These days, the world is so frantically busy that it can seem almost impossible to focus on achieving what you want. How can you best use your limited resources of time, energy and money to build a thriving real estate business? This is especially daunting when there are so many daily distractions and energy drainers, such as social media and email to contend with.
The solution is to utilize the 80:20 principle, which means that 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your effort.
Use these simple steps, and you’ll operate in a more focused way, optimize the growth of your business and live the good life.
Prioritize your database
The power of your business lies in this relational asset, so study it carefully. Who are the clients work most effectively for you? Those who have sent you multiple referrals — your A+ and A customers — should receive most of your time, attention and focus. They are your best advocates, and you need to connect with them regularly and effectively to nurture the relationship. You’ll also need to re-engage with past clients.
Don’t drift away — strive to stay in face-to-face contact and remind people that you’re still around and eager for their repeat, referral business. And, of course, you’ll have to create and add new relationships to your database, too. Yes, it’s hard work, but if you do the bulk of it up front, it becomes easier later on.
Provide your best customers with valuable information consistently
Research has shown that response and read-through rates are increasing year-on-year. Why? Because in an age when we are deluged digitally with emails and social media updates, it’s a treat to receive something by old-fashioned snail mail. And yet 82 percent of real estate professionals don’t mail their sphere of influence every month. What a wasted opportunity.
Sending an item of value to a selected group of valued clients every month is a terrific way to strengthen your connection with them. A piece on tips to improve your credit score or the benefits of setting goals might not change people’s lives. But it keeps the lines of communication open and reminds potential clients that you are ready and willing to help and serve them. Supplement, this mail-shot with a follow-up E-report on a related topic, and you have further boosted the connection.
Make emotional deposits
For a relationship with a client to flourish and deepen, you must forge a true and meaningful bond. As well as providing valuable information that they can use, why not send a note to your favorite people? Personal letters now account for just seven out of 10 pieces of mail per week. How refreshing it is to get something other than a bill in the mail. Follow up these notes with a pop-by, just to say hello.
These activities all form part of the stacking effect that will ultimately benefit your business. The accumulation of doing this process over and again means that your database becomes more and more receptive, and your end results improve, year after year. And it’s all achieved with just 20 percent of your effort.
Learn out more about the stacking effect in this clip from Buffini TV.
Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Buffini & Company is the largest real estate coaching and training company in North America. Founded by real estate expert and master motivator Brian Buffini, the company provides a unique and highly-effective lead generation system and comprehensive business coaching and training programs which have helped entrepreneurs in 37 countries improve their business, increase net profit and enhance their quality of life. Please visit and like Buffini & Company on Facebook.
