Jeffrey gives value away free of charge every week – EVERY DAY. Here he discusses the importance of giving away value and expecting nothing in return.

So, how do you “Give Value First” on a consistent basis?

• Set up a Client Data Base – use Outlook, Top Producer, Ace of Sales – an Excel spreadsheet of addresses – anything
  Gather content to send out – use Realtor.org / Realtor.com / Realty Times – your local paper/ Lowe’s
  You can also include Seasonal fun stuff – here are some samples – Portfolio
  Send out a Community Market report
  Email your Client Data Base this useful information once a week – one of those weeks as a newsletter – here are some samples
• Phone your prospects, current and past clients just to see how things are going and if they have any questions
• Send out reminders to sign up for homestead a month before your county’s deadline
• Get a copy of the 1st payment coupon and either email, snail mail or hand deliver it to your buyer before the payment is due
• Do not let your voice mail be your receptionist – why not answer it?
• Do not have your email on auto responder …
• Above all – if you do have to return calls, do it the same day along with email response




These are just a few ways of giving value to your clients in addition to what you already do … providing professional real estate assistance. These will help keep you in the front of your clients so when they are asked who to use or when they are ready to purchase or sell again, YOU will be the expert they are calling. I have more ideas I’d love to share with you – for free!


I’m always searching for new and innovative ways of giving value – please let me know what you do.

Does YOUR Real Estate business have a system? No, not your company’s business system, your system. There is a difference. Your company may have an outline of how you are suppose to be working under their broker’s license. Your State outlines contract laws and ethics with how you treat the public. All very useful, but do YOU have a system in YOUR business? How organized are you?

Do you have a system set in place of what to do when a lead is generated?
What do you do when that lead lands in your hands or computer?
Do you immediately enter the name, address (e-mail or snail mail) into your database signifying what kind of “touch” you want for new prospect?
Do you write a Thank You to the client who may have referred this prospect?

What system do you have in place when you write up a listing?
Is there a check list in place (hard copy or in your computer)?
Do you have a check list in place what needs to be in place in the property while it’s listed?
Do you have literature to give the seller describing the listing process and what they need to do and expect?

What system do you have for a closing?
Is there a check list in place (hard copy or in your computer)?
Do you have literature to give the buyers and sellers describing the listing process and what they need to do and expect?

It is very overwhelming to balance all the balls you have to juggle in any given day – personal and professional. You ARE just one person. But what if just one task was handed to someone – an hour a day? That’s 5 hours a week of your time freed up. That’s 20 hours a month of your schedule – freed up. What can you do with an hour?

How much does a Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant cost? AND is it worth it?

Most Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistants (especially those who are licensed real estate agents) are approximately $20 – $35+ /hour. WHOA! That is A LOT of money to be spending per hour for an assistant. Yes, it is – for a unlicensed person off the street who doesn’t have the systems and knowledge a Professional Licensed Real Estate Virtual Assistant. It is for a person YOU have to train, eventually license and then have them go start their own real estate business and then start all over again. It is a lot of money per hour, UNLESS it frees up enough of your time to create MORE business for you, maintain contact with your clients to retain your prospects and clients. How much is it to you to keep client loyalty because you are in contact with them in a consistent manner? It IS a lot of money, unless the Real Estate Virtual Assistant is already trained who has marketing systems and ideas available and the knowledge of many online or offline real estate programs. It isn’t if you want to grow your real estate business in a tough tough market.

What if you had to downsize and let your on site assistant go? That is tough, we had to streamline costs and expenditures. However, you may find it difficult now to maintain any of your business and tasks you still have to do. You still have to maintain clients – you still have to advertise – you still have to maintain listings – you still have to generate leads. But there is a lot more tasks to do on top of your already busy and hectic schedule. Using a VA may be your best answer. You can hire by project or by the hour. If your budget is only $x – then use them $x. There are no other extra costs. At the end of the year, send your VA a 1099 for their services and write it off as a business expense.

If your curious about how you can benefit using Virtual Assistant, just call a Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant to see how a VA would fit into your business system. There is no obligation – it’s just using another tool to help. Another tool for your Real Estate System.

Do you give your buyers and seller closing gifts? I did when I was an agent and broker. I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to give. Sure, I started out with the usual things – flowers, gift baskets, pizza parties, donuts, gift cards ….. but I wanted to be remembered – different and unique – and most of all I wanted to let my clients know how much I appreciated them using me for their agent. Ours is a people business and without them – we’d have no business.

