Did I just imply that bagels would help you market your cleaning business? Yes…I did.
But before I get to the bagels part, let me start at the beginning.
I know quite a few realtor’s, and quite a few realtor’s know me. The reason behind this is the fact that I actively seek this demographic and market my cleaning companies services to them.
After all, this market is under-served. How do I know this? Well the answer is quite simple. Whenever I visit a real a new office, I come away with some more business for my cleaning company.
It could be for just about anything, house cleanings both before and after closing, foreclosure cleanings, commercial property cleanings, carpet cleanings or even floor care services. You name it, they need it done at one time or another.
So this leads me to discuss today’s events. I know a realtor (go figure), and she invited me to speak at her sales associates meeting held at her local real estate office. There was only one catch. I needed to bring something with me. Know what is was?
4 dozen bagels.
Yep, reaching people through their stomach is a time tested strategy that works time after time. The agent knew this as well as I did. You could talk about the most boring subject in the world and still have a crowd gather if you fed them something.
With that said, I agreed to attend to talk about what we do and how we can work with realtor’s to help them sell properties. I showed up 10 minuets early with 4 dozen bagels, cream cheese, butter and jam (I had the super market where I shop put the trays together for me) and lots of business cards.
What better way to soften people up than to feed them breakfast!
I was a little nervous about speaking to all of them at once but I survived. They were all very nice to me not to mention quite receptive to what I had to say. A few of them even asked some very good questions which was nice.
Knowing a few weeks in advance that I was to do this allowed me the time to write what I was going to say down. I just made it short and concise and left time for questions. The process went very well I must say, as it resulted in me getting a potential cleaning of a foreclosed home.
Once I completed my presentation they invited me to stay for their meeting as well. By doing so I learned a lot about how realtor’s think and what it takes for them to land a property to sell. At the end of the day the process is the same for all salespeople. You need to know your stuff and connect with the people you meet, then be willing to work with them.
What I want you to take away from my post is this. You can apply what I just did and get the same results for yourself. Just get yourself over to a real estate office and offer to do what I did today. If they say yes, ask how many people they think will be in attendance. Then when you go just bring donuts or bagels. It will build your confidence and get you some business as well.
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