Poke, Buzz, Tweet…but Don’t Forget to Meet!

RISMedia
Published: 06/07/2012
Posted by: RET Staff

In my humble opinion, social media is a beautiful vehicle for staying front of mind with consumers and keeping in touch with the people you care about. The problem is, so many agents think they can stop prospecting because social networking is now possible. However, that's simply not the case. In the past 12 months, I can attribute over $1 million in sold real estate in my business specifically to Facebook, but the majority of my business still came from good, old-fashioned marketing methods.

I was talking to Bill Scott, senior vice president of a successful real estate company, recently about a topic for an upcoming event at which I was asked to speak and he came up with "Poke, buzz, tweet...but don't forget to call and meet." That became the topic for my speech and a very successful series of events. The second half of that phrase is exactly how I feel about social media: "Don't forget to call and meet."

As I work with more and more Top 5 agents around the country, many tell me that as much as 75 percent of their business comes from repeat and referral business. That is a huge number! They feel social media is important, but not as important as a good, old-fashioned lunch appointment, phone call or even stopping by a prospect's work or home for a quick visit. That in-person touch screams professionalism and sets them apart from the masses who believe a simple "thumbs up" on Facebook is enough to call it a day. Don't get me wrong, I love social media, but when I talk to brokers and managers that are frustrated when they see their agents on Facebook under the pretense that they are prospecting, I certainly understand their concern.