Is your Database the Lifeblood of your business? (or not)

Talk to just about any Business Coach or Sales trainer and ask her about effective Lead generation and odds are (after all of the social media mumbo-jumbo) “Database” will surface.

Yet, I’m pretty certain there are a bunch of folks out there doing a reasonable amount of business WITHOUT a “working Database” through the use of Social Media on the internet  . . . and/or good, old fashioned face-to-face social networking with REAL Friends, Family, and acquaintences.

Looking back in time, I remember having a database of over 10,000 people. Most of those folks were “Farm People” who lived in a geographic area in which I wanted to specialize.

I spent a LOT of time on my database keeping that farm weeded.

Nowadays, the farm doesn’t reside in my database because I can pull a fresh set of names and addresses from our On-line tax access each time I want to send out a direct mail blast.

So . . .

My database has shrunk in size (and grown exponentially in strength) and now consists ONLY of people who I KNOW and who KNOW me.

• Inner Circle (250) – Friends, Family, Prior Clients – Best referral sources
• Local Businesses (250)
• Top Local REALTORS (500)
• Out of Area REALTORS (500) for incoming and outgoing referrals
• Local Real Estate Firm Principal Brokers and Owners (200)

Yep! 1,500 people of which I direct mail monthly only to the 250 Inner Circle

How is what YOU are doing NOW to Lead Generate different than before?

First . . . If you’re one of those many folks out there who have abandoned regular use of a database (or have never gotten around to it), I think you’re missing a golden opportunity to amp your productivity UP significantly with relatively little effort.

Armed with a REAL database, you can make appropriate, INTENTIONAL contact with your peeps without anyone “falling through the cracks”.

More business opportunities will start showing up.

Where?

If you haven’t a clue where to put your database or how to set it up, grab yourself a gmail account and start building it in “contacts” . . . Categorize them in a simple way (only 4 or 5 categories) . . . From there, communicating with them is a breeze, and if you ever want to move to a more structured contact manager program (like Top Producer) the migration is relatively easy.

The key is to JUST DO IT!

As you build your database, develop a “Mantra of Communication” . . . a Rhythm of predictable and lasting communication.

Here’s what I do:

• Every Monday – Monday Morning Coffee blog post direct emailed to Inner circle and Local Businesses
• Every Tuesday – An email to my 500 Top Local REALTORS
• Every Wednesday – An email to my Out of Area REALTORS
• Every Thursday – an email to Local Principal Brokers and owners
• Every Friday – an up-date to my own associates at Pareto realty
• Every Friday – a Mastermind Session “Riding the Wave of transformation”