“Clients depend on us to assist them with the most expensive purchase that they generally make.  Yet so many times agents in today’s real estate market just do not spend the time they should with their clients — getting to know them as well as their needs.

I found it very important to not only spend the time to get to know your clients, but to also get to know the educational systems within the areas that you primarily work.

Recently, we had real estate agents from numerous offices come to a breakfast sponsored by our local school district.  In addition to a wonderful breakfast held in the Art Gallery of the school district’s Fine Arts Center, the School Superintendent presented a lecture and power point presentation to provide the agents with significant information regarding the schools and their programs.

We than boarded a school bus and toured an elementary school, middle school and high school.  We met the principals of each school had a tour of each schools campus and saw the students in various classes in session.  We found this to be very valuable information that we can pass on to our clients who are interested in moving to the area.

We need to be able to educate our clients above and beyond the home information we provide them.  The more we are educated ourselves, the more they will understand and learn and appreciate what we do for them.

An educated client is a better client to work with.  So continually educate yourself and call your local school system to set up a meet, greet, and tour.  You’ll be glad you did!”

“I am an agent working exclusively in the downtown Los Angeles market.  Although hard to believe, there was no residential market in downtown LA until four years ago when the city realized the value of empty office buildings and the demanding housing market.  

Many developers snapped up these vacant buildings and converted them to live/work lofts.  It’s an exciting market to serve and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.  And initially, there were just a handful of agents working in the downtown market.  Four years later, there are literally hundreds of ‘one time hitters’ and about 30 consistent agents.

When the market turned, the consistent agents (all of whom are known to each other and had been promoting each others properties) formed an association to market and brand our expertise.

It’s a truly remarkable accomplishment as we all work for different agencies and are essentially, competitors.  We meet once a month for breakfast, usually have a guest speaker and discuss marketing options – not as individuals but rather as a group.

Since our inception, we have developed relationships with developers who otherwise would prefer not to do co-op brokering.  By banding together, we have become a distinct group that is able to leverage our ability to bring buyers to the developer projects.”

Right now, this very minute, there are hundreds of ready-to-buy-or-sell clients available for your picking like ripe grapes from a vine.

Yet you don’t know who they are, or where they exist. They don’t know YOU exist. And they certainly don’t know that you are the very best choice to help with their real estate needs.

What if you could tap into a “gold vein” of clients, and harvest as many quality buyers and sellers as you could handle? I’m talking about loyal clients, who are bonded to you, and who qualify and close at the highest rates.

Life would be a whole lot easier, don’t you think?

Well, today I want to introduce you to a marketing strategy so powerful, so profitable, you may never need to do ANY other marketing for clients.

I’m serious. You are about to learn a system for creating explosive growth and income within weeks. It’s so powerful, I’ve had agents tell me they’ve made millions of dollars in GCI with this ONE strategy.

Pay attention here, because I’m going to share with you all the details about how you can harvest millions of dollars of business from creating “Strategic Alliances.”

What is A Strategic Alliance?

A Strategic Alliance is a relationship with a compatible (NOT competitive) product or service provider (for example, accountant, investment advisor, etc.) to create recommendations of your products or services to each other’s client base.

The power of a strategic alliance is in the TRUST both you and your alliance partner have already established with your respective clients.

Think about it…if you were to receive a letter from a trusted service provider (whom you know to be credible) endorsing the services of another company’s product or services, it would positively influence your perception of that business, right?

And if combined with a very valuable offer, it will clearly motivate you to at least try that service.

This is the basis of strategic alliances. It’s a fast and easy way to get new clients and build a million-dollar “house list” in no time flat! And the great thing is, it takes almost no time and very little money.

There are a number of ways strategic alliances can be used. In this article I’ll focus on the two most powerful alliances: “Host” and “Guest” joint ventures.

Strategic Alliance STEP #1:

First, identify all the compatible businesses you know who already have a relationship with clients that could be yours as well.

Ask yourself this question: “Who else in a compatible business has already established trust from a list of clients who could further benefit from my services or business?”

The secret is to find a service provider whose clients best match the markets you serve. And it’s important that they have a formal list of their client base – such as a database.

