← Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Episode 814: Why Client Events Outperform Every Real Estate Ad
00:11:35
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Here's something that I think a lot of agents overthink or completely ignore, and that's client appreciation events. We're heading into March and April's right around the corner, which means spring is here. People are in a good mood. I hope they're in a good mood. Families are looking to do things with their kids. It's the perfect time for you to throw an event for your past clients, your sphere, or your community. Let me walk you through exactly how I think about this and. And how you can plan one without it becoming a stressful project. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast. It's a show, five to ten minutes every single day. I've run now lab coats for 12 years, been in business for 22 years, coaching company for six years. It's a brilliant tribe. And now a national brokerage called Y Realty, opening up in different states. Let's talk about this because I think it has a lot of value. I was talking to Michael Mayer, you know, the author of Seven Levels of Communication, and he brought this up to me because this is where I learned it from. So first, let's talk about why you should even do this. And I'll keep it simple. Relationships enclose transactions. That really is the biggest reason. And I've said this a few times, maybe a hundred times, maybe a thousand times, and I'll keep saying it because it's true. The agents who consistently stay in front of their people, not with salesy stuff, but with genuine connection, those are the agents who get the referrals, who get the repeat business, who build something that lasts. A client appreciation event is one of the highest ROI things you can do in your business relationships, just in general, because people connect with you in a completely different way when they see you in person and. And it's an event for them, they feel the gratitude. Right? You're not cold calling, which by the way, I used to do a lot. I do it less now. You're not chasing, which I don't really like to do either. You're inviting people who already know you, already like you, and definitely trust you, and you're giving them a reason to remember you and talk about you to their friends. That's it. That's the whole strategy. Kind of nuts right? Now. Let's talk about what kind of event throw. And this is where people get stuck. They think it has to do with huge production, a lot of money spent, multiple days of planning, and really it doesn't. Here's some ideas. All Right. So you know, March and April are coming up. Easter egg hunt, perfect for March or April. You find a local park, you buy a bunch of eggs, you fill them with candy and prizes. Maybe you get someone to dress up as an Easter bunny. Hopefully it's not you. And, and you've got pictures, you've got a photographer that'll probably do it for free because they'll get business from this if it's done right. Families love it, kids love it. It's simple and it works. Movie night. You've heard this? Movie night at the park, maybe. Well, this is one of my favorites. We've done it at the park. We've done it in a smaller setting outside of. What was it, a coffee shop, which was nice. Right? We've done it at night and we've done it in so many. We've done it at the theater, obviously. Right. You can do it indoors, local venues, outdoors, it doesn't matter. Just depends on the weather. Set up a screen, get popcorn machines, some snacks, pick a family friendly movie and just let people enjoy it. Super low stress wine and cheese mixer. If your market is more luxury or you work with a lot of adults, without kids or maybe even with kids. Makes a bigger difference, doesn't it? This is a great one. Partner with a local restaurant or wine bar, do a little tasting, play music, keep it classy. A good one. Barbecue or cookout? Classic. I've also done this one. Everyone loves food. Throw in some lawn games, Maybe a bounce house for kids. You know, we did this one for Halloween, so we mixed it both Halloween and barbecue, which was great. We had a balloon person. It was very kid friendly. But listen, you've got yourself a party if you just want to do barbecue in this stuff. Or you can keep it even simpler than all of that. A pie giveaway. And you know you've done pie giveaways or at least you've thought about them, right? I know I have. Or one of my favorites that I have done, a coffee and donuts morning. That one's really good. On the way to work, on the way back. Whatever you want to do, just pick a local coffee shop that you can then create a relationship with. There a game night at a local brewery. The event doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. It just has to be intentional, have purpose. All right, so once you pick your event, here's how to plan it without losing your mind. I like to work on about six to eight weeks in timeline. So if you don't have that much time, it might be A good idea to push it back a little bit. Just plan ahead. Six to eight weeks out. Pick your event type, you lock in the date, you secure a venue or a location, and you set a budget. That's it. Just make those four decisions. And you're already ahead of most agents because most agents don't plan that far ahead. I know because I work with some of you. Four to five weeks out, you design your invitations. Could be digital invite, could be a printed card, could be a simple text message. You also want to finalize your food and drink situation and book any vendors that you need. Make sure you get that done early. Two to three weeks out, you send those invitations, you order your supplies, your decorations, whatever you need. And you plan out any activities or entertainment. Now in between this time, you have permission to reach out to people because they said, yeah, I want to go. Once they give you that heads up, I want to go, then you should