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What’s the primary idea that pops in your head when someone talks to you about a referral letter marketing method for Realtors? You probably suppose I’m talking about getting testimonials from your past clients to utilize in your marketing, correct?

That can also be an outstanding marketing method for Realtors. But, I’m referring to you getting a career-long stream of clients from other respected professionals in your region. And you’ll only have to write a short little letter telling them how fantastic of a Realtor you are.

This is how I’d sum up referral letter marketing for real estate agents: Grab a list of respected professionals in your neighbourhood that may have the same type of clients you do. Then you need to compose a individualized letter about yourself and send it, by regular mail, to your list of professionals.

Try to be creative in terms of the mailing package or envelope you use as well as including a distinctive marketing piece with your letter. Be consistent about following up with each professional by telephone, regular mail or e-mail at least 1 occasion each month.

It’s okay to copy what the top producing agents are doing, simply put your own style into it.

1st, let’s start a list of professionals that in fact have the clients you can work with…

- CPAs

- Loan Officers (likely goes without saying, correct?)

- Financial Planners (certified)

- Attorneys

- Building Contractors

- Appraisers (residential or commercial)

- Electricians

- Plumbers

- Landscaping Companies

- Roofers

- Tree Service Companies

- Handymen (residential)

- Get the concept?…

You’re probably wondering how to get all these professional’s info to advertise to, correct? No worries, it’s straight forward. You have a duo of options, depending on how much cash you hold in your marketing budget.

One choice is to search the yellow pages online. You should already have a geographic area you stick to so you’ll want to remain within that region, for the most part. The manual labor is the time consuming aspect about this alternative.

You have to move through each person listed and get their name, phone number and mailing address. It may take you a while but if you have more time than marketing dollars, this is the route to go.

A separate alternative for compiling your list of well-thought-of professionals is to easily purchase a list. Exactly like you’re probably on a Realtor list for sale to people, just about every other profession has their own list for sale as well.

This isn’t some kind of “black market” or unethical list, don’t be concerned. Some individuals don’t know but these types of lists are compiled and available for sale whenever professionals, like us real estate agents, join an association or offer their info to a publication that they subscribe to.

Surprised?

There are quite a few list companies out there to pick from. Rather than going to one list company for a list of attorneys and another company for financial planners, you should choose a company that provides all the professions you want in one place. Purchasing your list will cost you some marketing dollars but you’ll salvage yourself a pant load of agony and working hours.

So once you have this marketing list of professionals (however you choose to generate it), it’s time to pen your very personalized “referral letter”. I’m not going to get into how to write sales copy here though. That’s certainly a topic all on it’s own.

Just grasp for now that you don’t want your referral letter to be a “sales letter”.

When one of these professionals gets this referral marketing letter, they ought to feel like they’re the only one who got it, even though you possibly could replicate most of it and mail it to other professionals.

The trick is writing your letter as if you were speaking to each professional in-person. Don’t apply the same bland language that your bank does when they send you a lifeless letter in the mail. Catch the reader’s attention, write to them like a sincere human being and not like an institution.

What the heart of this letter needs to tell them is that you want to refer business back and forth, not merely take and take and take from them. The big idea is for you to become these professionals “Realtor on-demand”, so to speak, and get all their client referrals for the rest of your career. Don’t tick off these professionals by “selling” them, but alternatively, show them however they’re going to gain, okay?

If you know something personal about their company or the area they work in, throw it in the letter. If you know of a client who’s worked with them, drop that in there also. Unless you gossip about their momma, for some reason, it’s almost unimaginable for you to get excessively personal in your letter.

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My suggestion would be to definitely create this referral marketing letter in your own words. But, if you absolutely hate penning this sort of marketing letter, your other choice is to get hold of a good freelance writer to do it.

To find various self-employed writers, you can Google “self-employed writers for hire” and check out several of your options there for companies to utilize. With some companies, they even permit you to sort through their writers from across the globe. You can check reviews on most of the writers, determine their hourly rates, send them “interview” questions, etc. You can even post the job you’re looking to fulfill and get writers to come to you. really slick.

O.K., so now that you have your marketing list and referral letter scripted, it’s time to mail it out. But please, no matter what you do, do not send your letter in an ordinary, plain envelope similar to every other “schmo” does that sends mail to these professionals… please!

Instead, grab a unique looking envelope that has a little unique size or color to it. You want that letter to stand out from all the other mail this gentleman or gal is getting that day. I would also hand-write the address and return address, as it’ll come across more personalized to the recipient.

Simply think how you opened your mail today. Exactly, letters that have hand-written addresses always get priority!

Next, you want to enclose a marketing piece, other than just your letter. A creative marketing suggestion possibly could be a DVD that you create through Animoto, showcasing yourself (not as daunting as it sounds).

One of my friends, a life insurance salesman, sent out a similar mailing and included poker chips with his contact info on them. The slogan he printed on the poker chips was “Don’t even think about gambling with your life”.

Sheer genius. If you want to be a top producing Realtor like the “big boys”, that’s the kind of thought you need to come up with, or at least be aware of where to get them!

Getting back to this referral letter, I’d recommend that you point them not only to your telephone number but also your website or blog. Make sure you offer them both options. Certain Folks would rather call you and others would preferably look over your website first.

The final step we’ll cover is absolutely critical. Repetition is crucial with any marketing idea you select, especially when mailing letters, as we’re talking about. Statistics from the marketing industry prove that a potential customer needs to be exposed to your message at least 7 times, on average, before they are comfortable enough to respond.

So it’s obviously important to keep following-up with these professionals on your list. I’d say shoot for once per month, either by telephone or another letter, after you make the initial follow up telephone call after your first mailing. If you were able to find or buy their email address, feel free to begin emailing them too.

As it is with dating, you want to be careful to not smother and annoy them or else you can count on never receiving referrals from them, ever. It’s a fine line but you need to tell them why you should be their “go-to” Realtor without coming across in a rude or irritating manner.

A small time saving tip: if there’s cash in your marketing budget, try hiring a college student or high school teen to stuff your mailers for you. write the letters yourself but have your hired-assistant stuff the envelopes with your letters and marketing pieces.

This sort of hired-hand will be about as inexpensive as you can get and you’ll save so much time that you won’t know what to do with yourself.

Seriously, this is just one of the best, long-term and short-term marketing ideas for Realtors. In the long-run, you can find yourself with a substantial flood of customer referrals from these professionals, as long as you devote yourself to forming these relationships.