If you want real estate agents for clients....

I know some of you are targeting real estate agents for QR codes, mobile sites, and even regular websites....so here's my suggestion on how to easily find them and even talk to them.

Not only am I an offline marketer, but I'm also a part time real estate agent and today I had to sit at an open house. For the most part it's 3 hours of either total boredom, or I'll be surfing the Warrior forums on my laptop. Sometimes I'll bring other work, but for the most part it's nothing all that important. Maybe folding brochures or addressing postcards.

So anyway....right when I was about to leave today, a woman came in who represented a closing company and we talked a few minutes about her services. She asked me a few questions and handed me her business card and a folder with her information. If she would have come earlier, I would have probably talked to her longer just to have something to do. But it got me thinking.

I'm sure other agents are sitting at open houses reading books or just killing time waiting for a home buyer to walk in. So why don't those of you who target real estate agents go to some open houses and ask if you can give them your info. And if they're not with a client or doing anything important, you may be able to stir up a conversation with them and do some soft selling as well. Or at a minimum, ask them questions about how they do their business such as how they find new clients and how they keep in touch with past clients.

If nothing else, you'll be able to learn more about their needs and maybe tweak your services to meet those needs even better. It would definitely be good research for you.

So here's the steps I came up with to help land real estate agents as clients.

1. Check the local paper or a broker's website to find open houses.
2. Choose a specific neighborhood or area to target.
3. Most open houses are between 1 and 4 so you'll want to visit them between 1:30 and 3:30.
4. If you see two or more cars in the driveway (one will be the agents), there's likely a homebuyer checking the place out so either wait for them to leave or go onto the next home.
5. Walk in the home with a smile and say "Hi, I'm Joe Blow from <company name> and I <insert service>. I just wanted to stop by and drop off my business card and some of my information. If you're not too busy I'd be happy to (explain/show) you what I do. Would that be ok?"
6. If they say "no thanks", then say "Ok. That's fine. But do you mind if I ask you <ask some questions that may help you learn about their business which may help you land the next agent.> then thank them and leave.

Trust me. Most real estate agents will be nice because it's in our nature Also, most agents will not be very techie, so you'll have to explain whatever you do (especially QR codes or mobile sites) in the simplest terms. And definitely tell them how they'll either get more listings or get more buyers by using your service.

BONUS TIP.....

If you're in the business of selling leads, most agents DO NOT pay for a lead unless it gets them a closed sale. We get calls every day from companies trying to sell us leads from their websites. But once we tell them we'll only pay if it closes, then most say no and hang up. They just want the quick $10 or $15 for a name.

But you'll be more successful if you're willing to sell a lead and only collect if that lead turns into a sale. This is less risk for the agent and there will be no "up front" cost for them either. They'll pay for it out of their commission.

The bad thing is that it will take longer to get paid and you'll have to track it, but you'll make a lot more money in the long run because you'll be able to charge more. Usually a % of the commission. For details about doing this, you should call a broker and talk to the manager to see what you'd need to do to set that up with their agents.

That's all I have for now....so go have fun.

Mike