How To Use The Loyalty Ladder Business Concept To Produce More Sales & Profits
If your business isn't as successful as it could be, one of the primary reasons may be you aren't moving your customers/clients to the top of the "loyalty ladder". Read this article to learn why this is necessary, and more importantly, how you can begin using it to take your enterprise to the next level.
Even though I'll be using the real estate profession to explain this powerful business concept, if you're in the restaurant or another industry, you still can benefit from the article.
The loyalty ladder can be understood clearly using this illustration:
It has five rungs: Suspects, Prospects, Customers, Clients, and Raving Fans.
In the first rung are the Suspects, which are the people who haven't done business with you and don't need or want your products/services.
In the second rung are the Prospects, which are the individuals who haven’t done business with you, but do have a need or want for your product or service and can afford it.
In the third rung are the Customers, which are the people who have done business with you once, whether recently or many years ago. As long as they have done one transaction with you, whether buying or selling, they’re your customers, even though they may not hire you again.
In the fourth rung are the Clients, which are the individuals who have done two or more transactions with you and some of them might have given you referrals. Clients recognize and appreciate the value and service you’ve provided and are offering them. They respect your advice and are interested in establishing a long-term business relationship with you.
In the fifth or the top rung are the Raving Fans, which are the people who have done at least two transactions with you, have given you three or more referrals, and will use you for all their future real estate deals. They have given you referrals regularly because they’re so impressed with the level of excellent service you give. Raving fans are extremely loyal to you. You’ve worked very hard to gain their loyalty. They’re excited about doing business with you and brag about you to everyone they know.
After Creating A Large Number Of Raving Fans, You’ll Have Your Ultimate Real Estate Business!
One company that has tens of millions of raving fans is Apple, the maker of the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, and other cool products.
Every time Apple, which is the most valuable company in the world as of this writing, releases a new product, millions of their raving fans pre-order online and tens of thousands of them line up overnight at their stores.
Incredible!
If you’re one of Apple’s raving fans, you may have purchased several of their products and have decided to buy from them for the rest of your life, even if their prices are higher than other companies offering similar (or even superior) products.
Imagine hundreds of your clients feeling the same way about you and your business.
Visualize no more prospecting and running your business completely on referrals.
Picture the income you’ll make and the fun you’ll have.
One of your ultimate business goals should be to convert each one of your customers or clients into a raving fan. The more raving fans you have, the more successful you’ll become.
Although every real estate agent wishes to have lots of raving fans, only a small number of them actually do.
Why?
Because very few of them know how to take care of their customers and clients well enough to convert them into raving fans.
The wonderful news for you is after using the exceptional service ideas and strategies you will learn from this and future articles, you’ll transform most, or even all, of your clients into raving fans.
When this happens, you’ll make the kind of income and work only the number of hours you want.
Imagine how much more fulfilling your business and personal life will be when this happens.
Are You Providing Exceptional Customer Service?
Most real estate agents (and other business owners) don’t understand what true customer service is all about. They usually equate it to some activities such as answering the phone before the third ring, returning their messages quickly, or handling their complaints promptly, and so on.
The International Customer Service Association defines customer service as:
- The intangible element that separates good companies from truly great ones.
- What brings value to a transaction between buyer and seller.
- The determining factor in repeat business.
- What will determine if you’ll be in business in a few years.
- Delivering the customer more than he or she wants, ahead of schedule, and under budget.
- Customer service is not everything. It’s the ONLY thing.
Isn’t this a great definition of customer service to adopt for your business?
To me, this description isn't for “customer service†but for “exceptional customer service.â€
Look at the last point:
"Customer service is not everything. It’s the ONLY thing!"
I completely agree with this statement. Great service creates satisfied clients and exceptional service makes raving fans.
To Compel Your Clients To Remember You And Do Business With You For The Long Term, Astonish Them Regularly!
The key word is “astonish,†and you should strive to do it each time they conduct business with you.
In fact, you want to astound them so much that they’ll be as excited about doing business with you as a child is about going to Disneyland.
Have you ever seen the expression on a kid’s face when he or she hears about the upcoming family’s trip to the Magic Kingdom?
Their eyes glow and their smile become so large that they could almost eat a banana sideways. They feel fantastic!
This is the same kind of feelings you want your clients to experience whenever they do business with you. The great news is, it costs little money to provide exceptional service. In most cases, you only need to do some personal touch things for them and they will feel special or appreciated.
