Print error-free business cards faster and more cost-efficiently.

The Opportunity

Professional Realtors® make their living based on people liking them, trusting them and being willing to spend hours in their company. In this very personal industry, business cards are an important introductory tool in all face-to-face interactions.

A card’s professional appearance should represent the overall first impression the Realtor wants to make. As an official real estate agency communications vehicle, accuracy of information is critical for follow-up opportunities or contact.

How many cards does a person really need?

The traditional process for producing business cards begins with the requester filling in a new card request form. The form is submitted to the print service provider, who manually transfers the information to a production shop form.

This process has several opportunities for transposition and other data errors to occur. The cards are then printed in large quantities by an offset process. Although such a large number of cards may not be required by the user, it makes the unit cost more feasible for offset printing. Time to delivery is typically a few weeks.

The Errington Group Advantage

As the real estate market ebbs and flows, and new employees come aboard while others leave, it becomes more effective for the print service provider to produce fewer cards faster, with lower costs and less error.

The Errington Group digital process removes the manual request form from the process. The requester selects the desired layout from a library of corporate approved templates. When using a Web-based electronic request form, he or she enters personal information into the card template master. The composed card is then redisplayed immediately to the Realtor for content verification.

This helps enormously to ensure data is accurate before anything is committed to print. Time and cost dramatically reduced. Duplex digital print allows more information to be included without crowding the face of the card. Shorter runs are also more economical.

The Errington Group has implemented this solution in many companies, including its own. Quantifiable results included a startling reduction in delivery time—from five or six weeks to just two or three days. When The Errington Group itself used the solution internally, accuracy significantly improved and production costs dropped as much as 66 percent. Most importantly, the solution has received extremely high customer satisfaction ratings from its users.

Personalized and customized business cards are an indispensable tool for Realtors. The Errington Group save both time and money in designing, creating and printing them.

Eye-Catching Brochure's Add Value at an Open House

The Opportunity

One of the most important things a visiting Realtor® or prospective home buyer should take away from an open house is a brochure or flyer about the house. Containing big, crisp photos, such materials are an excellent way to provide information about the listed property without using a lot of words.

While some descriptions are needed, the images have the most immediate and biggest impact. The availability of materials for mailing, fulfillment from phone inquiries, as neighborhood mailbox drop-offs, or as take-away's for brokers and prospective buyers is accepted practice for many open houses today.

Adapt contents to peoples’ comments.

An eye-catching brochure or flyer can work wonders in keeping open house visitors mindful of the property’s attributes after they have returned home. They also help the broker meet his or her obligation to represent a property in its best light. Because they can be printed on demand, a broker can change subsequent brochure content to reflect visitors’ reactions during the first open house—e. ex-emphasizing certain features over others.

The Errington Group Advantage

The faster a listing broker gets a beautiful property in front of prospective buyers, the faster the home is likely to sell. An 11 x 17" folded brochure on glossy stock can convey a high-end look for a special property. It also communicates a high level of professionalism, establishing credibility for your company. Duplex printed black-and-white flyers also can quickly and economically support the sales cycle within hours of signing a listing contract.

Points to keep in mind include: •

1. Using full-colour photographs relevant to the reader’s interest makes the document more engaging and compelling. •

2. Variable information and images give the brochure more impact, making it stand out compared to the other brochures the prospects receive. •

3. Customized brochures can be created by storing all static content (graphics and text) in an electronic repository.

Brochures can be updated in real time, on demand, as needed. Different brochures (black-and-white or colour) can be produced, depending on what makes the most business sense.

Customized brochures and flyers created with The Errington Group solution will deliver a cost-effective and powerful business communication.

Pleasant Follow-Up Note Goes A Long Way Toward Solidifying A Relationship

The Opportunity

In all cases where the sales process can be long and complex, it is important to keep in touch with all parties as often as possible. For a Realtor, sending a thank-you note expresses gratitude for the time and effort prospects have taken.

