Realtor Linking To Local Merchants With ‘Deals Around Town’

By John Voket

Local Realtor Andy Sachs, along with his Around Town Teammates Bob Tendler and Barbara Snyder, are always being asked for referrals by clients and newcomers to the region who know they have a robust network of local business connections.

But Mr Sachs is capitalizing on the relationship he has built with the many businesses he often recommends to clients in the Newtown area, by launching a new website that takes a verbal referral to the next level — putting a name and a face to that business by “introducing” its proprietor via a video and an exclusive deal.

As a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Connecticut Association of Realtors, and the Newtown Board of Realtors, Mr Sachs knows you have to do a lot more than facilitate the purchase or sale of property to form a lasting and valuable relationship with clients that will generate return business and positive recommendations within any client’s social or professional networks.

“So we set about working to stand out among the competition by creating the ‘Around Town Team.’ But I knew that wasn’t enough to drive people to meet and work with me versus calling on realtors associated with the big national names,” Mr Sachs told The Newtown Bee during a recent interview.

So he started thinking about different ways to keep his small business on the minds of his clients and other Newtowners. The answer was to find a way to directly associate his team with the hundreds of other small businesses he and Mr Tendler and Ms Snyder were recommending to newcomers.

He believes the logical conduit is co-promotion, so he has launched a website tied to his firm called “Deals Around Town.”

“Deals Around Town supports small business in Newtown and the region,” he said. “So I’m hoping that by providing a way to favorably expose my clients and website visitors to local business people, those individuals and their patrons will become exposed to the Around Town Team and will hopefully call on us when it’s time to buy or sell a home.”

Growing Partnerships

To date, Deals Around Town has nearly two dozen partners. But Mr Sachs said the sky’s the limit, because once a business gains a position on his Deals Around Town website, the bulk of his work is done.

“I’ll provide the exposure — which is 100 percent free of charge to any participating business,” he said. “The only thing I ask in return is that the business provides some exclusive deal — a modest but attractive discount or promotion.”

And they have to display at least one poster in the business promoting the partnership.

Participating businesses can maximize their presence on the site by not only listing the basic information, but by engaging with Sachs in a video blog that serves as a virtual meet and greet between visitors and the business owner or manager.

“I know that Newtown has grown really fast in the past 10–20 years,” Mr Sachs said. “And that level of growth typically costs a community some of its old-fashioned hometown familiarity. But before the advent of the malls and the big box stores, merchants and customers developed real face-to-face relationships.

“People used to know the banker, the shoemaker, the butcher and the plumber by their first names,” he said. “I’m trying to bring some of that familiarity back by using the web to introduce visitors to merchants so they can put a name to a face. Maybe that way, they will be more inclined to walk up to that business owner and introduce themselves.”

Of course, it does not hurt Mr Sachs if that customer tells that business owner they heard about him on the Deals Around Town website.

“I don’t see this as detracting from my Real Estate work at all,” Mr Sachs said. “So far it’s given me an opportunity to get to know almost two dozen business owners, and to help them get to know the growing number of visitors to our websites. This is a business building tool for us, and if it helps drive clients to visit the real estate website, that’s just a bonus.”

Great Response

Mr Sachs said so far, the response from businesses has been great — as soon as they get over the concept that the added exposure comes for free.

“Most are seeing it as added exposure, even if visitors don’t come in for the promotion or to use the coupon,” Mr Sachs said. “But we are already hearing that people are coming in and using the coupons.”

Mr Sachs believes that small business people like himself have to innovate to stay fresh and to keep their names at top of mind.

“We’d eventually like to see this expand to other markets — the more partners, the more exposure for us all. And the more benefits to the consumer,” he added.

Visitors to the site can click and print coupons for free computer diagnostics, discounts on premium cigars, tailoring services, house paints, gifts and apparel, sandwiches, martial arts lessons and lawn maintenance. There are also deals from local restaurants, hair salons and a pet supply shop.

As far as he knows, the model for Deals Around Town does not exist.

“With sites like Groupon, businesses have to give up a lot of profit to get new customers through the door — plus they pay a fee,” he said.

Ultimately, Mr Sachs sees his new service as a way to expose Newtown merchants to a hyper-local market of newcomers and residents. To learn more, visit thearoundtownteam.com/deals.