Ideas for Business Associates for Thanksgiving?

Glynda Lomax

November 6, 20040 found this helpful

I worked for several years for two of the largest mortgage companies in Dallas. I also worked at one of the top real estate firms in the nation. I can tell you from experience that realtors get courted - alot. The things that I saw that worked the best were either very personal (like hand written cards sent in the mail) or very, very unique (good luck on this one). One broker I worked for used to go around and put candy into the realtors mailbox slots at their offices. They liked it because they could snack on it - we used the fun-size candy bars. With a hole punch and a little ribbon, we simply attached a tag (we made them on the PC) that said Happy Thanksgiving and a business card, or just the business card with a quick note on it.

Another thing you can do is provide those single-serving cookies with your card or latest specials attached - at the monthly or weekly realtor association meetings (Mama's Cookies or something you can buy in bulk at Sam's)

One thing we found that worked even better was asking if we could photograph their listings and then doing loan scenarios on the opposite side of the sheet. We called them Open House fliers because we used them for open houses. Also, if you go photograph their house and make them fliers for free, be sure they agree to let you put up a sign in the yard of the listing and one of those cylinder things that holds the Open House fliers. It helps them sell the house and people will often call you for more info on your scenarios. I also called For Sale By Owner listings and offered this same free service to them, and we got alot of takers. I used to photograph the houses and make up the fliers in Publisher. It's fun, but the fliers can get expensive because of the color ink, so watch out. Good luck.