Gotta Give Credit To The Virginia Association of Realtors

Tony and I have to give mad props to the Virginia Association of Realtors (VAR), specifically Ben Martin, Director of Communications and New Media. Ben is the first person from any Realtor association we are members of (we’re members of NAR, VAR and NVAR) to ask for our feedback and thoughts on any subject whatsoever. Sure, we get contacted by NAR and NVAR all the time. But it’s in the form of impersonal direct mailers that are advertising vendors, products and services. Ben and VAR seem to actually care about what we as members think. Needless to say, we were very pleasantly surprised!

The key to it all is not just that VAR and Ben care… It’s how they went about it. Let me explain:

Ben and VAR did the following:

• Took the time to search through the “blogosphere” and general web to find VAR members that were actively blogging about real estate and/or were active in their community via an online presence
• Tracked us down through our blogs after being referred to them by Jim Duncan, a respected blogger and real estate agent in the Charlottesville and Central Virginia area
• Initiated contact by emailing us to introduce himself, give us an idea of what he’d like to accomplish and asked if it was ok to chat more over the phone
• Sent us an IM to follow up, chat and confirm the phone number to reach us on
• Called us as promised, asked us excellent and productive questions and listened to what we had to say
• Bounced ideas off of us regarding a blogger meeting/mini-convention during the VAR Convention to see what we thought and to get our input
• Made us feel as though he and VAR actually cared about what we thought
• Urged us to attend the VAR Convention in order to learn from others as well as to help contribute to the learning experience of other VAR members. He did this sincerely and genuinely unlike most of the mailers, ads and emails sent out by the various Realtor associations

Notice how they went about it and that the common theme here is “engaged”? Yes, engaging your members on a very personal level takes more time, energy and money on the part of VAR. But look what it’s done:

• Helped us as members think more highly of VAR and spread the “good cheer” to others (evident by this post)
• Peaked our interest about the convention and made us want to attend where, before speaking with Ben, we did not plan on attending
• Raised the awareness of the VAR convention by spreading news about it to VAR members in a grassroots effort, which is many time much more effective than a direct mail flyer or spam-like email.
• Restored some of the lost faith in VAR
• Planted the seed for an increased sense of value of VAR to its members. In turn, this will help keep current VAR members around and help bring new members in.

See how everybody wins?!

Thank you to Scott Brunner, CEO of VAR for noticing that you need to engage your members and real estate 2.0 in general and for hiring Ben to do so. And thank you again to Ben for finding and contacting us (and Jim for helping). VAR has taken a step in the right direction and we hope that they continue down that path. Hopefully, other associations, local and national, will take note.

See you at the VAR convention in September!

Related Articles:

Virginia Association or Realtors Steps Into The Web 2.0 World (3 Part Series) - REALcentralVA.com

Comments

[Ben Martin]

Wow, the only person to ever say so many nice things about me is my mother! I really appreciate your feedback, and it's good to know my approach to this is resonating with you and others. Click on my name to see a beta of a VAR Convention & Expo blog: I'd appreciate your input (and participation). Look out for a VAR LinkedIn group just as soon as they begin taking new groups again, and finally, the VAR facebook group is in need of a few more early adopters. Thanks for making me feel welcome in the REALTOR family!

[Danilo Bogdanovic]

Ben - Your approach does work so keep on taking it. Cool blog btw. Short on time to really get it off the ground for this one, but there's plenty of time before next year's convention. I'll take a peek at Facebook and keep an eye out for the LinkedIn group.

Thanks again and see you in Williamsburg.