30 Day Marketing Plan

 
I have promised myself and my family one day off a week. I have chosen that one day to be Sunday, so when a scheduled activity falls on a Sunday it will be accomplished either before that day or on that next Monday. Each number represents a day, and following each is a step that will be taken that day to ensure that your property is exposed to the greatest number of buyers.
Several of these steps can and usually are combined in a single day and are given individual days to show their importance and to enable me to keep my agreement and promise. My promise is that each one of these steps will completed on the time appointed unless other arrangements have previously been agreed to in writing. If a step hasn't been completed to your satisfaction on or before the scheduled time, you have the option to cancel our marketing agreement - effective immediately. I intend to show that I walk the walk, not just talk the talk. 
    Day #1 
  1. Present marketing presentation, marketing ideas, and 30 day marketing plan to owner(s). 
  2. Explain what the multiple listing service (MLS) is and what it does. 
  3. Give a computerized presentation of the (MLS). 
  4. Explain what the world wide web (WWW) is, how I use it and what special benefits that provides for you. 
  5. Give a computerized presentation of the (WWW), my personal web site, and other web sites that will be used to help market and increase the number of potential buyers for your property. 
  6. Explain where buyers come from. 
  7. Show how real estate agents select homes to show. 
  8. Explain the importance of pricing your property right for the market. 
  9. Show examples of newspaper advertising. 
  10. Show examples of cards, mailings, brochures, signs, and other marketing tools. 
  11. Explain how my national relocation and national referral services work. 
  12. Explain how my "Showings by Invitation Only" system works. 
  13. Explain how the agents and office staff at Keller Williams Realty work together to provide information to buyers and set-up showings with agents. 
  14. Explain how all agents and all real estate offices connected to the multiple listing service work together to match-up buyers and sellers. 
  15. Explain how buyers are pre-qualified. 
  16. Give you some tips to help your home show better and sell faster for more money. 
  17. Show you what buyers are comparing and what motivates a buyer to buy. 
  18. Answer any questions you may have. 
  19. Agree on terms for the marketing of your property. 
    Day #2 
  1. Perform Market Analysis. 
  2. Meet with seller(s) to discuss best price to advertise property for. 
  3. Meet with seller(s) to discuss and arrange best time for Open House. 
  4. Take pictures (inside and out) for Internet, mailings and brochures. 
  5. Set-up yard sign and lock-box. 
    Day #3 
  1. Submit listing to office staff. 
  2. Submit listing to multiple listing service (MLS). 
    Day #4 
  1. Submit listing to half a dozen different web sites in addition to my own. 
  2. Set-up an area on www.har.com specifically for you and your property. 
  3. Send e-mail to over 2000 (and growing) real estate offices (National referral network) through-out the United States giving them information about your home being on the market. 
  4. Send e-mail to a rapidly growing list of international real estate offices giving them information about your home being on the market. 
  5. Check (MLS) for mistakes. (Yes, even I make mistakes from time to time - Just ask my wife!)
    Day #5 
  1. Produce professional looking brochures and mailings, send to copier. 
  2. Arrange for ad to run in next issue of The Fort Bend Star - my ad runs every week - distribution: over 70,000. 
  3. Email agents, who have shown your property, a feed-back request form. 
  4. Make arrangements for the other agents in my office to preview your home on the following Tuesday, which is our Tour Day.
    Day #6 
  1. Process digital images taken of your home (enhance/crop as required) and upload to the property listing in the MLS.
    Day #7 
  1. Check MLS for comparable homes new on the market.
  2. Design and implement custom (MLS) search for future market analysis.
  3. Call owners for weekly follow-up, market update, review of feed-back and steps completed review. 
  4. Discuss possible problems and ideas for solutions. 
    Day #8 
  1. Pick up brochures and mailings. 
  2. Email agents, who have shown your property, a feed-back request form. 
    Day #9 
  1. Review all the above to insure accuracy and diligence.
    Day #10 
  1. Check web sites listing was submitted to for mistakes. 
    Day #11
  1. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property.
    Day #12 
  1. Distribute brochures to real estate offices in the area. 
  2. Arrange for a Broker's Open House so that other brokers will have a chance to see your home. I usually do this by bribing them with a tasty lunch.
    Day #13 
  1. Invite neighbors and neighbors' friends to the next open house if scheduled. 
  2. Find out if neighbors received mailing.
    Day #14 
  1. Monitor results from custom MLS search implemented on Day 7. 
  2. Call owners for weekly follow-up, market update, review of feed-back and steps completed review. 
  3. Discuss possible problems and ideas for solutions.
    Day #15 
  1. Implement ideas for solutions. 
    Day #16 
  1. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property.
    Day #17 
  1. Evaluate initial pictures uploaded to your property listing in the MLS.
  2. Evaluate and/or 'fine tune' the photo captions used in your listing.
    Day #18 
  1. Produce "special features" cards to be placed on key features though-out your home.
    Day #19 
  1. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property.
    Day #20 
  1. Contact any buyers I know of who have seen your property for feed-back. 
    Day #21 
  1. Monitor results from custom MLS search implemented on Day 7. 
  2. Call owners for weekly follow-up, market update, review of feed-back and steps completed review. 
  3. Discuss possible problems and ideas for solutions. 
    Day #22 
  1. Implement ideas for solutions.
    Day #23 
  1. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property.
    Day #24 
  1. Prepare strategy with you.
    Day #25 
  1. Call Owners to confirm appointment.
    Day #26 
  1. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property. 
    Day #27 
  1. Give owners a computerized demonstration of what property looks like on various web sites on the world wide web. 
    Day #28 
  1. Monitor results from custom MLS search implemented on Day 7.  
  2. Meet with owners for weekly follow-up, market update, review of feed-back and steps completed review. 
  3. Meet with owners for monthly follow-up, market update, review of feed-back and steps completed review. 
  4. Discuss possible problems and ideas for solutions. 
    Day #29 
  1. Implement ideas for solutions.
    Day #30 
  1. Contact any buyers I know of who have seen your property for feed-back. 
  2. Solicit feed back via email from agents who have shown your property.
    If your property hasn't received an acceptable offer by the end of the 30 days, each step is repeated with any modifications necessary or agreed to during our end of the month meeting. 

