Pot Of Gold
Gail Robinson gave me a nice segue for my follow-up post to Tracking Important Dates. How do I get those dates? I ask! They say yes by answering or no by not responding. No hurt feelings here. (I’m not asking for a Social or how much she weighs.) When they do answer, they’ve given me a pot of gold worth of insight into who they are, their likes and lifestyle. Things that I’d never know unless I asked.
Sugar and Everything Nice
Now that you know what to do with the information once you get it, let’s talk about how to beat it out of them – with politeness and thanks, of course. It’s all in the way you phrase it. So I say something like this:
client appreciation program - Get more Business Plans
You’ll see that the second and third pages are forms for them to fill out. I personalize this for everyone. If they don’t have kids, they don’t get that section. If I’ve already gotten some bits of info, then I remove that too. You get the idea.
I typically email these so they can fill it out by tabbing through. If it’s a client who’s not a heavy emailer, then I print and mail it with a stamped return envelope.
The Tab Skinny
Tab what? It’s a Word document. Start with setting up your Toolbar. Click View, scroll down to Toolbars, scroll down to Forms then click. You’ll see the new toolbar pop up.
To allow them to type in information, click on ab. For checkboxes – you got it! – click on the box with the checkmark. The all-important-don’t-forget last step is to click on the Lock. If you don’t lock it, it won’t work!
What’s totally awesome is showing up with something they love – whether it’s their birthday, anniversary, house warming party, whatever! I went to a signing – there’s no debate for me about going to them – with a bottle of good (read expensive) Tequila, Margarita mix and all the fixins. My clients were completely shocked – how in the world did I know they like Tequila? They told me! It was months previous, but they told me. I went to a house warming party and I knew those clients love to travel. How did I know that? I asked! I brought a coffee table book with beautiful pictures of Africa. How did I know which book to get? I’m linked to them on Facebook. 🙂
Ricardo Bueno
June 5, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Now that’s getting personal! Smooth Vicki…very smooth. I used to send out surveys and got an “ok” response rate. Now I stick to follow up calls and note cards.
Matthew Rathbun
June 6, 2008 at 8:48 am
Every time you write, I become an even bigger fan! Well done.
Benn Rosales
June 6, 2008 at 9:09 am
Vicki, this is absolutely outstanding. We all talk a lot about relationships and knowing your clients but this is just brilliant. Just the idea of your taking the time with each client as you’ve shown here raises you as an agent to an untouchable level. Mastery of sincere longterm relationships is no easy task, but you make it so easy here with just being thoughtful.
Danilo Bogdanovic
June 6, 2008 at 10:18 am
This is a tricky subject for some agents because they feel like they’re prying. But your approach is non-intrusive and sincere and a great option for those who aren’t doing something like this already (or even those who want to tweak what they already have).
Great post and suggestion!
Don Reedy
June 6, 2008 at 11:17 am
Vicki,
This is an example of how a great agent does great work. All of us know you can’t “do a goal”, but you can “do tasks” that make that goal a reality. In this one short, magnificent post, you DID it. Congrats!
Jayson
June 6, 2008 at 11:22 am
That’s incredible – I’d be pretty impressed if my agent showed up at the door with something I mentioned in a survey months earlier. It takes the relationship to a whole new level and would definitely warrant a few referrals. Thanks Vicki
Tyler, The Wealth Creation Guy
June 6, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Good stuff Vicki. I like including a stamped envelope. I bet that increases your responses quite a bit!
Keep up the great work!
Ricardo Bueno
June 6, 2008 at 6:39 pm
@Danilo: it’s interesting that you point out that some agents would feel they’re prying… Isn’t part of the process (during meetings and paperwork) to ask “some” questions in an effort to steer away of those “dry and dead” moments?
It should be natural to get converse with people and say “hey…how’s it goin’?”
Vicki Moore
June 6, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Glad you all like it. I hope if you’re not doing it or something similar you’ll give it a try. It’s super fun to get someone a gift you know they’re going to like. It’s a great way to bond, showing someone how much you care about them.
Paula Henry
June 7, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Classic and Smart! It is truly the little things we remember that make our clients feel special and keep their referrals coming in.
Vicki Moore
June 9, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Thanks Paula!