know, tell whatever the guy gave. And so I just think it's really kind of cool to like, I try to shift it again that I don't want to be the salesperson, I don't want to pick up the phone, the cold call and you looking to buy or sell today, like let me just focus on the relationship. And I think the more that you are being present in your community, the more that you have your social media presence online, the more that you're doing. What actually happens is you become essentially your mayor of your own community. Like we went to dinner last night and we had somebody stop us and ask us questions. We had nothing branded on, but they knew exactly who we were and they wanted to know how the market was. So we had a great conversation and it moved on. Right. So then here comes the next couple. You know how it is in small town America. So that's why we try to typically get a booth and like be in the middle of everywhere. So yeah, but now, now we are known of who we are, what we do and we're looked at as professionals. If they use us or not, people are still asking Us questions about real estate or what's going on in our community. So it's almost like you take pride in becoming that little mayor of your community without having to deal with all the fun, politics and everything.

Yeah. You know, two other ones that I do basically weekly, our home anniversary postcards. I just do it for the, the first year. I mean there's a. I know that when I bought my first house I used to get it was like the corporate office would send me one on like your third anniversary and your fourth and then it kind of just feels like you are only like just sending something. So I just like to do it on their one year anniversary. But little postcard this has happy ham home anniversary, you know, wishing them well, hoping that they're enjoying the house. One thing I did last week was to send closing statements or alta statements to my sellers that have closed throughout the year. And basically like a little note that just says, you know, as we're approaching the end of the year, likely your tax person is going to want a copy of your closing statements. Please be attached. If you need anything else, let me know. So. Right. That's adding value. Wasn't asking for a sale or anything like that, but again makes them like, oh yeah, I actually thought to send us these.

It's. I think it's slowing down to just think like remove yourself out of your view of trying to sell and really look at it as what would you appreciate. Right. Like what? It's the small thoughtful things, it's the easy things. Right. And I think that's why it's so difficult because it's really easy to forget to write those handwritten cards. It's really easy to push off putting people into your CRM or updating it. So I think those who can remain consistent and disciplined and making sure that you make it a habit and a ritual, like if you start now, I mean the compound effect of just three to five people into your, your CRM day over day, that's like that is going to grow tremendously. And I also think that people try to do all of it all at once. I'm going to come up with this huge plan. I want to be, you know, the mayor of my community and it's going to happen overnight. And then what happens is they get frustrated and they shut down and they don't do it right. So it's one small thing. Pick something that makes sense to you. So if it's birthdays, if it's anniversaries, if it's Popeyes, Cool master. That first, then go on to the next thing that you want to add on top of that. And as you advance into sales and into the relationships, it's going to get easier because you're going to figure out different systems. And I always say you either have time or you have money. You don't have both. So if you don't have the money, then you have all the time in the world. So there's a lot of sweat equity that you're going to be throwing into it or if you're completely busy, that means you're making money. So offload that and be able to find either an assistant or, or different systems to be able to buy into to ensure that consistency is there.

Well, I think, you know, Neva is really good about preaching like the happy birthdays to send a personal message instead of just posting on their Facebook wall. And I do think that that, you know, can open up a line, if you will, for someone to obviously say thank you. But maybe they did have a real estate related question or it leads into this house, the family or something which you're not going to have that discussion over, like the Facebook post for everyone to see. So plus it just opens that door for maybe you don't have their cell phone number or whatnot that now have been in their Facebook messages. So if something did come up, they'd have the ability to just, you know, reach out to you. I know that when Covid kind of first happened, like bombbomb was really big. And I think that some people still use that and it, I think that it can be used in, you know, beneficial ways. I could probably work on that more. But even like a, if you have a system for when you get an accepted offer, like, here's the next step, you know, like you need to send your earnest money, you need to set up your home inspections, you know. Yes and no. Because I find it too, like it's. It's kind of like Snapchat, which I really don't use anymore. But like when it was purple. Right. You would know like that it was a video and you had to be somewhere you could listen to it or hear it or turn it down. And like with videos it might, just might not be as easy to open or listen or respond to wherever you're at. Right. So I think of. Just go ahead.

No, no, go.

I was gonna say, I think it's just a matter of trying to do things like, different or making it a little bit more personal.

Yeah. And it's a multi, multi online, multi channel effect just because you do birthdays does not mean it's going to guarantee anything. Just because you go to the into the community does not mean it's going to result anything. Just because you do whatever. It has to be multiple different things and consistency for it actually to have that return of investment that you're truly looking for. And I think once what my mind shift was and the pivot point in my career is once I stopped chasing the checks and start focusing on the people, the checks followed. And it was very easy after that when I figured that out. And I'm not going to run after money. So I think it's lessening and giving yourself permission that not everything has to happen right now, but something has to be put in motion for you to be able to move forward.

But I think it's really at the end of the day, like being a good person, right. Like want to try to add some positivity and what can kind of be gloom and doom. So if they can know that. Right. I mean, I think that's just something we talk about too. Like you kind of have to think about, you know, your social media aspects and do people choose to unfollow you because you have a lot of hate on, right? Or just a lot of negative or it's just even like some people just complain about everything. And I'm like, I don't really want to see that every day. So if you can be a little bit more of a light to people. I mean, I think I posted something which I wasn't expecting at all, but last week about, you know, you've made it through 100% of your hard days or, you know, something like that. And four different people sent me a text message that was like, I needed that today. And like, I wasn't expecting anything from it. It just was a good quote. So I put it out there. And so I think that's just. It is like we don't know what people are going through. So if we can just add a little bit of hope and goodness to them, like that's who they'll remember when the time comes.

Be a better human. Right? I'm a coffee mug in the other room. But that's exactly what that says. Be a better human and just help each other out. Be a good person. So good talk. Hopefully you guys took away some little tidbits or different things that you can implement into your business. So as always, we appreciate you listening and make sure you tune into the next one.

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