When you’ve been in the business as long as Maryland luxury agent Ellie McIntyre has, chances are that you’ve put some systems in place to help it grow effectively.

This is exactly what Ellie’s EPIK Bold is, a turnkey system for getting potential clients to reach out and provide information about themselves. Coined EPIK after her team’s name, an acronym that stands for excellence, professionalism, integrity, and knowledge, the EPIK Bold reworks aspects of inbound and outbound calling programs so that they work for Ellie.

She and I had a great talk about her program not long ago on Pivot: Shift Ahead. Ellie wanted to create a system that could expand her database, add new leads, and grow her referral business. But she wanted to do it in a way that gave her more control over when and where calls came from, the information captured, and in a way that positively impacted the community. She achieves these goals through the EPIK Bold program. During an EPIK Bold event, people in the community request to be contacted by Ellie’s team for the chance to win a prize. Because they want to win, they provide correct contact information. And because the winner must be able to receive the prize locally, Ellie ensures that the people who are participating in the program all live in her service area.

To effectively establish your own EPIK Bold, follow Ellie’s lead with these three key stages.

1.  The Planning Stage of an EPIK Bold

To have your EPIK Bold go off without a hitch, it’s important to plan for it in advance. Speak with local businesses to come up with a prize that is synergistic to the community, the business owner, and you. For instance, Ellie’s prizes have ranged from a local restaurant providing a private Valentine’s Day dinner for two before the restaurant opened to the public, a barbeque delivery for 10 people, to a special Thanksgiving meal. The key is offering a prize that excites the local community and promotes a local business. When this happens, everyone wins! Ellie grows her database, a local business gets free publicity, and a local resident wins a great prize.

2.  The Pre-Launch Stage of an EPIK Bold

Expect to begin planning for the nuts and bolts of an EPIK Bold about eight weeks out. Having a set strategy for getting information out about the event as well as enough time allocated to promote it is essential. Ellie does this in different ways, from talking about it on various social media channels, sending postcards, emails, and text messages, to reaching out directly to her database. In her promotions, Ellie directs people to a Google form where they can register to get a phone call from her team when the EPIK Bold takes place.

The Google form is an important aspect of this stage of the event. Not only does the form clearly explain the details of the upcoming event and how to participate, but it also gives her team permission to call the people who have filled it out for this and future events. The form ensures the contact information collected is correct and reminds people that they are interacting with the EPIK Home Group.

3.  The EPIK Bold Launch Stage of an EPIK Bold

The day of the EPIK Bold is when all of the work and preparation come to fruition. Everyone is on deck to make phone calls to the people who’ve registered, whether it be members of the team, a preferred lender, and even Ellie’s son. She focuses on talking to potential new buyers and sellers, while other team members use the time to touch base with VIP clients.

The conversations on an EPIK Bold day are designed to be natural and community-centric. While keeping it casual, they ask questions about favorite restaurants and best-kept secrets about the area to share with buyers. And of course, they also ask questions about real estate. The great thing about informal questions like these is that they show how much Ellie and the EPIK Home Group care about the community.

The Benefits of an EPIK Bold

Ellie designed the EPIK Bold as a great way to get involved in the area while promoting her brand. And it successfully grew her database too. The first event had 350 entrants, which turned into 22 nurtures and ultimately six pieces of business. Ellie and I agree: these events cost time, but they create a lot of energy and fun along the way!  

Have you seen a good ROI on an EPIK Bold of your own? Share your own experiences on our Facebook page! And if you’re an Inspire member and haven’t yet downloaded Ellie’s playbook, you can access it here!

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