Compatible businesses could include:

• An investment broker who has a client list he or she has built over the years;
• An accountant who has dealt with home buyers in the past;
• An appraiser, banker, architect, builder or other professional service provider to people whom you would like to be known by;
• A home service provider, such as a landscaper, painter, plumber, pool maintenance, pest control, etc.

Once you have made a list of the potential service providers, you now need to approach one or more of them about your strategic alliance proposition.

Strategic Alliance STEP #2:

OK, once you’ve identified a series of businesses, it’s now time to approach them with your proposition. REMEMBER THIS: Any service provider should turn flips to work with you, because it will mean increased business for them as well.

Hopefully you and your alliance partner already know and trust each other, because that’s the key to endorsing each other’s services.

Would you like a letter to use that’s proven to bring you a barrage of interest from potential Strategic Alliance Partners? OK, try this (remember this is copyrighted to be used in your business ONLY)…

Strategic Alliance STEP #3:

At this point you probably have your partner’s interest. So now you need to create your special offer to each other’s customers/clients.

Here’s the secret: Make your offer appealing in the eyes of your client/customer, simple and easy to understand, and even easier to take advantage-of. Here’s a list of items you want to consider:

• The offer will probably be in the form of a personalized letter from the endorser (other person) to his/her clients. It’s important to have a personalized letter. You can accomplish this by using your database and mail merge capabilities — it’s very easy.
• Your offer must be SPECIAL and EXCLUSIVE to the clients/customers for whom it’s intended. And, it truly must be a special offer for them to even consider it.
• Clearly explain the offer: A free trial, a free consultation, free report, free valuation, discount on your first purchase. Your offer must be strong enough for them to want to try it. And make it easy to understand.
• Tell WHY you are making the offer. Give them the reasons why they’re so special, you’re making them a special offer. What circumstances have created this opportunity?
• The offer must be LIMITED. That is, it must be a one time offer, or available for a limited time.
• Your offer must be RISK-FREE for your clients to consider it. Therefore, it must contain an assurance of satisfaction.

Strategic Alliance STEP #4:

At this point, you need to create an easy and non-threatening response device. It could be a postage-paid response card, a special coupon or certificate, or a hotline or phone number for them to call. I also suggest you have some urgency attached to it, such as an expiration date.

Here’s a tip: Include a bonus or premium with your offer to motivate fast response—an additional gift or offer of value if they take advantage of the offer before your expiration date. Premiums work well, but the premium must have value as well as the main offer.

Strategic Alliance STEP #5:

Get ALL of the names on your database! Once you each start getting response to your respective offers, remember to follow-up. If you can, try to get every name of your partner’s client base in a database file for follow-up mailings. If you cannot, ALWAYS get the name, address, and phone of all people who inquired on your offer. The key to making the offer work is:

• Deliver on your promise. Give them outstanding service and follow-through;
• Start the conversion process: get them on your database and work the “prospect” to “client” to “advocate.” This is very important.
• Cultivate them for a referral or repeat business. Even if they don’t do business with you right now, you need to keep the conversion process going!
• Continue to provide value, even if they don’t buy. Get them on your newsletter list, send occasional article reprints, make future offers to them. Never let them go!

With a little practice, you’ll be creating strategic alliances and building your income and house list in no time. But don’t forget the conversion process. The only way to make the process work is with continual, personal contact; giving continued value; and motivating referrals and new/repeat business.

[Ed note: This article is a small excerpt from the "Fast-Track to Success" Turn-Key Real Estate Business Building System. To learn more about this system click here.]

This idea submitted by agent Melody Pike explains how her local chamber of commerce sent out a spotlight article with her name and picture to all area residents… at no cost to her beyond the normal dues.

Here she is in her own words…

“Find out what it takes to become a chamber member and the benefits. In some smaller town’s chamber of commerce, if you become a new member they will do a spot light article on you in the monthly news print.

Check with the chamber to see if they do this and ask if you could be of some help by writing the article about you and provide a photo. The chamber I became a member of loved the idea and gave me a larger spot with the photo in the middle of the article.

It saved their staff time and allowed them to adjust the ad or space as needed. I ended up getting a great spot in the local chamber of commerce mailing that went to most of the area residents all for the price of the yearly chamber fees which I was going to do any way.”