Pizza and the real estate market

As much as everyone else, I got a chuckle out of the story from Cincinnati about somebody finding the online promotional code for a free pizza from Domino's and spreading the word to the point where local Domino's wound up giving away more than 600 pizzas in less than one day.

But if you are a realty agent or a mortgage broker/lender, my suggestion is to stop chuckling and start taking action when you hear about something like that in time. In this instance, a Domino's official supposedly got wind of this "not supposed to have been used" code being discovered and they were able to pull it after a few costly hours.

If I were a realty agent and found out about this, I would send out an e-mail to my client base ASAP to alert them to the possibility of a free pizza and which site to go to before it is too late.

Why, you ask?

Think about it. It is really all about marketing. Chances are a percentage of the people you send it to will e-mail you back or call you to thank you for letting them know, and/or to ask how you found out. I am here to tell you that is some valuable information, and it is exclusive to you.

Suppose even one or two people find out in time and GET a free pizza. It is because of you and they will thank you. More importantly, you know that they frequently monitor incoming e-mail and are prepared to act. Think about that when you SELL or even book your next listing. Chances are you will get some "thanks anyway!" responses over the next 24 to 48 hours. Let's say your "immediate client list" has 50 e-mail addresses on it.

Even if your result is, say, 20 (and that's less than half) people responding in some form to your helpful "alert" within a couple of days, you now have a personal and exclusive list of 20 people who will open e-mails from you. Keep that in mind when you have a listing that is hours away from hitting the MLS and being seen online. That is why you ask!

If you are a mortgage broker/lender, having a similar list of people who will definitely check your e-mails can be very handy when rates next take a dip, which seems to be every week of late.

Heck - an agent or lender could offer to take the family out for pizza to review their current situation against the other financial opportunities out there.

Every business day I contact and consult with realty agents and mortgage brokers/lenders looking for low cost ways to attract immediate business. It can be done, whether with cheese or sausage.