Leading Chicago Real Estate Firm Uses SMS To Drive More Showings

Visibility, recognition, and accessibility are three things every exceptional realtor strives for. In this highly competitive industry, building a name for yourself associated with desirable listings and premier customer service can make or break your brand.

And nobody understands that commitment more than John Michael Grafft, the owner of GRAFFT – Chicago Real Estate. He and his team of five brokers dominate the downtown Chicago market thanks to their hard work, keen eye for quality, and of course, a little bit of text-enabled power.

John’s SMS-driven style of real estate marketing sets him apart from the competition in a way any realtor looking to make their mark on the industry should take note of.

We connected with him to learn a little more about his secret sauce for success that landed him the title of a Nation’s 30 Under 30 Realtor® and a Berkshire Hathaway Top 1% in the World Agent so early on in his career.

Making Yourself An Available Asset With SMS

When John started Chicago Real Estate in 2009 he was focused on delivering a standout experience for his customers. After ten years of finding his footing in the industry, he found himself seeking out a text marketing provider that could help take his communications to the next level. The simple answer as to why he found himself here at SimpleTexting? As John puts it…”because everybody texts!”

Asking him to expand on that idea a little further, we found that John was in search of a communication tool that could gives him the ability to send out information just as easily as he could collect it. This need for two-way communication is common in the real estate industry as it’s equally as important to push out information as well as make yourself available for incoming questions.

For John, one of the biggest benefits he saw with text marketing was the ability to collect phone numbers for the sake of following up. His no-nonsense approach to sales revolves around directing most of his attention to interested players, and in the meantime making himself available to everyone else.

“I don’t like to spam,” notes John. “If someone’s interested great, we get in touch with them immediately. If not, we have their information, and if they want to contact us again they can.”

This approach meant John needed a way for him and his team to be everywhere at once and available a the drop of the hat. They were already streamlining much of their work through digital strategies like property-specific websites, but he wanted to take it a step further. He found his perfect solution in the form of a text marketing tool: autoresponders.

Keywords And Autoresponders—A Broker’s Best Tools

John was looking for a way to connect interested parties with information instantaneously, but he wanted that first touch to be a little more personal. That’s when he discovered SMS autoresponders.

For each new property John lists, he created a keyword unique to it. He advertised that keyword on all of his listing’s signs and marketing collateral encouraging interested parties to text the keyword to their number for more information. What happened next was a cascading effect of opportunity for John and his team.

First, each interested party who texted in the keyword was met with an automatic, immediate response thanking them for their interest, and directing them to the unique property website. Through link tracking and other digital tools like cookies, John was able to constantly promote the property to interested parties.

Only interested buyers text in the keywords, so John and his team can spend less time chasing after leads that may not be promising.

His autoresponders always include a number that folks can call for immediate assistance, but over time he has found that option is utilized less and less. “I definitely know people like instant gratification,” says John. “And this [texting] is the easiest way to do that. I also like that they get what they need, in the way they prefer. I really think most people prefer to text instead of call.”

Standing Out As A Realtor Among The Competition

For anyone familiar with or living in Chicago, you’re aware of what a bustling and growing metropolis that it is. That growth has caused a boom in the real estate industry that folks like John are fighting to capitalize on.

That’s why a strategy like SMS was not only helpful when it came to saving time, but for giving him a competitive edge.

“I haven’t seen anyone doing what I’m doing. You definitely see some people using texting, but you can tell it’s all generic and it’s not specific to the property. There are very few agents doing websites for properties and we’ve streamlined the website creation so it’s a quick process.”

If you’re interested in reaching leads faster and continuing the conversation with your audience similar to how John and his team are doing, look no further. We offer a 14-day free trial so you can get your feet wet. Even if you have a large amount of listings, our platform can accommodate your needs. As John and his team have taken full advantage of, we offer unlimited keywords at no additional cost.

Start utilizing SMS today and turn your SimpleTexting dashboard into your most valuable coworker.