Local Realtor Business Building Philosophy
by Stu Leventhal
There are all kinds of ways that realtors drum up business. First off a newly licensed agent should contact all of the folks they know; friends, family, old school mates and workmates to simply inform everyone that you are now a licensed realtor ready to counsel on real estate decisions. Someone may know someone who needs a realtor right now to handle a problem or perhaps they can pass your business card to someone who has been talking about possibly moving soon.
Those who know you and care for you will want to help you get your real estate consulting business going if and when they can but you have to get your business info, office address, phone number to people or they cannot be your promotional megaphone.
Next you analyze the sales territory you will be working in. How many other realtors are there already in the area? What are they each doing? Who is known as the best Realtor in town? Why? What are the top realtors doing well? Can you see clearly why some of the poorly earning realtors are failing? You might want to just ask the head of the brokerage you joined to explain their view to you on why some realtors are doing great while others are struggling to stay afloat. Also ask for tips and advice from some of the seasoned agents in your office. Many new agents get orientated to their new sales territory by shadowing a successful mentor agent rather than trying to learn everything on their own.
Look over the available house inventory and see what types of property you have to work with. Know the price ranges of what is selling the most and where the hot neighborhoods are. You cannot make a marketing plan without knowing what you have to offer to potential buyers. You have to know the details of the perks of moving into each neighborhood. You might be able to get a client more rooms or a bigger yard in a neighborhood just a few miles away from where they are asking about. Remember, each client will have different needs and priorities they are trying to satisfy. Homes are not one size fits all. People have their own perceptions of what is nice and important and we each have our own tastes of style.
Is there some business thing or a specific client type that all the area realtors seem to be neglecting? Ask yourself, what can I become the area’s specialist in and thus make a name for myself.
As you start to gain some knowledge of what types of homes are in your inventory and who, demographic wise, are doing the most buying and selling of these kinds of property; you next start trying to figure out who, locally, you need to meet or be introduced to in order to start mingling with the most potential local home buyers and sellers. Once you determine who you need to network with you then go back to who you already know, friends and family, to see if anyone can introduce you to anyone worth networking with. Know that making one connection, the right connection, is all it may take to spring board your career into high gear.
You have to first be knowledgeable of what kind of property you have to offer, the available properties’ prices and the selling points or perks of buying those properties. Will your selling pitch be, you get lots of square footage for discount prices? Are you selling the prestige and bragging rights of living in a certain community?
Once you know who is buying and who is selling, ask yourself if you have anything about you that might relate to or resonate with these specific kinds of your most promising prospects and potential clients.
If you have identified that young professionals are moving in by the droves, buying their first homes and you and they seem to be very tech minded then that could give you an advantage over some of the non-techie agents trying to impress and connect with this demographic. If not then you may need to learn a little more about these young professionals. For instance, where do they hang out? What do they do for recreation? Do you know anyone who is a young professional that could give you some better incite.
The key of course would be to find out what these young professionals are having difficulties with concerning finding and buying their first home in your sales territory. If you know what their biggest problems are then you need to fix those problems and start marketing that you are their solution. This may require you teaming up with another pro such as a lender or banker who is willing to bend over backward for helping first time home buyers or make some special considerations just for these young professionals so they can become responsible home owners. The incentive is that you should be able to bring your new network partner volume business if they can just ease up a little on their lending requirements or approval terms and conditions.
Of course the problems and your solutions will be different for each realtor reading this article based on the different demographics of your best possible client prospect group and the size and prices of the available properties in your real estate market. Still the business recipe is the same. Know your house inventory and who is buying and selling it. Learn what their problems are with making and closing their property deals and then solve those problems or make handling them easier!
Newlyweds, buyers with school age children, seniors, single women, each group has their own set of difficulties with procuring a home with all of the features they really want at a price that they can afford. Every realtor has their own set of realty scene specifics to work thru. Just remember a real estate consultant solves difficulties for people; the key to your success is first learning what those difficulties are then coming up with the answers to handle them. Marketing is first about giving people a reason to need you and want to hire you. Do that first and then getting the word out about you and your specialty business niche will be easy.
Remember that when you specialize in a specific client type then your ads, sales pitches and marketing campaigns are much more effective. Being the realtor who handles every possible real estate client is too vague of a business identity. Being a specialist or expert in a specific, drilled down, realty scene is much more impressive. You have a platform from which to shout you are the best and it is much more believable.
