Virtual flyers (vFlyers), they clog my inbox every day, and what for? Do the listing agents that use them really think that if I’ve got a client that fits the parameters of their property for sale that I somehow missed it when searching the NWMLS? While it might look pretty, and maybe it impresses a seller, it really is like SPAM to me.
The way I see it, is if I have done a good job of qualifying my client’s needs and wants then I am already going to have search criteria set up that looks specifically for the property they are interested in buying. Furthermore, when we get through the initial crowd of possibilities and also look at the daily “new listings” we’ll get, at some point if we haven’t found something in a few weeks, to where I’ll start doing more creative type searches. These rarely, if ever, include looking at email like these.
About the only way a vFlyer might get my attention other than to delete it would be if a property suddenly dropped into my client’s price range when it hadn’t been before. Even then an agent will only have a few seconds to capture my attention – so those flyers that have the agent’s info splashed all over it and one photo of the property are almost always discarded immediately. Oh, agent, why are you promoting yourself to your competition? Why don’t you save your personal marketing for the consumer and use your selling skills for me and my clients?
One exception – I get when commercial agents use these because a lot of commercial buildings don’t go on a typical MLS type of system. If you’re a residential agent think about who your target audience is and why you are contacting them. It will improve your marketing and selling skills just by doing this simple thing.
