The Power of Thank You

By Dena Howard

We were all taught from a very young age to say "thank you" but it seems these days the only place we hear it is in the grocery  store followed by "Have a nice day." It has become as common as "May I help you?" and very often seems as insincere and scripted.

But heartfelt and used at the proper times "thank you" can be a powerful and often overlooked sales tool.

Lisa Anne Wesley noticed that her clients repeatedly commented on the potential for gardens around the houses they were shown although it was winter and there were no visible blooms. The house they chose to buy had a carefully manicured evergreen garden.

Lisa bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers to thank her clients and presented them just after closing. The clients were delighted and when they called their friends to tell them about their new house, mentioned those flowers to some of them. Other friends and family stopped by to congratulate them, saw the flowers, and read the handwritten card. Even in the dead of winter, that month, thanks to her show of gratitude, she had three new listing appointments and two new buyers to work with.

Lisa Anne Wesley thoughtfully used the power of thank you. Although she has only been in the business for a short time (four years) she is one of the top agents at her firm in Akron, Ohio and consistently sells more than a million dollars of real estate every year.

Cut flower bouquets are beautiful but can be expensive, especially in the winter, and around flower friendly holidays like Mother's Day and Valentines Day. Often small, inexpensive, but thoughtful gifts can work miracles.

A very new agent was on a strict budget after she sold her first house, a mobile home that earned her a very modest commission. Her mother was famous for her amazing molasses cookies and she took a plate of them to thank her client. That client served them at a housewarming party and some of the guests asked for the recipe. When they were referred to the agent she turned one cookie lover into a buyer.

The cost of the gift is not as important as the relationship you are building with your clients. In fact the cost of the gift can get you into trouble if you are not careful. Some buyers will feel embarrassed if the gift is too pricey, some will feel as if you are trying to buy their loyalty, others may feel like they paid too much in commission if you are able to spend an inordinate amount on a gift for them. Use your own judgment based on your client's needs and the cost of the home.

Some examples of inappropriate gifts might be:

n Tickets to a sporting or cultural event costing more than $100 (unless you attend along with your
     client)
n Clothing or accessories
n Furniture, art or other big ticket items
n Gift cards or certificates for more than $100
n Vacations or other promotions (unless they are used as a prominently displayed promotion
    available to all clients)

Another way a thank you gift can get you into trouble is if you give it to the wrong person.

A note of thanks or a small token of appreciation (like candy or cookies) is a nice thing to do for mortgage and title agents or others you worked with to help finalize your sale, but gifts to those same people can be considered kickbacks.

In most states it is illegal to pay any other person involved in the purchase of real estate by offering gifts. These rules are laid out in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. Its purposes include eliminating kickbacks or referral fees that unnecessarily increase certain settlement costs. RESPA prohibits both giving and receiving anything between providers of settlement for the referral of business.

This simply means you cannot gift people involved in the transaction of a sale of real estate with the exception of the buyer or seller in a manner that would increase the cost to that buyer or seller in any way.

These people include:

n real estate brokers and agents
n mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers
n title companies and title agents
n home warranty companies
n hazard insurance agents
n home warranty companies
n hazard insurance agents
n appraisers
n flood and tax service providers
n home and pest inspectors

It is considered good manners to send ard of thanks to these people following the closing of your sale; sending a check or gift certificate is not appropriate. Taking them to dinner to discuss business is also appropriate; paying for their night out without you is not.

It is generally accepted that a token of your appreciation given to your client is not a kickback. something tangible in the hands of your clients will help them remember you and spread the word about your skills as an agent. Thank-you is a powerful thing, and used consistently and thoughtfully will produce a warm feeling of kindness? and immediate results.

Most buyers or sellers are making the biggest decision of their lives when they buy or sell a house. They appreciate the recognition of their difficulty. A thank you gift is an excellent idea and one that will keep you in their minds the next time they or one of their friends or family members buys or sells a house.

Barb Davis sold a cheap dilapidated house to a newly divorced mother on land contract. When she visited a week after closing she noticed that the children were sitting in front of the only entertainment they had; a small black and white television.

She went to a nearby discount store and made a colorful gift basket of activity books, hand puzzles and art supplies. The thank-you she got from the delighted children was enough to make her happy but two years later when the young mother won a court decision against her ex-husband she called Barb again and bought a house worth $275,000.

The thank you gift for that transaction was a framed poster of the house. Comments about that poster from the large family of the buyer garnered Barb four new clients and two in-house sales.

Gratitude is a powerful thing. Not using it can mean not growing your business.

Alex Johns had been in the real estate business for fourteen years and had never failed to send a card to his clients after a sale but he was watching agents in his office take listings from and sell houses to his former clients. When he asked one of them why they did not come back to him the reply was "I didn't think you would remember me."

He noticed that another agent had several return clients and he asked him what his secret was. His associate had a stack of boxed chocolates under his desk that were printed with big gold letters reading, "It was sweet to work with you!"

Alex compiled a list of people who had bought from him the proceeding year and sent each of them an anniversary card with a small box of candy. When he would meet them by chance, they would smile, thank him and shake his hand, happy that they had been remembered and happy to remember him.

One of them scheduled a listing appointment; his company had transferred him. Alex sold his house and helped him find one in his new state, earning a commission and a referral from one box of candy.

He used his box of thank you cards for listing appointments that did not result in listings and a few of them called to change their minds!

Whether it is an anniversary card sent a year after a sale, a box of toys given to the client?s child or a bouquet of flowers,