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MONDAY MORNING MESSENGER

Message Prepared For Home Inspectors and especially for Members of the American Institute of Inspectors®

May 31, 1999

GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.™

It's a great day at Michael Leavitt & Co Home Inspections. Today is a Holiday and I hope that you are all enjoying it. I think that I can smell your BBQ's raging...... It's time to turn the Filet Mignon over. The Leavitt family is split for this weekend. Daddy is here in Orem with our youngest Aaron. Mommy took the 3 older kids to visit their cousins in DuBois, Idaho. It has been strange cooking for one and a half.

Shelly & Michael Leavitt are proud to announce the graduation of their 5 year old son Adam Michael Leavitt from Preschool. He is now ready to bravely enter the public school system as a kindergartner in the Fall. It is amazing at how quickly he is growing up. Before long we will be sending him off to college. All we can hope for is to spend as much quality time as possible. If Adam had his way he would be either fishing or playing ball with his Dad 18 hours a day. That is except for when we would be snow skiing...... Ahh, life through the eyes of a 5 year old.

SPORTSFLASH: The Jazz are history...... Its hard to believe, but we learned here in Utah that the morning after the Portland Trailblazers knocked us out in 6 games that the sun actually did rise up. Life carried on and the business phone never let up ringing.

DOOMSDAY KUDO'S

I would like to thank Betty Buckley again for taking the time to contribute to the MMM. I encourage all of you to send Betty an E-mail expressing your thanks for her sharing the Survival Inspection with us. She did so by sending me a script and a set of the photos. Betty does not yet have the digital capabilities so she sent the information the old fashioned way via the snail mail. I respect that and share it with all of you to encourage your submissions to the MMM. Your participation makes the MMM that much better. To send a word of thanks to Betty you can contact her via e-mail at at buckleys@cdsnet.net

FORE!!! GOLF TOURNAMENTS

Here in Utah the spring has arrived and the golf season is in full swing. I don't know how it is in your area, but we have several real estate related golf tournaments each year. 3 years ago we sponsored our first tournament hole and were fit to be tied on what to do. We knew that we were spending a couple of hundred dollars to have the privilege of talking with the participants as they came to tee off at the hole we were paying to sit at.

I was very apprehensive as to whether the money and time would be a good investment. The tournament representative said that we could do whatever we wanted at the tee area...... At that time I was unfamiliar with the hole sponsor routine. Who were the other hole sponsors??? What would they be doing at their holes??? What could I give away??? How would I make the best overall impression??? What was going to be the disposition of the participants??? Was I a pushover and just unable to tell the golf tournament representative "No"???

I then went to a neighbor and inquired of him as to what was the protocol at these tournaments. He is a big time player and is regularly invited to be on the scramble teams so that they can play off of his best ball. He told me what usually happened and I then formulated my game plan. It seems that a good deal of the hole sponsors at tournaments do not even show up. Instead, they pay their money and have their sign placed at the hole. This approach allows no real impression, no personal contact, and no real benefit.

The other extreme is the car dealership that gives away a Lexus at their sponsored hole...... IF...... somebody gets a hole in one. This rarely happens, but it creates quite a stir of interest. This type of sponsor has a huge advertising budget and they rarely give any prizes away.

The more common approach is for the hole sponsor a hole and give away drinks or snacks. The majority are lenders that also have a large financial budget and paying for the hole, drinks and snacks is easily recouped from one loan. I felt that I didn't want to compete on this level of sponsorship either.

What I knew for sure was that I wanted to capture the attention of each participant. I really wanted them to meet me. I wanted them to leave the hole with some of my literature. I wanted them to know all of the different services that I offered. I also did not want to bore them out of their gourds. This multi-faceted goal was easily accomplished by the following......

"Hurry Hurry..... Pull your golf carts right up here and grab your chipping wedges. The rules of this bonus hole are simple. If you can chip your ball into Barbie's house you win a FREE $315 Home Inspection!!!"

This grabber intro appeals to real estate agents on several levels.......

First the word FREE. They love this word. It wouldn't matter what it was...... Now tell them that they can win a free $315 prize and they can't jump out of their carts fast enough.
The next intriguing factor is that they have not encountered this challenge before.

