One of the interesting things about reading cutting edge, real estate thinkers here and elsewhere is how, every now and then, we miss the forest for all the trees. I think you know what I’m saying: someone will post about a new technology or share an idea or reveal a new twist or just plain inspire and the conversation will take off. Pretty soon, an ol’ balloon-popper like Jeff Brown will wander by and yell through the ivory-framed window: “Hey! Skinned any cats lately?” Then he’ll pick up his pelt bag and head down to the bank.
I saw this last week on a great post by Mark Green, who wrote a piece called Please Get Out of My Face(book) that touched on some good rules of thumb for the best use of social media tools like Facebook. There were some pretty interesting comments and the conversation expanded on some of the ideas in Mark’s post. Then, a couple days after the comments ended, a new comment went up. It was late and it was overlooked and it reminded me how often we resemble less a cat skinner and more Elmer Fudd in the cartoon where he’s so busy getting ready to go deer hunting – talking about how great it’s going to be with Porky Pig and sharing his newest, shiniest gizmo – that he doesn’t notice the 12 point buck meander right past the cabin.
Laura Evans wrote the comment. For purposes of full disclosure: I’ve known Laura in the real world for some time. Here’s her comment (I’ve edited for length & the emphasis is mine):
Mark makes some great points about how to use Social Networking tools. I’m not in the Facebook game for marketing purposes, purely social for me. However if I were, I think my strategy for this powerful tool would be slightly different.
First, I would establish a goal. In your world, I presume it would be to build your sphere of influence to sell. So, if the majority of your FB “friends” are in your industry (isn’t LinkedIn a better tool for this?), you need to expand your group of friends. Start with your high school or college classmates and let it grow. You can’t be shy or too selective.
…
I think the points made (in Mark’s post) are important, but not the real power in the relationship-building model of sales. The point of FB as a sales tool is to check in with your contacts, not to assume they are checking in with you.
In addition, although I agree that current events (some) and sports are great conversational topics (I would avoid politics), the Number One conversational topic is family and children. Matter of fact, this is how I would prioritize conversational topics:
- Family and children
- Interest and hobbies
- Sport teams
- College or high school
- Where they grew up or live
- Vacations
- Weekends
- Pets
I presume that most of your clientele have families…just a thought. So, when you check in with your “friends”, you should always look at their photos and never let a status update about a child’s success go without at least a thumbs up “like”. Over time, you may even be able to get birthdays, anniversaries – those all important DATES that are the key to relationship-building sales. Heck, FB already has tools for remembering birthdays…you are halfway home!
I think there’s a lot of gold in Laura’s words, especially when she prioritizes the conversational topics, but that’s not why I’m reprinting them. I imagine when Laura wrote this she said to herself: “If I were an agent, how would I go about using these tools.” But that statement’s not complete; there’s something missing. Something we (those of us in sales and specifically in real estate sales) need to instantly recognize and add. So, let me try that last line again: When Laura wrote this she said to us: “If I were an agent, how would I go about using these tools to attract me as a client.”
If you listen long enough, your clients will tell you how to hunt them. Don’t look now, but I think a 12 point trophy buck just walked by the window.
Ken Montville - The MD Suburbs of DC says:
I like this idea but, I tell you what, I’m scared to death of hunting down (or being hunted) by old high school and college acquaintances. Heck, I didn’t have a good time then. I like to let by-gone be by-gones. New life and all that.
April 13, 2009 — 6:21 pm
Brad Coy says:
Great advice but hey.. where on that list is posting pillow talk with my Realtor friends and creating links to articles on how-to measure ROI on Social Media platforms? 😀
April 13, 2009 — 7:01 pm
Sean Purcell says:
Ken – I understand your reluctance. I imagine we all have an interesting past to some degree. But the point remains: creating and touching your list of friends is surely the best way to create that group of raving fans who will do business with and refer business to you.
Brad – pillow talk with my Realtor friends… you’re killin’ me 🙂
April 13, 2009 — 9:10 pm
Scott Cowan says:
Brad- I thought Twitter was for pillow talk? Have I been doing this all wrong? No wonder Social Media has not been working out the way everyone told me it would!
I really wish someone would stop changing the rules all of the time! =)
April 14, 2009 — 7:48 am
Kevin Sandridge says:
Sean – super post. The one cardinal rule – which I know I’m at fault for sometimes failing to observe – seems to be to keep the social part of social networks alive.
