Skip to main content

Are You Getting Through?


Every few weeks or so, I take a look at my email “junk” folder out of morbid curiosity.  It’s borne of a few things I’m thinking at the time: (1) how good is the filter I have in place; (2) is there anything in there that should have come to me in my regular folder but didn’t; and (3) how many millions of dollars have I missed out on because I didn’t respond to the Nigerian prince with my banking information in time – that one’s always a kick in shins. I think I’m smart enough to determine what’s junk and what’s not without the help of a filter/folder (but it is nice to have something do it for me).  We as humans are equipped with an internal “junk mail” filter in our heads – some are better than others – that we use every day. 

In the real estate world, this could not be more true for both agents and customers.  Before I go on, though, let me explain that just because something is viewed as junk mail doesn’t mean there’s no intrinsic value to it – but there IS NO VALUE to it if it doesn’t get opened.  Can we agree on that? 

Don’t kill the messenger, my agent friends, but the following items/practices have become or are quickly becoming “junk mail” in the eyes of a potential customer:

•  Facebook posts for listings/open houses
•  Facebook Live videos/Instagram Stories
•  Offers of a free market analysis
•  A YouTube video about a certain program/initiative

There are a lot more things that fit into the this category, but I think you get my drift.  (Let me say once again: these items aren’t worthless – there’s some great information contained in them – but if they’re not being opened, then they’re not bringing much value to the table.)  The reason they’re seen this way is there’s NOTHING that makes them stand out – ESPECIALLY at first glance.  You can sit there and say, “That doesn’t apply to me.  I’ve had a number of people call me off my Facebook posts/offers of a free market analysis.”  I’m not going to argue that, but I will say this: if your posts looked like all the others, then the fact you got someone to call was either down to luck, plain and simple, or you’ve done something to find favor with the Internet gods.  (I’m leaning more toward the former but won’t rule out the latter – wouldn’t want to jinx myself.)  With that said, though, I’ve seen some very effective methods that agents have employed to make themselves and/or their messages stand out.  I’m not going to give away their secrets, but I can certainly help you come up with your own ways to avoid the “junk mail” filter in customers’ heads. 

The “junk mail” dilemma applies to customers, too, I assure you. If you want a top-notch real estate agent to represent you in the purchase of a home, you’re going to need to make yourself stand out, too.  Seriously, do you want someone who’s just going to put you in a car and drive you around or someone who’s going to have an arsenal of talent and experience fully at your disposal to take out the competition and clear the board FOR YOU? If you’re using phrases like “I’m not sure if . . .” and “I don’t know if it’s the right time . . .”, this won’t cause your potential agent to get up and walk away, but she/he is definitely going to start mentally sliding you over to her/his “junk mail” folder.  If you REALLY want their attention and make sure you land squarely in their “Inbox”, THIS is the very simple statement you should open with: “I’ve already been to a lender, and I’m qualified – not just prequalified – for $XXX,XXXX.  Let’s go look at some houses!”  But hurry before all those folks with money from the Nigerian prince go looking at the same houses!  It’ll be a kick in the shins if you don’t.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Naked Truth About Home Buying

It’s highly likely I’ve already written about this, but I’ll try to make it entertaining at least.   There’s a guy who works in ou r office who suffers from kidney stones – and from what he’s described, “suffers” might even be a little too tame a word for it.   As an aside, though, when you ask him how painful the experience is, he gets an odd smile and says, “It’s the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced, but it’s hard to describe.   I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to the pain a woman experiences while giving birth.   To that, I must say, those people are big, fat liars!   I’ve been in the presence of a woman giving birth, twice, and her pain has to be 100 times worse.   They’re passing the equivalent of a Buick.   I’m passing a pumpkin seed.”   He’s always been a colorful fellow. He’s had this wonderful condition for over a decade now, and the stones make their appearance about every 18 months or so.   Up until recently, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saving Money is Music to Your Ears (Posted January 9, 2017)

For all the “old” people out there, you’ll instantly know the name Daryl Hall.   For those of you who are still on your original set of adult teeth (perhaps because you got your braces off fairly recently), Daryl Hall is a musician (the blonde half of the duo Hall & Oates – the one who DIDN’T have a mustache that looked like it was straight out of an ’ 80s adult film) with a number of albums (albums a re these big, black 12-inch vinyl “platters” that look like a pregnant CD) that have been certified as gold/platinum and hit songs to his credit, some of which he recorded himself and some he wrote for others.   Going back to 2007, he started a show on the internet called Live from Daryl’s House ; in 2011, he took it to cable where it currently airs.   The concept is relatively simple: he has musicians from all genres and eras come to his house to jam with him and his band.   In between songs, they talk about music and memories, and they usually end up eatin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Showcase Showdown (Posted October 17, 2016)

The game show “The Price is Right” – the show where 95% of what they give away is total garbage (fireproof bathmats in the shape of Ecuador, really?) – is probably each child’s first exercise in trying to guess how much something costs.   Admit it, you sat glued to the TV set either screaming at the screen so the contestant could hear you or you were sending out vibes telepathically – either way, you KNEW you were the BEST price guesser in the world . . .   until the very moment the model would reveal the real price of $732 for a set of salad tongs made of Lucite and cubic zirconia (your bid was $17, and you thought THAT was probably a little high).   But that didn’t stop you because here comes that toaster oven that doubles as a brief case – how could anyone put a price on THAT? A recent study published in the Journal of Housing Research (just let the sheer coolness of that name wash over you for a few moments) concerning pricing was interesting.   The r...
Post a Comment
Read more