One of the interesting things about reading cutting edge, real estate thinkers here and elsewhere is how, every now and then, we miss the forest for all the trees. I think you know what I’m saying: someone will post about a new technology or share an idea or reveal a new twist or just plain inspire and the conversation will take off. Pretty soon, an ol’ balloon-popper like Jeff Brown will wander by and yell through the ivory-framed window: “Hey! Skinned any cats lately?” Then he’ll pick up his pelt bag and head down to the bank.
I saw this last week on a great post by Mark Green, who wrote a piece called Please Get Out of My Face(book) that touched on some good rules of thumb for the best use of social media tools like Facebook. There were some pretty interesting comments and the conversation expanded on some of the ideas in Mark’s post. Then, a couple days after the comments ended, a new comment went up. It was late and it was overlooked and it reminded me how often we resemble less a cat skinner and more Elmer Fudd in the cartoon where he’s so busy getting ready to go deer hunting – talking about how great it’s going to be with Porky Pig and sharing his newest, shiniest gizmo – that he doesn’t notice the 12 point buck meander right past the cabin.
Laura Evans wrote the comment. For purposes of full disclosure: I’ve known Laura in the real world for some time. Here’s her comment (I’ve edited for length & the emphasis is mine):
Mark makes some great points about how to use Social Networking tools. I’m not in the Facebook game for marketing purposes, purely social for me. However if I were, I think my strategy for this powerful tool would be slightly different.
First, I would establish a goal. In your world, I presume it would be to build your sphere of influence to sell. So, if the majority of your FB “friends” are in your industry (isn’t LinkedIn a better tool for this?), you need to expand your group of friends. Start with your high school or college classmates and let it grow. You can’t be shy or too selective.
…
I think the points made (in Mark’s post) are important, but not the real power in the relationship-building model of sales. The point of FB as a sales tool is to check in with your contacts, not to assume they are checking in with you.
In addition, although I agree that current events (some) and sports are great conversational topics (I would avoid politics), the Number One conversational topic is family and children. Matter of fact, this is how I would prioritize conversational topics:
- Family and children
- Interest and hobbies
- Sport teams
- College or high school
- Where they grew up or live
- Vacations
- Weekends
- Pets
I presume that most of your clientele have families…just a thought. So, when you check in with your “friends”, you should always look at their photos and never let a status update about a child’s success go without at least a thumbs up “like”. Over time, you may even be able to get birthdays, anniversaries – those all important DATES that are the key to relationship-building sales. Heck, FB already has tools for remembering birthdays…you are halfway home!
I think there’s a lot of gold in Laura’s words, especially when she prioritizes the conversational topics, but that’s not why I’m reprinting them. I imagine when Laura wrote this she said to herself: “If I were an agent, how would I go about using these tools.” But that statement’s not complete; there’s something missing. Something we (those of us in sales and specifically in real estate sales) need to instantly recognize and add. So, let me try that last line again: When Laura wrote this she said to us: “If I were an agent, how would I go about using these tools to attract me as a client.”
If you listen long enough, your clients will tell you how to hunt them. Don’t look now, but I think a 12 point trophy buck just walked by the window.
