REthinking the Broker Tour

By Lynn Minnick

These days, I’m trying to be more efficient with my time, because there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

If I can combine some of my monthly real estate goals and activities in a way that makes the best use of my time, I’m all for it. If I can do all that and have FUN doing it, even better!

Enter the Broker Tour.
Hosting or participating in a successful Broker Tour accomplishes several things:

• Gaining exposure for your listings to the local agents who are most likely to sell them.
• Getting sometimes valuable feedback from other agents; a fresh pair of eyes might pick up on something you missed.
• Networking and building relationships with other agents.
• Sharing marketing ideas and information about upcoming listings, community developments and news that could impact your business.

What makes my Broker Tour different than the same old boring caravan? What makes my Broker Tour so enticing that agents will actually want to come? You’ve got to take charge and make your tour different and fun! Here’s how:

Pick a theme. In February, my Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties associate (and REthink Council Member) Carl Guild and I just hosted a tour called “The Sweetheart Homes Tour” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We joked about following it up with the “Needs a Whole Lot of Lovin’” tour for fixer-uppers!) Some other tour ideas: a Condomania! Tour, a Lucky Listings Tour or a Waterfront Listings Tour (we have a large lake in town.) This is your opportunity to stretch your mind and get creative!

Specify which town or community you’re going to tour. Don’t try to cover too much territory. We picked up to 12 listings that hadn’t been toured yet in one town, and the tour went from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., ending with lunch at the last listing.

Invite agents to participate. Invite both agents with listings and those without, and tell everyone they can bring an associate, and/or new agent. An approximate head count helps with lunch and the number of feedback packets you’ll need.

Make it easy on the agents participating. Provide feedback sheets that will be handed back to everyone on the spot at the last house. Make a packet with an itinerary and reconfirm with everyone. Introduce everyone at the meeting spot so it becomes a true networking opportunity.

Don’t forget refreshments! During our Sweetheart Homes Tour, we started with coffee at our office, which I supplied. A local mortgage lender asked if we needed a sponsor for lunch and we were happy to have him participate. With a Valentine’s Day theme, we also asked the agents with listings on the tour to provide desserts or drinks. One agent brought a growler of local chocolate stout (in keeping with the Valentine’s theme!) to raffle off instead of bringing food, and another made take-away goodie bags for everyone.

Do something different and unexpected. Carl surprised everyone by renting a 12-passenger van, which we decorated in a Valentine’s Day theme, and he made a Barry White love songs CD mix that we played in the van and gave out to participants afterward the tour. I documented the day with lots of photos and made a Flipagram video recap that we shared and posted to social media, along with check-ins, photos and updates along the way. Of course, everyone was tagged for maximum social media exposure!

The Sweetheart Homes Tour was probably the most fun broker tour we’ve ever held. It took some planning, which we did as a two-person team, but the feedback was tremendous and everyone had a blast. Agents were already asking about the next tour!

And with St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, I’m already thinking green …

Lynn Minnick is a REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties. She also is the author of the popular blog, www.mygreenlifeandrealestate.com. Find her at www.lynnminnick.com or tweet to her @LynnMinnick.