Denis Snow, the American business consultant, trainer, and speaker who worked for Walt Disney World Company for more than 20 years, gives a great example of how small things can make a huge difference.
During his presentation, he asks his audience how many people have been to Disneyland, Disney World, or Epcot Center, and usually at least several dozen hands go up.
He then says, “For those who have been to one of these places, what impressed you the most about it?â€
The most common replies are:
- “The place was so clean!â€
- “The staff was so friendly and helpful!â€
- “The lineups were so organized!â€
- “The buildings were so colorful!â€
- “The attention to detail was breathtaking!â€
Snow states he’s surprised very few people mention the thrilling rides, some of which cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build.
If you’ve been to one of Disney’s parks, you were probably mesmerized by the little things done outstandingly well more than the big things performed exceptionally well, right?
The same is true with your business. Figure out little ways to astonish or WOW your clients regularly, making them feel like kings and queens, and they’ll become your raving fans.
Ask yourself this question:
“What kind of experience am I providing to my clients right now?â€
Are you wowing them with your exceptional service?
Do you let your sellers know what’s going on with their listings regularly?
Are you making their home-selling process as hassle free as possible for them?
Can your online tour compel potential buyers to fall in love with the homes before they see them in person?
Are you generating the auction effect for each of your listings?
Have you shown them how to make their homes as appealing as possible for the highest number of prospects?
Have you produced the maximum number of online and physical viewings for each listing?
Have you checked to make sure the information in the MLS? is correct?
If you work with buyers, answer these questions:
Do you know the exact types of homes they’re looking for?
Have they all been qualified to buy at the price ranges they’re specified and have you verified their information?
Do you make sure they see and like the homes online first before they view them physically?
Have you obtained signed buyer presentation agreements from them?
If you can’t respond, “Definitely!†to all of these questions, find out how you can.
How To Begin WOWing Your Clients
The first step to making your clients feel special is letting them know you really appreciate their business and trust.
Mike Ferry, one of top real estate coaches and most influential people in the real estate industry, suggests:
“Be sure to say THANK YOU to your clients often. It emphasizes their value to you.â€
If you've been communicating with your clients (customers, members, patients, or subscribers) via email, phone, in person, or a combination of these methods, at least monthly, that's terrific!
On the other hand, if you haven't contacted your clients in three or more months, you can send them the following compelling thank-you (re-connection) letter.
We'll pretend you're Linda Selles and Bruce and Stephanie Miller are your clients whose house you sold 2 years ago, and you haven't contacted them in 12 months. You have their email and mailing addresses.
Method 1: Email
Subject line: Bruce and Stephanie, Thank You!
Body:
Dear Stephanie,
Hope this letter finds you and your children in great health and spirits.
Although the last time we communicated was a year ago, I want you to know I appreciated your trust and business very much.
I’m embarrassed to have waited this long to send you this letter. From now on, I’ll keep in touch more often, so I can learn how you and your children are doing regularly.
I’ll call you within two weeks (at 360-754-9873) to find out whether I can help solve any challenges you may be experiencing now. Perhaps you need a good plumber, painter, electrician, landscaper, or another professional that I can introduce to you.
If you want to contact me before then, please do so by email or phone.
My best to you,
Linda Selles
P.S. Bruce and Stephanie, thanks again for being my client! I look forward to catching up with you soon.
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Method 2: Physical Letter
Method 3: Physical Postal Card
The Front of the Card:
The Inside of the Card:
The Back of the Card:
Even though the physical letter and greeting card have the same text as the email, the first two will impact your clients more profoundly than the latter. That's because your clients likely get few physical letters or greeting cards.
For the clients that haven't received any physical thank-you letters or cards from anyone they have done or are currently doing business with, they'll value your physical letter or card even more.
Let's examine why the above letter is powerful.
First, it has a headline:
Bruce and Stephanie… Thank You!
Just like the sweetest sound to you is your name, the most pleasant sound to Bruce and Stephanie are their names. So the headline will grab their attention and compel them to read more.
Most agents’ letters have no headlines. And for the few that do, their headlines don’t contain their clients’ names. Some of their headlines may be:
“I’m Mad At Myself For Losing Touch With You!†or “It’s Me!â€
The first two headlines contain “I†and “Me,†so they’re ineffective.
