You have a lot of material options in the door knocking game. 

You don’t want to bring the same thing each time you knock. Your visit number, AKA your touch number, will help you decide what to bring. One thing you’ll leave every visit is your business card. Always make sure you leave it face-up too. A general rule is that every second touch, add in a new type of material to provide value. We’ll go over the various options in this video. 

When you are planning your materials, think about it this way. How would you feel if you were standing on the other side of a door and someone knocked? What would matter to you? What packages or information would you appreciate? What could an agent offer you besides a local listing sheet? 

I like to get hyper-local with the information I provide in an area. That makes it more valuable to them. It also showcases yourself as an agent in the know. The residents behind those doors will come to trust you as somewhat of an expert, not just as an agent but on what’s happening locally. When you are seen this way by locals, everyone becomes more approachable and the relationship building is easier. 

The following is a list of the main materials you’ll want to include in your 7 touch plan.

When you're producing your materials, your best investment will always be notepads.  

Why are notepads your best choice and best investment? Longevity. Think about it. How many notepads have you had (and needed) in your home over the years? They’re everywhere. In your junk drawer, on your desk, in your kitchen. People need and keep notepads. Period. You get more mileage out of a notepad in terms of exposure than anything else available to you as a drop off option. In studies, notepads are shown to be the longest-lasting piece of print in a prospect’s home. They’re so useful to have on hand that notepads live in your prospect’s home forever. 

You can provide notepads as often as every second touch. People never really get tired of getting free notepads. As a bonus, you can write a personalized message to warmer contacts using the top note page. That’s a pro tip for leveling up your rapport building! 

There are some important considerations when custom printing and branding your notepads. You really want to think about how you design them. You want them to be practical but also look good. 

Here are all of the things you need to think about when designing your notepads. 

1. Customization: How would you like your notepad to appear? Do you want  them to be colorful or black and white? Do you require your notepad to be plain or have a watermark? What’s the theme or concept? What contact details need to fit on the notepad?
2. Size: Make sure your contact info doesn’t take up too much room.  Is there enough writing space?  Be sure there’s room for specific information, such as brokerage information, your name, and any disclaimers your regulatory board requires.
3. Color: If you are choosing colors, blue is a great bet. Who do you know who doesn't like blue? Think about it. There are people you know who don’t like red or orange or yellow. But blue is a tried, tested, and true color for marketing materials that appeals to almost everyone.

Pro Notepad Printing Tips:

• Ask your printing company for a sample and then test your notepad print. I have often ordered designs in quantities of 10,000+ only to realize that there’s something wrong. For example, once there wasn’t enough room to write on the pad. One time, the post-it sticker was aligned on the wrong side. Check your work! Spending money on poor materials is a pitfall in the game and bad use of resources. 
• Design work and colors greatly increase your cost. Ask the company for the range and types of available notepads. Stick to just one color plus black to keep costs down. In the beginning, design your notepad yourself (and then test print). Stick to something simple that works. Wait until you have more resources in the game to get anything professionally designed. 
• Just because you’re keeping it simple, doesn’t mean you don’t want it to look good! You want to stand out with good design! The truth is, most people’s material is horrible. I don’t say that to be judgmental but the truth is that most people don’t put much thought into the materials. And I’m here to give you valuable advice in the game. You want to keep your material simple but classy. For that, I’ll be providing access to Agent Renovation’s winning templates. The links will be included in this module’s resources. The templates are easy to use and the designs are classy, tried, and tested.
  

Now for your notebook ACTION STEP: It’s time to actually design your notebook. After this video, use the downloadable guide and check out the AR templates. 

Another important item to work into your materials is the CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

You don’t have to wait for someone to give you their contact information to drop one off.  Go back to the cues from when you first had a conversation with your prospect. Were you paying attention to their body language? There are times when your prospect tells you yes with their body and eyes that they are interested in information even when they say no with their words. It’s best not to push for contact information. You don’t want to be overly aggressive and sacrifice the rapport you’re building. However, on another visit, you can casually drop off a CMA. It’s like leaving a gift. It’s something of value. It’s unlikely they’d be upset about it. 

