Imagine you’re at a coffee shop. You see your mother. You greet her and talk a bit. Then the next day, you’re at the same coffee shop. You see your former neighbor. You catch up. Then the next day, you meet someone new in line and chat while you wait.
Would you have the same conversation three times?
Chances are, you wouldn’t. And that’s how the folks at Happy Grasshopper want you to think about the way you communicate via email — how you know them should dictate how you communicate.
And that means dumping all your contacts into the same database as the one you have from your lead generation form isn’t the best approach.
To get started, HG suggests splitting the pool into two buckets:
- The Sphere (People who know you)
- New Leads (People who don’t know you)
Talk to your sphere. They like you!
Just like in that imaginary coffee shop, you’ll speak to the folks you know differently from those you don’t. You might not even talk to them about real estate. In fact — you should only talk about real estate about 20% of the time!
“If you’re sending them marketing materials or updates on the real estate market – you really aren’t keeping in touch or communicating with them,” HG explains. “You’re broadcasting something they’re not interested in, instead of listening to them or providing content of value. What they like about you is YOU.”
Show new leads what makes you YOU
Folks that don’t know you don’t know what makes you unique… yet. Email is a great opportunity to do the two things you need to do to move new leads from one bucket into the other.
Establish trust and differentiate yourself!
“For example, say you’re Charlie Chaplin and you’re funny,” explains HG. “You bring an interesting perspective to the table by lightening the stress when you have to point out problems with your client’s dream home. That’s the information you’ll want to share with your prospects.”
For more on nurturing your sphere and new leads via email, check out Happy Grasshopper.
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