Creating Online Relationships

We know we should answer the responses to our websites immediately. After all, if we don't, the next agent will.

What we say in our email is important, too! What does it take to develop a rapport and create an ongoing relationship with the new prospect?

The secret is making the email relevant to the reader. Buying or selling is an emotional period, and they are looking to you for answers and solutions. You want to make their entrance into the world of buying or selling an adventure, not a stress.

You must make sure that you are addressing their problems and providing solutions to them. You will be guiding them along the process of a relocation and learning all about a new area, a house hunt, an escrow process (sometimes in a new area with different methods), making sure their purchase goes smoothly, etc. All this can be done in email!

On the selling side, keeping a seller informed about what transpires during the listing period, how many showings there are, what is happening with other listings and sales in their area during the listing period, the inspections, the escrow period, and what to expect at the final closing. Think of the speed and efficiency gained by email!

And what better way to use email than as a means of staying in touch. A monthly electronic newsletter, a hello, a birthday wish, a sharing of a particular item of interest to a past client or new client? These activities cement the relationships and ensure that you are not only a realtor, but a friend who thinks of their best interests. One caveat: Don't become annoying. Make your emails relevant!

• Write your emails as though you are speaking to a person standing in front of you. Sounding like an advertisement is a turn-off.

• You must make sure your email is targeted and relevant. In most cases, this is a simple function of your database and marketing activities. If you obtain leads from your web site, make sure your email fulfills the promise you offered to obtain the prospect's contact information.

• Don't make it too long. What's too long? When your message passes the point of relevancy and transcends into the realm of boring.

  Force yourself to get right to the point of your communication immediately.

• If your email message isn't relevant, you've insulted your reader's intelligence. If you send a step-by-step report on "How to Buy a Home" to a prospect who has previously bought and sold 4 homes, you've insulted your reader's intelligence.
• Don't make the E-mail read like an advertisement. Remember, unlike a display ad, email is a personal medium. It is written to somebody, by somebody.
• Make it readable. If you are unsure if your intended reader uses an email program which will translate a HTML formatted document, send your message in either plain text or plain text and HTML. When in doubt, it is always safer to opt for the "least common denominator", that is, go with the technology most likely to be used by the most people.

THOUGHTS FOR YOUR EMAIL

Explain the technical terms and exactly what's going to happen at each step. Tell them what happens to the money in escrow and what a title company really does. Don't be an expert who uses fancy words.

Talk to them in simple language that takes the mystery out of what's going on.

***Make it fun to do business with you.

Please think of me for your real estate referrals in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area!

ALICE HELD

(877) 266-3229.