Your Home Shoppers Want to Hear from You!

Interesting article recently in Realtor suggesting agents might want to reassess their follow-up efforts with home shoppers.  Keeping in contact not only puts you "top of mind" with active home shoppers but can also be a referral source, as well.

The key thought is many home shoppers don't have a "specific" interest in mind when they first start looking at homes and staying in touch is possibly the most underrated and underused sales process in the industry.

Software facilitates staying int ouch!

Of course, all of us have many, often competing priorities for our time.  Yet, 36% of home owners say they find it beneficial to receive communications -- even if they aren't in the market for a home, today.

Topics of interest range from what's for sale to home maintenance pointers.  Why not have a set of pre-established emails that go out on a periodic basis to everyone in your prospect file?

CRM systems are designed to facilitate this process -- from registering your prospects to creating a set of followup emails to actually sending them on a scheduled basis.  Once you have the followup details down, your home shoppers will receive tips and pointers from you on a regular basis -- without any additional work needed.

And, why not apply the same process to your home buyers?  Here's a group of people living in a new neighborhood, using different appliances and concerned about their new home.  Remind your homeowners that you're available for warranty questions --  and encourage the "warm and fuzzy" by sending out an email with the closest restaurants (coupons might be a possibility, too) -- or a trail guide to local recreation hot spots. There's always room for info regarding the new appliances, HVAC systems and electronics, too!  After sale communications are another key referral source!

Not quite sure how to get started with this process?  Contact us to discuss CPS•CRM and WarrantyWatcher customer service software -- easy-to-use and cost effective ways to communicate with prospects and buyers!

What Does 89% Mean for New Home Sales?

There are all sorts of percentages floating around in the new home sales world but this one is striking: 89% of home sales have a Realtor involved according to new home sales marketing consultant, Myers Barnes.

New home sales and resale.. combined.  89% of first time buyers; 87% of move-up; 89% of 55+ buyers.

Effective CRM use helps build this pipeline!

What does that mean for you as a new home sales or marketing professional? It suggests getting in better touch with this critical part of the sales process will help you sell more homes!

"Wait!" you might say, "Most of my buyers are finding me on the internet! How important can these agents be?  My shoppers are browsing the web, shopping on their mobile, checking Zillow."

To paraphrase that well known car ad: today's Realtor isn't your father's Realtor!  Agents aren't necessarily driving buyers around town...their value has transitioned to being seen as assisting in the negotiation process, helping narrow down alternatives and providing the "latest" information.

What can you do to build this pipeline of sales prospects?  Build and nurture the relationships. Agents say they want to be recognized and appreciated when bringing prospects into the sales office.  They'd like programs oriented towards their needs; think community tours on "off days", targeted follow-up with new information, collateral they can distribute.  What about a community-specific app?

CPS' CRM provides all sorts of co-op agent tools so you're able to designate agents, find out who are your best performers, setup and manage events and faciliate consistent, effective followup.  We'll help you grab a bigger part of that 89%!