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Posts Tagged ‘relationship building’

How to Avoid Bunny Trails When You Work Online

Posted on: January 30th, 2012 by Beth Heilman


Facebook and YouTube and LinkedIn, oh my. You know how it goes. You start your day of work online innocently enough logging in to your Twitter account. You see a few tweets with interesting links you want to check out…

Then of course you need to check out Facebook, too. Need to stay on top of the most current streams so you're "in the know" for your customers…

Oh, and then you remember the Farmville invitation you got from your cousin on the East Coast. It won't hurt to play for just a little while.

Next thing you know, you look at the clock and "Oh CRAP!!".

It's noon and nothing on you desk has gotten done. Sound familiar? Know anybody who does that (because we know it's not YOU!!) wink, wink

Ok, enough kidding and I'm certainly not scolding. When you use the Social Media sites for your business, they open up a world of
possibilities that weren't even available a few years ago, but be warned.

They can become the black hole of your productivity and an endless supply of bunny trails if you're not careful. What to do? Thanks, glad you asked 🙂

First and foremost, have your day planned ahead of time. If you don't have a planner or daily calendar or at least a pad of paper with a to-do list sitting on your desk, run to the store and get one…now. You'll be a whole lot less likely to roam around in cyberland if you have a plan.

Second, get thee a timer. Doesn't matter what kind…egg timer, digital timer, stop watch, set the alarm on your phone; something that you can set for a specific amount of time and preferably something that makes a loud, obnoxious noise when it's time to get your nose out of the cyber-barn.

You have important work to do and while it's okay to veg out for a few minutes with some of that stuff, collecting virtual cows and
chickens ain't gonna pay the power bill. Agreed? Moooooving on…

Third tip-o'-the-day is to automate. As much as possible you want to schedule tweets, article posts and the like in programs like Social Oomph ( SocialOomph.com) or my personal favorite, Hootsuite (hootsuite.com) Both of these have free and paid versions, both allow for scheduling and posting tweets and updates ahead of time. What a time saver!!

Hootsuite is great because you can hook your YouTube channel, Facebook (both personal profile and business page) and LinkedIn profile and access them all from one dashboard. Now, pre-programming everything will never take the place of live interaction and it's not supposed to.

Social Media is meant to be just that, social. But isn't it nice to be able to pop in to engage in a conversation and pop back out to take care of something in the "real world" (like say, meeting with a client or feeding your kid) and because you programmed things to post throughout the day, your content is getting seen even if you aren't. Bonus!!

And one more thing about Hootsuite. They have an app for iPhone and Android so you can set everything up over the phone!! It's a
HOOT!!…sweet! ;)

So there you have it. Three simple recommendations to corral those bunnies and keep your work day on track. Simple, yes. Sometimes the things that work the best aren't complicated at all. You have work to do…now hop to it.

This is where I ask what your favorite tools are to keep you on the straight and narrow in your business. Please do share below in the comment section. You'll be helping lots of other folks and they thank you…and so do I. Until then…

To Your Success,
Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth 🙂

Career Change Agent, Social Media Maven and Realtor Extraordinaire, Beth Heilman is a 20 year Real Estate veteran and Owner/CEO of Red Leopard Marketing, a Social Media Marketing company created to help small businesses and solopreneurs "Connect the Spots Online". Beth is a 30 year Las Vegas resident, a mother of four great kiddos and a "gramita" to 10 wonderful grandmunchkins. Her philosophy in business and in life is "when you do the right things for the right reasons, you'll always succeed" and "there is always a way". Do you believe that? You should… 🙂

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Hot Off The Press!! “Read Their Mind – How To Hear What The Marketplace Wants & Build A Huge Business”

Posted on: November 9th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

You know me and you know I don't recommend anything lightly. If it's not going to help you move your business forward, you won't find it on here. This book is a must-have for your library.  If you're marketing your business online, do yourself a major favor and grab a copy of Sandi Krakowski's new book, Read Their Mind – How To Hear What The Marketplace Wants & Build A Huge Business

If you haven't gotten your copy yet. RUN…don't walk, RUN and get yours now…FREE. Click on this link, http://www.arealchange.com/blog/read-mind-book-tour download the book and absorb every word. It's that good.

Matter of fact, here's a photo of my son Emanuel and I on the day Read Their Mind arrived. I do believe it had something to do with him aquireing his Power Ranger super powers 🙂

Enjoy the book and leave me a comment. I'd love to hear what you learned (and applied) from it 🙂

Here's the link again http://www.arealchange.com/blog/read-mind-book-tour

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The Number One Speed Bump to An Entrepreneur’s Success

Posted on: October 24th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

While it's no secret that going into business for yourself can be a challenge ( heck, it can be downright scary), but the number one speed bump on the road to success is one itty bitty word…sales.

For some folks, just the thought of having to sell something to someone makes them break out in a cold sweat like they have the latest strain of the flu.

Why is this? As someone who made the bulk of her living as a Real Estate Agent for 20 years, and making commission-only at that, the idea of helping a customer solve a problem with a product I represent makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over. Selling them what they need is actually serving them.

To withhold what I know will help them solve a pressing problem or make them feel better actually feels selfish…now.

There was a time however when I could completely relate to how my sales team and coaching clients feel.

Sales was scary. There were sales trainers teaching techniques that were in a word…manipulative. It felt unnatural to memorize 20 different closes (remember the Ben Franklin close?).