When your clients look at your letter, they’ll ask themselves these questions:
1. “What’s in it for me?â€
2. “Why should I care?â€
To the first headline, your clients may say, “You’re mad at yourself? How does that benefit me?â€
To the second one, they may say, “Who the heck are you?â€
Your headline has your clients’ names, so they’ll be compelled to read the rest of your letter.
The first two sentences in letter are:
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Hope this letter finds you and your family in great health and spirits.
Although the last time we communicated was a year ago, I want you to know I appreciated your trust and business very much.
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The sentences are about Bruce, Stephanie, and their children and your appreciation for their business, so they’ll be motivated to read further.
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I’m embarrassed to have waited this long to send you this letter. From now on, I’ll keep in touch more often, so I can learn how you and your children are doing regularly.
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Admitting embarrassment shows your clients you're a warm human being who wanted to communicate with them sooner.
Some authors, coaches and trainers suggest you should apologize to your clients for not keeping in touch. This is necessary only if you had told them you would contact them after the closing. But if you didn’t promise your clients, you shouldn’t have to apologize.
To test which letter will produce better results, you can send the one with “I’m embarrassed…†to 50 clients and the “I apologize…†letter to 50 different ones.
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From now on, I’ll keep in touch more often, so I can learn how you and your children are doing regularly.
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By telling your clients the reason you want to keep in touch with them regularly, they’ll know you don't have an ulterior motive.
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I’ll call you within two weeks (at 360-754-9873) to find out whether I can help solve any challenges you may be experiencing now. Perhaps you need a good plumber, painter, electrician, landscaper, or another professional that I can introduce to you.
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Like some agents, after reading this sentence, you may say, “What! I have to call my clients too! Isn’t sending them the letter or card good enough?â€
If you want your marketing tool to be as effective as possible, you need to follow-up with a phone call. If you don’t, you won’t know how many of them have received or read your letter/card, and what their reactions are.
Even though letters and cards are a powerful form of communication, talking to your clients on the phone will be even more so. For the clients who have read your letter or card, many of them will expect to hear from you. Some of them may be considering buying or selling real estate right now, or know someone who is.
Although the purpose of your call is to find out whether your clients have received your letter and how you can help resolve some of the current challenges they may be facing, you could get business from some of them immediately, without having to ask.
One of the main reasons many agents are reluctant to call their past or inactive clients is they haven’t mailed them a sincere and warm letter or card first. Since you’ll be sending one to your clients, your phone call will be easier to make.
In our example, Linda’s conversation with her client, Bruce, may go like this:
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Bruce: Hello?
Linda: Hello. Is this Bruce?
Bruce: Yes, it is.
Linda: Hi Bruce, This is Linda Selles.
Bruce: Hi Linda!
Linda: How are you?
Bruce: I’m doing great. And you?
Linda: I’m doing great as well. The reason I’m calling is to make sure you received this letter/card.
Bruce: Yes, we have. Thank you!
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Do you see how pleasant this conversation was?
As long as your clients have read your letter or card, chances are great that they’ll be glad to talk to you, even if the last time you communicated with them was years ago.
The reason you display your clients’ phone number (360-754-9873) in the letter and card is so that if it has changed, they can inform you.
The next sentence in the letter is:
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If you want to contact me before then, please do so by email or phone.
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Mentioning to your clients they can contact you first will motivate them to do so if they need help with something now.
For the closing, Linda wrote “My best to you,†instead of “Sincerely,†“Sincerely Yours,†“Yours Truly,†or “Very Truly Yours†because “My best to you†is more modern. The others are trite. Instead of “My best to you,†you can also use “To your success,†“Best regards†or “Warmest regards,†which is more modern.
Some agents display “GRI, CRS, ABR†or other real estate designations after their name. I suggest you leave them out because: (1) your clients don’t know what they mean, and (2) even if they do, they don’t care.
Some agents display under their names, “Your Real Estate Agent for Life,†“Your REALTOR? for Life,†or “Your Real Estate Consultant for Life,†like the following:
Jason Foster
Your Real Estate Consultant for Life
While “Your Real Estate Consultant for Life†is a great slogan, leave it out of your letter until you’ve re-established a relationship with your clients.
You don’t have to mention you’re a real estate agent or consultant because your letterhead should indicate so.
Your letter ends with:
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P.S. Bruce and Stephanie, thanks again for being my client. I look forward to catching up with you.
