While RE/MAX agent Dan Robinson hasn't quite figured out how to make real estate prospects call because of his love for animals, he's hoping to make pets into a real estate specialty nonetheless. His knowledge has already paid off in extraordinary customer service for some of his clients.

"The very first house I 'sold' was to retired Marine, relocating from North Carolina with his family -- including their two dogs and two cats," says Robinson. "Sadly the closing did not go quite according to plan for one reason or another. This ultimately meant that the family, pets and all, had arrived in Northern Virginia on Friday expecting to move in the same day, but found themselves with nowhere to stay for the weekend. Fortunately I just happened to know of an all-suites hotel in the area that happily accommodates pets. I had already reserved a suite for them and their 4-legged friends just in case such an event occurred. I may have been new at real estate, but I had sufficient training to know that closings don't always happen on time. Anyway, I know they were very grateful and it all worked out in the end on Monday."

Robinson puts his specialty front and center in his marketing -- the way any specialist would. Robinson's tagline is "Helping Find Homes For Pets & People." And with every closed transaction, he donates to his favorite cause -- The Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation.

But so far, no clients have appeared because of his pet specialty, except for the manager of the Rescue Foundation where Robinson volunteers on Saturday mornings -- she's looking to sell her home and buy another.

"I'm still fairly new to the whole real estate game," says Robinson, "and I've had limited success with my 'specialty' so far. In fact I am still very much trying to hone the marketing and farming skills to better suit the pet-centric side of my business, and in turn better serve my clients and the animals themselves."

Robinson obtained his real estate license in December 2004 and started practicing real estate in February. He had a "pretty good year" with a varied client base, and it wasn't long before he found that having a pet specialty can be as simple as allowing the family dog to be part of the homebuying process.

A few months after helping the Marine and his family, Robinson has some new relocating clients, this time from Chesapeake Virginia. "Their dog was very important to them," Robinson recalls. "In fact I met Frasier, their Rat Terrier, before I even had a chance to say 'Hi' to them. He came into the office and sat attentively through my initial conversation and the scheduling of our homes tour. He, of course, came to all the houses with us, and although he didn't get to come inside he at least was able to give his outdoor approval of any possibility they considered. We actually did the closing for the property they chose at the house itself and Frasier was a big part of the transaction process. Needless to say, in addition to my traditional Lowe's giftcard for my clients, I made sure to include an equal amount on a PetSmart giftcard for Frasier as a closing gift too."

As a pet specialist, Robinson also comes up with creative solutions for potential deal-killing problems.

"I had two different dog-owning clients in 2005 who bought properties with acreage where a 'real' fence seemed financially impractical," he says. "In these cases, I was able to meet with the 'invisible dog fence' people at the properties prior to closing in order to have a quote ready for those clients."

While most clients don't require Robinson to meet and greet their pets, he remembers them at closing nonetheless.

"Generally, if my clients have pets, I make sure that my closing basket always includes some treats for them too," he says. Robinson uses the services of a local store that creates gift baskets called Olde Virginia Gourmet to tailor a basket to the likes of his individual clients. "They are always able to accommodate the pet population, usually with treats right at the front of the basket," he says.

"Probably the most important and consistent thing I do for clients, with or without pets, is to make a donation to The Lost Dog Rescue after each closing," explains Robinson. "And this New Year, as a gift for all of last year's clients, I sponsored an animal for each of them at The Lost Dog Rescue. Sponsorship helps to pay for the cost of shots, spaying, neutering etc. I sent each client a card with a picture and the name of the animal I had sponsored on their behalf so that they could keep track of them online, until their adoption. It seemed to go down very well and of course helped out the animals too."

Robinson says he's still fine-tuning his materials to best reflect his services. "I'm obviously hoping to tap into the niche some more, though, and am about to begin a demographic farm based on pet-ownership," he says.

Published: May 30, 2006

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