As the fourth and final installment of my open house series, I’m going to share the importance of strong follow-up and communication plans, and why you’ll never achieve the full potential of an open house without them.

Follow-up … or fail!

Quite often one of my clients will call me and say, “I thought I had the best open house! I was so excited afterward! However, nothing has come of it. Not one person has called me back. What happened?”

I’m here to tell you that if you are expecting people to magically call you back, you’re going to be waiting for a very long time. No matter how much they like you, not everyone you meet will call you after that first open house. It’s incumbent upon you to reach out to them! You may need to meet people at several successful open houses before your phone starts to ring. Rome wasn’t built in a day … and neither are relationships with potential clients.

Here are the follow-up actions that need to be part of your open house plan. Some are tried and true … but some may be new to you!

1. Before you leave your open house, put everything back in order. You’d be surprised how many agents hurry out the door and forget to do this. The seller comes home after the open house, only to find things out of place – or worse yet – hidden away where they can’t find them – and may feel uncomfortable or angry. Remember: you are a guest in their house. Treat your time there as such.
2. If you were successful in connecting with people who attended your open house and have an email or a phone number, send them a “thank you for coming” email or make a quick phone call. This is not the time to give your sales message!  It is, however, the time for a simple thank-you. If neighbors attended, be sure to contact them as well.
3. Send a second thank-you when possible, including a message that says something like, “If you didn’t have a chance to sign up for my real estate market update, please give me a call or send me an email and I will be sure to get you that information on a monthly basis.”
4. Leave the sellers an open house report. If you create this report as part of your open house system and have it preprinted, all you need to do is fill it out just before you leave the open house and put it on the kitchen counter for the sellers to review. Include how many people attended your open house, any comments (both positive and negative) that they made, and your comments about how you feel the open house went. Please be honest here – it’s not fair to only provide positive information, when the reality might be something like “most attendees felt the price was too high.” If they only hear that things are going very well, they will become frustrated quickly if there is no other activity or any offers.
5. You have yet another opportunity to reach out to people who attended your open house by sending “just pended” or “just sold” postcards at the appropriate times. Keeping people abreast of market activity is another way to stay in touch – and it allows you to articulate your value as a knowledgeable professional.

Communication is critical!

Communication is such a key piece of having a terrific open house, yet so many agents struggle with making guests feel welcome while also trying to establish the beginnings of a business relationship.

There are three key areas I want you to be aware of:

1. The welcome: Are you a “stand at the front door” agent, or a “sit in the kitchen” agent? What I’m getting at is this: what is your comfort level when people come in the door? I have attended open houses where the agent literally frightened me by opening the front door with such gusto they almost knocked me down! I’ve also attended open houses where the door was already open … and when I walked in the agent was at the kitchen counter using her laptop. She only looked up long enough to say “Hi there.  Come on in and look around.” Finding a balance between the two is a skill that you must learn.
2. The home tour: Do you like to show people around the house, or would you rather they tour on their own? Some agents are very successful at corralling groups of people and leading an actual tour – others are much more comfortable just letting people wander on their own. Sometimes this depends on the layout or amenities of the house or the seller’s wishes. Regardless of what tour style you choose, you must be comfortable talking not only about the house, the neighborhood, and the current market, but also encouraging people to take a look at all of the display boards and market data that you have provided.
3. The goodbye: Are guests leaving your open house with a positive lasting impression of you? In talking to hundreds of buyers over the years, the general consensus is that while agents are nice and will say “thanks for stopping by”, buyers rarely feel like they made a connection with the agent. The goodbye is your final chance to make that connection without being pushy. You really need to think about how you want to handle this, based on your personal style.

So remember – you can turn an “ok” open house into a great open house by implementing great follow-up and communication plans.

Don’t forget that the weekend of June 4th and 5th is National Open House Weekend.  Public attendance at open houses this weekend should be high.  Make sure you’re prepared for your best open house ever!

In case you missed any of the posts from this series, you can view the full list below:

• Throw Open the Doors!
• Put on Your Thinking Cap
• Open House Preparation
• The Final Keys to a Successful Open House

As our “thank you” to those who have been reading through this series, we would like to share a document to add to your open house tools. This is a sample letter you can send out to the neighbors of the open house, offering to put “slow down” signs up due to the increased traffic in the neighborhood. Neighbors love this! This small touch accomplishes several things:

• It introduces you, the agent.
• It lets the neighbor know there is an upcoming open house. Remember, people buy neighborhoods…and neighbors are a fantastic way to spread the word about your listing.
• It shows that you are concerned about the safety of their family.

You would not believe the response agents have received from neighbors so thankful the agent has gone the extra mile in keeping their neighborhood safe.

These safety signs are available in a variety of child safety areas of stores or you can buy them online. This is just one type of sign, but there are others types as well.

This letter is my gift to you. If you use it, I would love to hear what response you receive from the neighbors! Email me what you have heard to denise@thelonesgroup.com.