Nightingale of NPR discusses increasing referrals

Name: Alyssa Nightingale Title: President/CEO Company/Firm: Nightingale Public Relations Years with company/firm: 22 years Years in field: 25+ Years in real estate industry: Approximately 18 years Telephone: 631-367-8599 Email: [email protected] URL: www.nightingalepr.com Real Estate Associations/Affiliations: FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation National Association of Realtors NY State Association of Realtors Long Island Board of Realtors How do you and/or your firm use social media? Social media is changing the way the world communicates. It provides an environment where we can create effective and supportive business relationships among key audiences, build brand equity and engage customers and the public in communications. We use social media to build awareness for our company as well as our clients and projects with a group of users that can, and probably already are, influencing the news. And finally, we use social media to monitor news and recent trends taking place within specific industries and leverage the social components to attract and build relationships with prospects, influencers and customers. What do you consider to be the most successful way to increase referrals? It is important to take time and effort to implement an effective referral program. The most successful way to increase referrals is to continue to service your clients and customers ensuring that they are "uniquely satisfied" with the service you provide or work you do. Develop multiple vehicles for contacts to refer others to you. Enable them to not only personally refer someone, but to forward your e-mail newsletter, provide information they can share with their contacts, provide testimonials, etc. And don't forget to utilize social media platforms to let your contacts know about your work and your successes. What is the BEST advice you have ever received? The best advice I have ever received has come from my parents. They changed how I look at the world and how I react. There is no such thing as failure - only learning experiences" "If you're not actively managing your positioning, who is?" "Whatever you do either helps or hinders. There's no such thing as a neutral action. There's no such thing as not being in the way. If you are on the playing field you are not neutral." And one piece of advice I always live by "If you do one thing, you've done something."