Speaker: Eddie Ruettiger, Team Lead - Baird & Warner Realty
Eddie Ruettiger: Eddie Ruettiger here of the Ruettiger Group at Baird & Warner in Plainfield, Illinois And my total dollar volume last year was $16.3 million with 48 Transactions.
As you reflect on your productivity, what strategies have you employed to differentiate your personal value-proposition?
Eddie Ruettiger: So when it comes to growth and my productivity, I focus on kind of 3 core principles. The first one is the ability to know the market, being educated about the market, having the data, the information about the market. And that's a nice touch when it comes to The Personal Marketing Company because they are sending out that information, keeping me in front of my client. That's another aspect of it. That's the 2nd part is that personal customer service, having our Newsletter campaigns go out monthly, raises our bar, raises that level of connection to our client and keeps me in front of them on a regular basis. Then that ties into the 3rd pillar and our 3rd pillar is negotiating. We are a hired gun, we are hired to negotiate on behalf of our clients and help them obtain the properties that they're looking to obtain. And by establishing the first two levels, it makes it very easy for our clients to trust us when it comes to the negotiation portion of a transaction.
What specific marketing tools do you use to support your efforts – and how do you measure quantifiable ROI?
Eddie Ruettiger: So the biggest marketing tool we use is the Newsletter feature (Campaign) of The Personal Marketing Company And we have a very unique approach and that is I use a left right hemisphere brain thinking. So one month I will send out the newsletter that is heavier on data and information. The next month I send out the other, the opposite newsletter that is more talking about latest trends, colors, things along those lines. This keeps us in front of our clients. There is a coach out there that talks about having 18 touches. All right, if you can touch a client 18 times, you have a higher success rate to getting a referral from them. So what we do is between 12 newsletters and then 6 holiday postcards or event postcards that come in seasonal cards that gives us 18 touches without us having to do it one email or one phone call. So we end up surpassing those 18 touches in a year for starters. But what it does is it again, it keeps us top of mind reference and keeps us in front of that client all year long.
What has your experience been with TPMCO's Newsletter Campaign - and specific ROI?
Eddie Ruettiger: So I personally went down the road of the Newsletter format and keeping those Newsletters on an ongoing basis in front of my clients and adding in seasonal postcards with that has taken my GCI to keep growing year over year when I came and just started with The Personal Marketing Company, I was about $3 million in closings. As I said, last year, we did just over $16 million and it just keeps going on and on and on. We keep multiplying out, we've already closed $16 million this year. And it, we keep just focusing back in on our clientele, putting ourselves in front of them on a regular basis and with the Newsletters, the data, the information, what's going on in the market. And then we follow that up with, you know, plan events, things along those lines. So our return on investment (ROI) is pretty consistent year over year and it keeps growing as we add new clientele into our database.
In closing, how has your relationship with The Personal Marketing Company (TPMCO) impacted your business?
Eddie Ruettiger: So The Personal Marketing Company has definitely escalated my business. Over the past few years, I started working with the company in 2014, 2013. Actually, it was the end of 2013 is when I put everything into place and you know, coming up on a 10 year anniversary and to go from $3 million to now closing just over, you know, $16 million last year. And there's a good chance we're gonna be $20-$25 million this year. It, is something that takes time to nurture and grow. But the fact that, you know, NAR talks about how a single client will send you 7 referrals in a lifetime if you stay in front of them, the fact that like I said, there are coaches out there and one coach in specific that talks about touching a client 18 times and for every 12 people in that database, you touch 18 times, you have a chance of you should get 1 referral. I can break down based the number of people in my database. What my transaction volume will be year to year and don't get me wrong and it, it's a rough market right now in a slow year, it's still there, but it might be a little bit under and, but right now we're still holding on to a steady pace and we should hit I'm thinking 65 transactions this year at this pace. So it does keep growing, it does keep going on and that is the the biggest advantage of using The Personal Marketing Company. It sets me apart and keeps me in front of those clients. Even after the transaction, even after the deal has closed, making me the expert in the market - and my clients not only referring me more business, but coming back to me for additional business.