HOLE SET-UP

The key is to set up the added chipping hole with lots of colors. I have found that the plastic fluorescent rolls of marking flag tape is very effective. I take 2" grabber screws and use them to secure the tape at the corners.

First I lay out the chipping box. I make this box about 10' wide and 6' deep. I prefer to sponsor a hole that has an elevated T box so that I can place the chipping box on the hillside. This makes it difficult and eliminates them using a putter and causing us to give away 20 free home inspections. The degree of difficulty is appreciated by all of the participants.

From there I next position the Barbie play house. I use my daughter Jessica's. I removed the roof and elevated it on one side so that it resembled the A.I.I™ house. I place the house about 25 feet from the chipping box. The rules are that if you get it in the house and it stays there you win a FREE Home Inspection.

My main goal is to give everybody something, but give away very few Home Inspections. I came up with the idea to give away Pest Inspections, Radon Screenings, and Lead Hazard Screenings. These have the catch of being FREE with a full house inspection. In other words, if all of the 100 participants cashed in their coupons I would do about $30,000 in business and give away 100 added services....... I think that I can live with that (its never going to happen).

To accomplish this feat I layout ever increasing squares around the Barbie house. The largest box is about 20' x 20' and only about 5' away from the chipping box. This makes it so that anybody chipping in the general hemisphere of the Barbie house will make it into this box. Those that still miss this box I give a second chance. I have even gone so far as to let a few first timers pick their ball up and roll it....... Remember, the key is to give them a prize.

Giving a prize requires personally handing the golfer their ball and the certificate stating the conditions of their prize. Now here is the key learning point of my experiences.... Take it for what it is worth. In the last three years I have had less than a dozen golfers cash in their coupons. Some of you would say that the promotions have been a flop. Quite the contrary...... The hole sponsorships have been a raving success. In fact, I would attribute at least 30% our success in the last three years is due to our participation in golf tournament hole sponsorship.

Even though the coupons are not redeemed, the impressions and contacts are made. As the golfers try to win the Home Inspection they are also learning that I do Termite, Lead and Radon tests. The golf participants are usually agents, lenders, title officers and builders. After having received hundreds of my fliers, the agents are able to put the face on the flier to the personality sponsoring the hole. Who do you think they refer when a client is in front of them asking for a qualified Home Inspector??? How do you get your name off of your flier and embedded into their memory as a great human being and an impeccable Home Inspector???

I pondered earlier this week how I developed the reputation of being the best Home Inspector in Utah County. The reason that the majority of the agents in this county refer to me as the best is because I have been telling them that I am the best ever since my first flier was handed out....... "The Most Qualified Home Inspector In Utah County!!!" When you feel that you deserve a break today, who do you think of???? McDonald's! Why???? Because they have told you over and over again..... "Your deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonald's."

SPECIAL NOTE: I limit the time frame for the coupon redemption to 90 days. I also limit the FREE Home Inspection to a 3100 square foot or less home. In our area this is a nice home, but not a mansion. Added services are limited to being FREE with a Home Inspection. I have found that it isn't so important to actually have the Added Services coupons redeemed as it is to have your image come to their memory when the Radon, Lead or Termite topics come up later with their clients.

HOLE IN ONE

This past week I had one winner of a FREE Home Inspection. Shaunna Russell is one of my highest How High agents. She chipped her first shot at the Barbie house when my back was turned shaking the hands of the rest of her foursome. She missed wildly to the right and I could see her dejected look as she walked towards her ball. Shaunna had tried this same shot at least four different times at other tournaments. Seeing her disappointment I said.... "Shaunna it is your turn!...... If I didn't see you shoot, it doesn't count." She perked up, grabbed her ball and headed back to the chipping box.

Shaunna lined up her shot and drilled a line drive. It headed straight for the second floor and drilled the back wall and stopped. This same shot would usually ricochet off and bounce out of the structure. Shaunna's shot just stopped as though it was embedded in the drywall like a .38 caliber bullet. Not a lot of skill used on this shot. I have found that luck is better than skill any day...... This is especially true when shooting at Barbie's house.