Another scenario involves having a great conversation when one partner in the house.  They say they’re interested…but they’re not comfortable giving out their contact information without first talking to the other. This is another good opportunity to bring by a CMA another day.  Simply prepare it and drop it off casually. 

When you go out of your way and drop off a CMA without them asking, they won’t be upset. And the following will happen. 

1. The possible lead will appreciate that you go above and beyond. They’ll think you’re a hard worker.  
2. You might get a listing appointment!

You dropped by with a CMA because they were already a warm contact. Now that you’ve given them a price attached to their home, you might increase their level of interest! You may not have their contact information yet but you read their level of interest in their reaction to the CMA. It might be enough to turn them into an actual lead.  Sometimes, knowing the value of their home on paper is the gentle nudge homeowners need to list. 

Another reason to drop off a CMA is tax season. Offer it as a way for homeowners to check whether their tax assessment is accurate. All you have to say is, “would you trust a government computer to give you a correct reflection of your home’s value? Or would you rather a local expert tell you your home’s value?”

A couple times a year you can work gifts into your door knocking materials

A tiny gift is a great way to break the ice at the door. Just make sure you're offering something useful or worthwhile. Consider something like artisan local honey or jam. When they see it in their home later, they’ll connect it to you in their mind. Gifts with local connections are best. They’re thoughtful and show your interest in community connection. You can also consider giving a calendar with your name and phone number on it in the first few months of the year. Like notepads, people use calendars and it will keep your name top of mind when they use it. 

Coupons are one of my main go-to items to hand out. 

Coupons are a great way to provide value while supporting local businesses.

I collaborate with local businesses to create  coupons. One very successful coupon I’ve handed out is for a free oil tank scan. I collaborated with a local business that offers oil tank removal. Oil tank scans are always free but people don’t realize this. And often they want to know if their property has a tank that needs to be removed. Houses used to be heated with oil. A leaky oil tank costs about $200,000. It’s the owner’s responsibility to take care of the problem.  If you’re about to sell, you want to know about it because you're responsible for getting it removed. Sellers with homes from the 1970s or earlier are quite worried about this. This prompts them to reach out to the oil tank company. The great thing about this is it also alerts you when someone is thinking about selling. When I find out someone has redeemed the tank scan, I know they are thinking about moving. That homeowner then moves to the top of my list! You can use this same approach. 

An oil scan isn’t my only coupon. And it wouldn’t apply when knocking at newer homes. I produce various coupons for this reason. Another example is a coupon for 10% off at the local pub. This appeals to a lot of people. The pub coupon I hand out often gets redeemed the most. 

My advice is to go talk with local businesses to collaborate with them on coupons your target community will appreciate. It’s always good to target places that are more aligned and local. When you target businesses connected to a specific community’s vibe, that is a great way to show you really understand the neighborhood too. An example would be a coupon for a local children’s store in a neighborhood filled with young families. 

I pitch local businesses by telling them I am already dropping a package of flyers at homes in the neighborhood. I want to include more value while helping promote local businesses. I tell them I am willing to do all the work delivering the coupons. I’ll also do the printing of the co-branded coupons. They just need to be willing to offer something. This works every time I approach a business. I am sure it will for you too when you try it out. 

The only thing you want to avoid is approaching large corporations. This is for two main reasons. They aren’t as connected to the community. Secondly, they have headquarters and layers of approval. At smaller businesses you’ll have direct access to an owner or decision maker. At companies, there’s barriers. It’s not good time allocation to go through all of those channels of approval. It’s best to stick to small local businesses. Coupons for large businesses also won’t stand out. The coupon would become one of hundreds people receive every week. Nothing about that experience makes you memorable to your prospect when they get it. It’s better to create unique local coupons.  

The last point about coupons is that there is a strategy you can use when your printing budget is low. When you want to save money, you can sometimes arrange printing costs with the collaborating business. When you are offering your time to hand out these coupons, they may take your time on trade for the cost of printing. You’re offering value to the business by getting the coupons out to the community. In this case, everyone wins. The business gets more exposure in the community and so do you.

ACTION STEP: Research a local company that might interest your target community. Then, approach them about partnering for a coupon. You can use the downloadable guide and templates to design your first coupon! 

Also, remember to print off all of this section’s resources to get thinking about the materials you’re going to create for your door knocking game.  

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