Today, sales is all about building relationships and to that I say, "Yipee!!"

For entrepreneurs that should be a breath of fresh air.

Most entrepreneurs are "people people" and creating and nurturing relationships is what we do best. Things change though when that "sales" words gets tacked to it.

It's time to stop all the weirdness and get comfortable with the idea of serving your customers by getting them involved with your product or service.

Want to feel comfortable with the sales process and smooth out the speedbump? Put the focus on serving your customer with what you have to offer and take the focus off feeling like you're doing something "to them". You'll succeed when it becomes about them and what they want. The result will show themselves in happy, repeat customers; a sense of pride and satifaction is your business and oh, a healthy bank account.

How do you feel about the selling process in your business? Are you satisfied with it or are there things you want to change? Leave a comment below and let's talk. Until then…Make it  wondermous day 🙂

To your Sales Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth
 

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You Call That Customer Service…Really?

Posted on: September 26th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Customer service is a subject that should be on the top of the list for every business, but especially when you're a small business or an entrepreneur.

I had something happen to me yesterday that still has me asking, "Huh? You really just said that?"

Here's the skinny. As most of you know, in my "other life" I'm a Realtor and although I don't do it full time, I do still work with referral
clients.

In this particular situation, I was the referral agent for someone who rented a house. Easy transaction. Show the client the house, send them to the agent who has the house listed (with all necessary paperwork in hand), client rents the house, I get paid. No brainer, right?

Not!

My client had been in her new house for over a month and I had still not been paid. Now, sometimes the listing broker doesn't cut the checks until the first of the month and I understand that, but it was now 22 days past the first.

I had called the agent on the other end (the one who listed the house) over a week ago and she assured me she had turned in all the paperwork and given the file to her broker. I believed her.

I called the office where she worked to find out the status of my money and was told by the agent who answered the phone (without her skipping a beat, mind you) that the check had been sent out the previous Friday. Hmmmm…curious, but OK I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

When a week went by and still no check, I called again. This time I got to the Broker. The conversation we had is the reason I'm writing this.

After giving me all the excuses about how the agent was on bed rest, she was just handed the file, she had no idea about the details on the property, did I know she needed more paperwork from my broker (nope, it was never mentioned) blah, blah, blah, she stated not once, not twice, but a minimum of five times that "she didn't even know I existed". Nice.

I feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Seems she didn't look all the way through her paperwork (which is her responsibility to do) and I had just "fallen through the cracks". Again, her words. Just wants to make you join hands and sing "Kumbaya" don't it? 🙂

Folks, this is anti-customer service at it's finest. All I got was a laundry list of excuses and not once did she apologize. Still haven't
gotten the referral fee either.

What's the lesson to be learned here? Customers are the reason you're in business and should be treated with respect…always. I know, there will be a few turkeys in the bunch, but even turkeys need respect. You never know which one may refer you business down the road.

When dealing with customers and clients, the Golden Rule should always be applied. Treat your customers the way you want to be treated. You may be having a bad hair day, you may have PMS, you may have just had a fight with your spouse, your kid may have used your good shower curtain as a towel to wipe a glob of vaseline off his hands (don't ask 🙂 ).

Whatever is going on in your world, for the most part your customer doesn't care (nor should they). Your job is to serve your customers with the honor and respect they deserve. Your reward will be their loyalty and a nice healthy bank account. Pretty good deal, huh?

Have any anti-customer service experiences you'd like to share? I'd love to hear 'em (keep it clean, please. All expletives will be deleted 🙂 ) Businesses and customers are scared these days and I see customer service slipping big time. Let's decide together to turn that around. It all starts with us. Have a great one…
 

Sonrisas (smiles),
Beth 
 

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Your Ideal Client: Narrow Your Focus For A Broader Reach

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

As small business owners, it makes sense to reach out to as many potential customers as we humanly can.The reasoning behind this is that the more people we can see, talk to or get to visit us the more we’ll sell, right?

Well…no.

It sounds counter-intuitive I know, but not everyone is your customer. That’s a good thing…really.

Let me ask you something…

Is it easier to write, video or speak a marketing message that tries to attract the attention of a huge group of people? Or is it easier to concentrate on a very specific problem that a specific group of people is having and speak to that.

Ideal Client

I’m thinkin’ it’s the second one. Here’s an example…

Years ago I was very active in a Direct Sales Company that sold skin care products. The products were fabulous (still are) and the general feeling of the powers-that-be of the company was that it should be a no-brainer to sell because “everyone has skin”.

Yes, everyone DOES have skin, but not everyone wants the sames results for their skin.

Some is dry, some is oily, some has break-outs, some is getting kinda crinkly around the edges. You get the idea, right?

The best and most effective way to sell in any business (yes, I said sell. It’s not a bad word) is to narrow your focus and identify the customers you want to work with and help the most. Direct all your marketing towards them.

Talk to them like you’d talk with a friend over lunch and see how easy (and fun) it is to build a relationship with them that will keep them a customer for years to come. Narrowing your focus won’t cut down on the number of people you serve. It will strengthen your relationship with the right people…your ideal customers.

How do you figure out who your Ideal Client is and where do you find them? Stay tuned for the next post and I’ll tell ya 🙂

In the mean time, your input is really important to me. Leave a comment below and let me know how I can help you in your business. Til next time…

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