Just received a tweet from Alex Karis that said:
TAKE TIME TODAY to blend your tweets (connection,humor,info,linklove,education,polling,
inspiration,personal,quotes).
Loved that!
April 14, 2009 — 9:11 am
Laura Evans says:
Visualization…I learned this skill in my former life as an athlete and I now I utilize the ability to visualize success in my professional life. However, this required reinventing myself to a certain degree.
For instance, I used to be shy. I decided not to be.
I made a conscious decision to change my path. I understand it takes courage to be the person you want to be, which may not be the person people remember you as in your youth, but the outcome is worth the initial discomfort.
I remember reading a study about customer service and PSA flight attendants (remember them?). Why were they so happy with their job in comparison to others doing the same job in the industry? Guess what! They didn’t always start out happy. They faked it until they felt it.
Author D. Barnes Boffey wrote in Reinventing Yourself, “The assumption is that by focusing on the things you can directly control (thoughts and actions) you will eventually begin to feel the way you want. You will also begin to stay in control of the situations in which you previously believed caused your feelings of fear and anxiety.”
You are going to feel frightened, fearful, outright scared and self critical along the process, however as Dr. Boffey states “Acting on a feeling or principle increases its strength. If you act on fear your fear will increase. If you act on courage, your courage increases.”
What does this have to do with Facebook and Social Marketing? Well, I guess you have to be WILLING in order to play the game.
BTW- How do I sign up for pillow talk? Sounds fun.
April 14, 2009 — 10:22 am
Mark Green says:
Sean and Laura, thanks for reading my article – and for the awesome dialogue and feedback. Sorry I’ve been slow to respond as it’s been a hectic week!
I’m still not there quite yet with Twitter. In my opinion, it’s still a fad. Too much noise for me, it’s almost like Twitter is a tool for people who like hearing themselves talk. But I’m often slow to “get” new technology – so it’s probably just me.
Facebook is different, and I think it’s here to stay. That is… until it gets cluttered with spam and nonsense. And with Facebook adding *millions* of new users every month, I think there’s a really good chance of that happening.
My rule of thumb is simple – maybe because I’m a simpleton. I want people I care about to be engaged with me as a human being. I want to participate in dialogue on a variety of compelling topics (both business-related an not). I want to know how my friends are doing – generally speaking. I have become annoyed sifting through people’s play-by-play to get to the stuff I really care about. And we’re still very early in the game. What does this look like a year from now?
Sean, to your point, my favorite part of Facebook has been reconnecting with friends/family from the past. Without Facebook, I likely would have never heard from one of my best HS friends again.
In summary, I think the best way to “use” Facebook for business is to just forget about selling altogether. The more you give, the more you’re going to get in terms of awareness, credibility, respect… all the things we count on as salespeople.
I think that’s what y’all are saying too. Bloodhound Blog rocks.
April 14, 2009 — 10:25 am
Jamey Bridges says:
Sean,
Wonderful post, too often I think we can all get caught up in the latest “trick” or “tip”.
I think a few other items are worth noting from your post and Laura’s comment:
1. Add Value – Getting results from your social networking means adding value. That certainly means commenting on statuses (as Laura suggests). Taking time to make your comments more than “that’s great” will certainly have it’s rewards.
2. Don’t just listen – Listening to your clients is of the utmost importance, but if you only listen you will be wasting your time. You don’t necessarily have to “hunt” them, when you solve your clients problems they tend to raise their hand to get more help from you. 🙂
April 14, 2009 — 10:51 am
Brad Coy says:
Laura – >For instance, I used to be shy. I decided not to be.
Kudos!
Beyond my snippy comment let me just say that Facebook IS the place to be. I’m a big fan of the platform, which has been sort of an on again/off again sort of thing with all of their changes.
With some of the recent changes the best way to add, engage, and fitler noise (or pillow talk) is with privacy settings and creating ‘friend lists’. It takes a little pruning.. but yields a nice manageable platform that you can grow with.
I feel like I’m always towing the line when using/commenting/sharing on Facebook. When it comes downs to it, I share what my interests are and make an effort not to be too self-involved or broadcasting. Being real IS what it’s about.
One thing to always keep in mind is that people are listening in silence as well .. far more often than not.
April 14, 2009 — 11:16 am