    In addition to these steps in listing, marketing, advertising and promoting, I will still perform all my other obligations such as: 

  1. Educate Buyers and Sellers. 
  2. Actively search for buyers for your property. 
  3. Pre-qualify buyers to make sure that your property is the right for the buyers and that the buyers can qualify for the financial obligations that will come with the purchase of your property. 
  4. Show your property by appointment. 
  5. Negotiating the sale of your property. 
  6. Writing up the terms of the transfer on a buying/selling agreement. 
  7. Deliver and present contracts, addendums, and counter-offers. 
  8. Secure the agreed-upon earnest money in a trust account. 
  9. Have a title search done. 
  10. Arrange financing if necessary. 
  11. Arrange for appraisers and inspectors if necessary. 
  12. Coordinate with the title company and financial institution to provide for a smooth transfer of title at closing. 
  13. Insure that all the paperwork (liens, lien pay-off, tax certificates, warranty deeds, buying/selling agreement, any additional addendums, and closing authorization) are properly filled-out, signed, notarized, recorded and returned to the proper people.
Do other Realtors give you all this? I'd be surprised if you found one that did. Most will give you their watered-down version with an "I'll get to it when I get to it" attitude.
My marketing agreements go from month to month, so you know I'll stay on my toes. Most agents want a six (or more) month listing agreement. Why? So they can practice their (4-P) marketing plan for a couple of 3 month periods.
#1 Put a sign in the yard.
#2 Put a lock-box on the door. 
#3 Put it in the MLS. And
#4 Pray. 

Make sure that the agent you choose to help you sell your most expensive possession, your home, has a written plan for what he/she intends to do. 

Call me at 281-265-0000 and let's make an appointment to go over what your needs are. 

Sincerely, 
Mike Harness
Keller Williams Realty, SW
Sugar Land, Texas