Tired of sending out Christmas cards to your farm and wondering if they just got tossed in the trashbin? Would you like to send a holiday greeting that your clients will treasure instead? For the same cost as cards, you can send out a valuable letter that will not showcase your thoughtfulness but introduce you to a world of new referrals.

The holidays and other special occasions are a great time to both profit and provide value added services to your current clients, circles of influence, and database of contacts. Here's how:

Visit a local merchant you know and make arrangements to secure a significant discount for any client you recommend to use or purchase their products or services. For example, your local jeweler, nursery, home furnishings store or decorative center might be willing to a 20, 30, even 40% discount to your clients during a limited time frame. Show the merchant how many people you have in your "farm."

Draft a brief holiday greetings letter to express your gratitude for the recipient's patronage, support, and referrals throughout the year. In appreciation, you have made arrangements with Mr. Merchant to offer them a 30% discount on anything in the store during the holidays upon being presented with this letter.

Ask your clients to "discreetly pass the letter to Mr. Diamond" as this offer is not being made to anyone but them and a few of your other close friends and clients. This lends importance and an air of exclusivity to your gift.

Structured properly, you could become a referral source for Mr. Merchant. You never know when a customer will casually mention that he or she is looking for a home in the area or thinking of moving. Mr. Merchant will be able to recommend you.

Termed joint venture marketing or strategic alliance marketing, the profit pulling power of this technique is awesome. Your client gets a good deal, the local vendor obtains new clients from which he will profit immediately and far into the future, and you have once again secured good will in the eyes of your contacts.

The beauty of this type of marketing is that you don't have to stop with the Christmas holidays. Align yourself with floral, lingerie, candy, and gift shops for Valentine's Day, and children's stores for Easter. And don't forget Mother's Day and Father's Day, Grandparents Day, Labor Day, The Fourth of July, and so on. You could offer a special service almost every month.

Do one deal and the next deal comes easily. Do many, many deals and you can quickly finding yourself the "Real Estate Agent of Choice" for all local merchants in addition to providing a wonderful value-added service to the rest of your contacts.

Published: December 14, 1998

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Robert Fore is the president and CEO for Realty Profit Systems. He is a nationally recognized marketing trainer and strategist who specializes in combining the proven principles of direct response marketing with the cost-effective, worldwide penetration of the internet. Realty Profit Systems publishes the Online Real Estate Marketing Report at http://www.hometeam2000.com and offers a free, weekly e-zine of real estate marketing tips at http://www.top10realty.com.