I used personalized afghans from Pure Country (see link below). I ordered in bulk in monotone colors of dark green and navy blue. There was a picture of a house in the middle with the quote, “A House is made of brick and stone, a Home is made by love alone.” THEN, I had my logo woven into the afghan below the quote. It was AWESOME! I had clients use my services over and over to get more afghans. I had friends of clients use my services because they saw the closing gift.  It was unique and would be around for years. It looked expensive, but was actually cheaper than a fine bottle of wine or gift basket. (I lived and worked in a rural community. We hung our sheets, towels, and blankets on clotheslines. Envision driving around town and seeing my closing gift hanging on their clothes line drying – It was like a flag waving in the breeze ….. free advertising.)

My point is – give something meaningful, personal, and useful.  And then maintain contact with them after the closing …. but that is a different point I can’t stress enough.

Deciding to use closing gifts is the easy part. Making the selection work for you takes thought. Consider:

• Cost. Don’t try to “cheap” your way out on gifts. Make it something someone will actually appreciate receiving. Let the home’s selling price and buyers’ affluence help guide you to what’s appropriate to spend and give.
• Personal touch. Though it asks more time and effort to make the selection, a personalized gift can say most about how much you appreciate the client.
• Staying power. Something the client proudly displays or uses for years will serve as an ongoing reminder of you and a chance for the client to talk up your services again and again.
• Follow-up. A giving strategy, in which you regularly follow up with tokens of appreciation, cards, or friendly calls can effectively reinforce the good will generated by your gift.

Excerpt taken from and article from Realtor.mag which was published on: 06/01/2004 – to read full article, click here

Closing gift ideas

Confluence Books
www.confluencebooks.com
800/444-5450
The Home Owner’s Journal lets new owners track all activity and expenses related to their purchase and remodel. Customize covers and inside page with your message, contact information, or logo. Check their website for current pricing and price breaks.

Innovative Software LLC
www.bestclosinggift.com
800/999-2734
Homeowners can keep track of all improvements made to their new house with the Complete Home Journal software for PCs. Customize software packaging with your contact information and company name. Check website for pricing, volume discounts available.

Kim’s Crafts
www.kimscrafts.com
800/830-5480
Selection of hand-painted slate signs that can be customized with homeowner’s name or address. Handcrafted items for the home produced in Maine. Pricing starts at $14.99 for personalized slate.

SouthernSeason
www.southernseason.com
866/253-5317
Gourmet foods, candies, baked goods, and snacks. Special line of gift baskets and samplers created specifically as closing gifts. Pricing starts under $30.

The Amana Meat Shop
www.theAmanaMeatShop.com
1-800-373-6328
© Amana Meat Shop & Smokehouse Order delicious smoked specialties, mouthwatering steaks and chops, and premium gift boxes from the Amana Meat Shop & Smokehouse. I have used this and this is a meat lover’s dream – yum!

The Gift of Portraits
www.giftofportraits.com/
Portraits and drawings have become less popular in our modern times, making the gift of a house portrait all that much more unique. In addition these house portraits can also be affordable; you can provide a long lasting memento without breaking your budget. Imagine the look on the recipients face when you present this lovely, professionally rendered home portrait. It will be a gift they won’t just toss in a drawer, but that they will enjoy and treasure forever. I wish I knew about this – this looks great and surprisingly not that expensive.

Fred Lake – Address Stamps
www.fredlake.perfectclosinggift.com
It’s personal. This great gift has your marketing information on the front of each stamp. Plus, each stamp is customized with your clients’ address.

Pure Country
www.PureCountry.com
Pure Country is the largest custom textile company in the world. We have helped thousands of individuals and organizations create custom woven throws, pillows, and wall hangings. This is the company I used and at the time, were very friendly and very very easy to work with. I still have my afghans and they wash up great! (and even hang on the line well.)

These are just a few suggestions. I would love to hear what you give – please post below. I can always use more great ideas!!

I attended a webinar yesterday by Joe Stumpf, “ByRefferalsOnly”.

The basic premise of his 3 hour webinar is that you need to maintain contact with your client base and to be introduced to their sphere of influence. Yeah, we all know that …. but we are taught to ask for “referrals” and not asked to be “introduced”. There is a difference. How? More personal and actually has your client engaged. Stumpf gave a script I would like to share with you. Just give me a call.

A lot of his session also explains it’s such more cost effective building a (for lack of a better word) referral business than throwing dollars primarily on lead generation and print ads. Though needed, not a good way to actually plan and harvest concrete leads. A client who really likes you and trusts you will be happy to help your business and introduce you to their friend, family, or neighbors who they think need your help. It makes them feel good – then you thank them.

One HUGE revelation was to ask for introductions early on in the relationship – right when you start working with your buyer and seller. We always think to ask AFTER the closing, but all their talk to others is early on. Makes sense –  asking while the iron is hot and it is foremost in their mind.

This was a web-fo-mercial, but did have a lot of great useful tidbits of information – free – but it was to have you purchase his complete session. It may be worth it, you’d have to check it out yourself. However, it did give me food for thought and some great suggestions for reading. I will expound on those later.

Link to Joe Stumpf