Like people everywhere, sellers and prospective buyers like being appreciated. If they feel a Sales Representative is actually thankful for their listing or their visit to a hosted open house, they’re more likely to refer that broker to other prospects.

Personal means hard copy, not e-mail.

Sales Representatives have many opportunities to thank prospects. By sending a thank-you note with a photo of the sales Representative (and perhaps even the house), the visitor to an open house is reminded of the experience. This follow-up communication is the extra touch point that often encourages prospects to call back and ask for another tour. At this critical point the hard work of actively taking a property to closing begins.

The Errington Group Advantage

Thank-you cards that include a photo of the broker are among those documents that impart a heightened impression of professionalism. By increasing the rate of callbacks, such cards also enable brokers to continue the conversation.

Building relationships a card at a time. Cards can be designed for sellers, buyers, prospective buyers and anyone else involved in the process with whom a continued good relationship is a plus. Blank templates can also be designed and readied for print on demand as shell documents for handwritten notes.

Designing, creating, printing and making marketing communications such as thank-you cards easily accessible is just one function among many available through The Errington Group solutions.

Use Customized Postcards to Build Awareness Of Your Services

The Opportunity

Realtors believe that people living in a neighborhood are there because they like it and would recommend it to friends and family. That’s why Just Listed and Just Sold postcards are very important tools.

An effective Just Listed postcard, personally addressed, typically features a picture of the home and is sent to people living in the neighborhood Along with “recruiting” people to spread the word, it aids in fulfilling the broker’s obligation to properly advertise the home in order to solicit a sale.

Helps the listing broker also be the selling broker.

Realtors who sell their own listings get a full commission —typically six percent of the selling price. If they list and somebody else sells the property, the listing agent gets half the commission. Since selling a house within the first two weeks of listing is a Realtors best chance of getting the whole commission, Just Listed postcards should go out as soon as possible.

Talking up success leads to more success.

The Just Sold postcard is another useful tool. Its purpose is to solicit additional listings by showing recent success and a “can-do” attitude. Obtaining new listings is at least half the job of any successful broker, so touting success while it's still news is essential.

The Errington Group Advantage

Localized direct mail lets people know that the sale is being handled by a service-oriented professional. The Just Listed postcard prominently features the home, which makes full colour the best option. `

The Just Sold postcard can use highlight colour and black and white and should include a confident, professional-looking photo of the Realtor.

A picture saves a thousand words. Personally addressed postcards with custom content are an excellent and cost-effective communications vehicle. Postcards can contain custom photos, highlighted information or sales statistics that are more relevant to prospects.

A customized and personalized postcard created with The Errington Group solution will deliver a cost-effective and powerful business communication solution.

Keep The Relationship Going After The Sale!

The Opportunity

The relationship between broker and client doesn't’ necessarily end when the first deal is done. Leaving a reminder of a job well done—-personalized candy box, for example —is a strategy that helps keep the broker’s efforts top of mind with the client.

As with any business relationship, brokers want to build a foundation for future business. In this case, satisfied clients will turn to them again, meanwhile creating referrals among friends and family.

It doesn't have to be candy.

A personalized gift box can contain any novelty or premium item that expresses your warm appreciation for the client’s business. This is the kind of promotional piece a new homeowner would show a friend, thus beginning the referral process.

The Errington Group Advantage

Thanking a client for past business paves the way to soliciting future business. The example we are using shows a candy box customized and personalized with a welcoming message and photo of the broker.

This innovative sample document illustrates the application flexibility possible through the digital production press. A wide variety of sheet sizes—using pre-scored and pre-perforated substrates with assembly instructions printed right on them—offer numerous gifting possibilities. Messages can be seasonal, reflect the client’s interests or include any particular requirements the Realtor® might have.

A colourful, customized and personalized 'gift' created with The Errington Group solution will build a foundation for a continuing client relationship