The joy and jubilation from the female foursome could be heard all the way to the clubhouse. You would have thought that Shaunna had just won the Lexus. Seeing the ball stay in the bedroom, I too jumped up and down. Not to miss a marketing moment I pulled out the digital camera and had one of the foursome snap some pictures..... Afterall, Shaunna had just won a $315 prize.

Shaunna refers about 2 to 3 inspections a month and has for the last few years. That is about 30 inspections a year or about$8,000 of work annualy that I directly attribute to her confidence in our service. If there was one person that I wanted to give the inspection to it was Shaunna Russell. Shaunna is the type of an agent that Home Inspectors dream about. Shaunna wants to know the conditions before closing. She cares a great deal about her clients and does not want them to encounter the surprises after closing. Before using my services she was regularly having "Commissionectomies" to keep her clients satisfied. Since recommending Michael Leavitt & Co Home Inspections she no longer has had to give back part of her commissions.

Now I don't understand why some agents feel obligated to pay back part of their commissions to keep the buyers happy, but I do understand the strong ethic of making sure that your client is satisfied. A satisfied client is the agent's best advertising tool. Shaunna would still be the first to step up and cover a hidden condition, but the thorough A.I.I.™ Home Inspection process has virtually eliminated the waiting to be revealed "Commissionectomies".

Shaunna Russell is a good example of the majority of the agents that I deal with here in Utah. Never once has Shaunna asked me to compromise my reports. She respects my opinions and never downplays the findings. She has had several deals go south because of the findings of my inspections. Shaunna takes these let downs in stride. She realizes that if the deal does not go through it is because the house actually is not the best fit for her clients. She is not a "Close at all cost" agent. Shaunna is honest, and genuinely cares about those she works with. To award her with a FREE Home Inspection was a pleasure.

AWARD BONUS

This last tournament was special because my family came at the end all dressed up in their Michael Leavitt & Co embroidered golf shirts. When the tournament was over it was time for the steak lunch and the raffle. When it came time for the raffle and hole award announcements Adam (5) and Haily (3) were the official take the raffle ticket out of the fish bowl pullers.

It was great for all involved as Adam & Haily drew the raffle tickets. I announced the numbers and the tournament sponsor MC'd the proceedings and described the prizes. Who could be mad at the two little ones selecting the tickets??? I have found that having the family around helps to implant the image that using our Michael Leavitt & Co Home Inspections directly benefits the Leavitt family. We live in a very family oriented community and I have never found the image of my family to be detrimental.

GOLF SPONSOR SUMMARY

Please don't misunderstand my encouraging your participation in golf tournament sponsorship. I do NOT think that sponsoring a hole will triple your business or make your business phone instantly ring off the hook. Instead, I think that hole sponsorship is a vital part in a complete marketing scheme.

When I first sponsored a hole I literally expected the majority of the prizes to be claimed. Since that was my gauge for success I was very disappointed. Sometimes it is important to use a different measurement for success. As I look back, I was desperately looking for ways to meet agents other than in their offices. I was desperately looking for a chance to interact in a non-threatening environment.

When I sponsored the first hole the $200 fee about bankrupted our bank accounts. The lack of immediate phone response was disappointing. The sunburn was a constant reminder for the next week that I may have been foolishly trying to buy my desired success. The second time that I sponsored a hole I had consigned myself that I thought it would benefit our identity in the long run. Looking back, it accomplished everything I wanted except for the immediate success. What it did help accomplish was making Michael Leavitt & Co Home Inspections the company to call if you needed Home Inspections, Termite Inspections, Lead Hazard Screenings or Radon Screenings. During the side chit chat it even helped to book Commercial Inspections and Phase-1 Environmental Screenings.

Sponsoring a Golf Hole is as effective as the monthly radio show that I do. It is only successful if you do them long term. A one time shot is the same as throwing your money down the drain. Take the leap of faith. Lay out your long term marketing objectives. Plan on re-investing part of your inspection fees back into your marketing plan. Be consistent and get your image out there in as many different regular places as possible. Planning for the long term will certainly bring the success that you are gearing up for........ Sponsor a golf tournament hole today and don't forget the sunscreen and shades.