be reaching out by email, by text, by call, by email, again, by video. All of these people have said, yeah, we want to be part of this. So it gives you a reason to reach out and thank them and let them know what to expect. Just get into a habit of that. I learned that one from Michael Mayer, who's a really good addition. One week out, you're confirming RSVPs, finalizing your head count and prepping any giveaways or gifts. I always like to have a little something for people to take home. Goodie bags or some type of a giveaway, right? A branded item, a gift card, Something that keeps me top of mind. Do the same now. The day before, set up, walk through the venue, test your equipment, make sure everything is ready to go so that the day of your event your not scrambling. And then you show up early, early prepared. Drink coffee if you need to, don't get any alcohol in your system, please. Five hour energy drink. Whatever you do just to get ready, right? And you're there, you greet people. Or better yet, you have a table that has a greeter and then they kind of direct the traffic, which is probably the more the better thing to do, right? Have a greeter, direct traffic and then say, oh, there's Tristan over there. Let me have somebody take you over there, say hello to him as he's doing his thing. Do the same thing, right? Greet everybody. Have that single point of inception. You take photos, they can guide them to the pictures. That energy sets the tone. It's also organized. If you're relaxed and having fun, guess what? Everyone will be having fun too. Now let me Talk about budget for a second here, because I know that that's on your mind. Here's my rule of thumb. Try to keep it between 15 and $50 per person, depending on the type of event. An Easter egg hunt at the park might cost you $15 per person. About a wine mixer might be closer to 50. Either way, if you have 50 people show up and you spend $2,000 and you get two or three transactions from it over probably a year, what's that worth? 30, 40, $50,000 in commission? I don't know what area you're in, but the math works out every single time. Now there's also your ability to team up with somebody that might help you with that. Like we do, right? We partner up with different partners depending on your state, depending on the brokerage. Just ask around because some are willing to help you out. Hey, here's a pro tip. You don't have to eat the whole cost yourself, okay? Remember that you can partner with your lender, partner with a home inspector, partner with a home warranty person, partner with the local restaurant, partner with the coffee shop on the days that they're just not doing that well because it's maybe a harder day of the week and they're going to give you a big discount on coffee and donuts or whatever it is, right? That's the pro tip. You don't have to handle this all on your own. A lot of these people want access to your clients too, and most of them are happy to co sponsor this and split the cost with you at $2,000. Now it's only $1,000, so start thinking that way because it helps out a lot. Now, last thing, the follow up, which is probably the most important piece because the event's not over when the last person leaves, the event's over when you're done with your follow up. That's how you have to think. With 48 hours past. You're going to send out a thank you text, handwritten note. If you don't want to do it, have somebody else on your team do it, an email, whatever feels right for the relationship you want to build here. But these are all opportunities to connect with people and you post the photos on social media and tag people. Everyone loves seeing themselves at a fun event. You send out the link for the photo album if you had a photographer. That gives a photographer the ability to also ask people if they want to pay for other pictures that were taken, right? Or maybe another opportunity anyway, most importantly, you add all of these people to your database or you refresh their interest in your database, and if they weren't on, you added them at that table because you got their email address and you connected with them more. I usually ask people if they want to bring a friend, just tell me who's coming, right? And now you just added more people to that database. And those people that committed to you and said, tristan, I want to go. Count on me. And then they don't end up coming. Well, that's okay, because I'm calling them and say, hey, sorry. Sorry you couldn't make it. Is it okay if I invite you to the next events that we do? And they'll feel bad. They'll be like, tristan, I'm so sorry I couldn't make it. Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. We wanted you here. I hope everything's okay. Like, yeah, everything's fine. Just had this or that. Listen, I might have somebody for you, and you'll end up getting referrals that way as well. Look at the end here, I want you to take a look at what worked, what didn't work, what would you do differently? And you start planning the next one. Should it be bigger, should it be smaller? The same. But the key is, I want you to build this consistency with this community that you have. One event is nice, but four events a year, that's when you start gaining this momentum, because it's all about consistency over a long period of time. So here's my challenge to you. March and April are right around the corner. Pick one event, just one. Make it. Make it easy for you, or make it big. Block out the date. Start planning, you know, six to eight weeks. You don't need to have it all figured out. You'll start, and then you'll mess up. It's okay. And then you get it right or you get it better the next time. And it's all about the connection. The connection in person. Every single time. You show up for the people, and guess what? They show up for you. So that's it for today. Go make this happen and share this with somebody you think may need this. Have an awesome day.