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After the headline, the P.S. (Post Script) is the second most read part of your letter or card, so you should have one in every email/letter/card.
Linda uses it to thank her clients again, and this is probably the most effective use of the P.S. in the first re-connection letter/card.
Other agents’ thank-you/re-connection letters/cards typically ask for referrals. The P.S. is the most common place where this is done. They believe because the P.S. is an afterthought, it makes asking for referrals more subtle.
When you ask for referrals in your thank-you/re-connection letter/card, you'll put off some of your clients. They'll think the reason you sent it is to get business from them and not to thank them for their business or find out how they’re doing.
Please answer this questions:
Do You Give To Get?
Many agents are taught whenever they offer something valuable to their clients or prospects, they should ask for referrals or something else.
For example, when clients praise them for a job well done, the agents should ask for referrals.
Or when the agents help their clients resolve an issue, such as convincing the appraiser to increase the value of the appraisal to or above the offered price, the agents should ask their clients for referrals.
A third example is to include the agents’ business cards with every physical letter or greeting card they send.
Believe it or not, some agents actually include their business cards with the birthday, anniversary, Thanksgiving, or other Holiday cards.
How do you think their clients will feel?
Terrible, right?
Though remembering their clients on these special occasions is noble, the agents’ business cards will reduce the value of the birthday, anniversary, Thanksgiving, or Christmas card to zero. Their clients likely will throw away both the greeting and business cards.
Some agents contact their clients every two weeks (by phone, email, postal mail, or in person) because they want to obtain more business or referrals from them. In other words…
They Give To Get, Rather Than Give To Give!
If you include your business card or another marketing piece with your birthday, anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, or thank-you cards, you’re giving to get. You expect to receive something in return.
Since you’re spending money, time, and effort sending the cards or letters to your clients, expecting to receive a reward (in the form of a referral) is appropriate, right?
Although some agents have built successful businesses with this philosophy, I ask you to make this paradigm shift:
Always Give To Give!
For instance, when emailing or mailing a letter to clients, provide value without expecting anything in return. Don’t ask for or remind them about referrals. If you send physical letters or greeting cards, leave your business card or other promotional materials out.
While this is easier said than done, if you’re willing to follow my advice for a few months, you’ll be surprised at the amount of extra business you’ll generate.
In GO-GIVERS SELL MORE, Bob Burg and David Mann wrote:
“The task here is not to create value in order to create a sale or ‘in order to’ anything. It’s to create value, period. Right now, your total job is to focus on one thing and one thing only: providing value to other people. If you do that well, sales - and money - will find you.â€
Don’t you think that advice is fabulous?
It definitely is, and if you follow it, you’ll be amazed at how much more money and success you’ll receive.
Whether you contact your clients monthly or weekly, if you ask for referrals during your phone call or in your email, letter, or greeting card, you’re giving to get. Though you can generate extra business doing so, you can become infinitely more successful by offering value without expecting anything in return.
You can change my thank-you/re-connection letter to suit your particular situation and send it as an email or physical letter or greeting card.
If you're using a great CRM (customer relationship manager), you can email the letter to all of your clients quickly and easily, and for free.
While sending it as a physical letter or greeting card will require time, effort and money, the positive impact it can have on your clients will be worthwhile.
If you want to learn how you can mail the above card (or another one) to 100 of your best clients within 10 minutes (assuming their contact info is stored in your CRM) and for just $2 each in the United States and $2.40 USD in Canada, message me on LinkedIn.
If you don't have money for marketing now, email the letter to your clients, especially the ones you haven't communicated with in 90 or more days.
Regardless of which method you choose, please do something with the knowledge you've gained.
If you find this article useful, please share it with your network. They will appreciate you for telling them about it.
If you haven't read my previous articles, consider doing so this week:
The Biggest Mistake Most Real Estate Agents Make And How To Avoid It And Become More Successful
How Asking For Referrals Can Harm Your Real Estate Business Or Profession
Why You Must Know The Lifetime Value Of Your Average Customer To Become As Successful As Possible
Until the next article, have fun making money and helping your clients enhance their lives with your services or products, or both.
About The Author
Larry Lee was a real estate agent in Vancouver, Canada in 2011-2012 and currently is the director of marketing and operations for Conlee Systems. His mission is to help real estate professionals and restaurant owners become super successful and have both money and time to enjoy life.
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