REFERENCE:
Find Great Business Books for Realtors!
Get Your Guide Book for Real Estate Agent Career Success!
Those who know you and care for you will want to help you get your real estate consulting business going if and when they can but you have to get your business info, office address, phone number to people or they cannot be your promotional megaphone.
Next you analyze the sales territory you will be working in. How many other realtors are there already in the area? What are they each doing? Who is known as the best Realtor in town? Why? What are the top realtors doing well? Can you see clearly why some of the poorly earning realtors are failing? You might want to just ask the head of the brokerage you joined to explain their view to you on why some realtors are doing great while others are struggling to stay afloat. Also ask for tips and advice from some of the seasoned agents in your office. Many new agents get orientated to their new sales territory by shadowing a successful mentor agent rather than trying to learn everything on their own.
Look over the available house inventory and see what types of property you have to work with. Know the price ranges of what is selling the most and where the hot neighborhoods are. You cannot make a marketing plan without knowing what you have to offer to potential buyers. You have to know the details of the perks of moving into each neighborhood. You might be able to get a client more rooms or a bigger yard in a neighborhood just a few miles away from where they are asking about. Remember, each client will have different needs and priorities they are trying to satisfy. Homes are not one size fits all. People have their own perceptions of what is nice and important and we each have our own tastes of style.
Is there some business thing or a specific client type that all the area realtors seem to be neglecting? Ask yourself, what can I become the area’s specialist in and thus make a name for myself.
As you start to gain some knowledge of what types of homes are in your inventory and who, demographic wise, are doing the most buying and selling of these kinds of property; you next start trying to figure out who, locally, you need to meet or be introduced to in order to start mingling with the most potential local home buyers and sellers. Once you determine who you need to network with you then go back to who you already know, friends and family, to see if anyone can introduce you to anyone worth networking with. Know that making one connection, the right connection, is all it may take to spring board your career into high gear.
You have to first be knowledgeable of what kind of property you have to offer, the available properties’ prices and the selling points or perks of buying those properties. Will your selling pitch be, you get lots of square footage for discount prices? Are you selling the prestige and bragging rights of living in a certain community?
Once you know who is buying and who is selling, ask yourself if you have anything about you that might relate to or resonate with these specific kinds of your most promising prospects and potential clients.
If you have identified that young professionals are moving in by the droves, buying their first homes and you and they seem to be very tech minded then that could give you an advantage over some of the non-techie agents trying to impress and connect with this demographic. If not then you may need to learn a little more about these young professionals. For instance, where do they hang out? What do they do for recreation? Do you know anyone who is a young professional that could give you some better incite.
The key of course would be to find out what these young professionals are having difficulties with concerning finding and buying their first home in your sales territory. If you know what their biggest problems are then you need to fix those problems and start marketing that you are their solution. This may require you teaming up with another pro such as a lender or banker who is willing to bend over backward for helping first time home buyers or make some special considerations just for these young professionals so they can become responsible home owners. The incentive is that you should be able to bring your new network partner volume business if they can just ease up a little on their lending requirements or approval terms and conditions.
Of course the problems and your solutions will be different for each realtor reading this article based on the different demographics of your best possible client prospect group and the size and prices of the available properties in your real estate market. Still the business recipe is the same. Know your house inventory and who is buying and selling it. Learn what their problems are with making and closing their property deals and then solve those problems or make handling them easier!
Newlyweds, buyers with school age children, seniors, single women, each group has their own set of difficulties with procuring a home with all of the features they really want at a price that they can afford. Every realtor has their own set of realty scene specifics to work thru. Just remember a real estate consultant solves difficulties for people; the key to your success is first learning what those difficulties are then coming up with the answers to handle them. Marketing is first about giving people a reason to need you and want to hire you. Do that first and then getting the word out about you and your specialty business niche will be easy.
Remember that when you specialize in a specific client type then your ads, sales pitches and marketing campaigns are much more effective. Being the realtor who handles every possible real estate client is too vague of a business identity. Being a specialist or expert in a specific, drilled down, realty scene is much more impressive. You have a platform from which to shout you are the best and it is much more believable.
REFERENCE:
Find Great Business Books for Realtors!
Get Your Guide Book for Real Estate Agent Career Success!
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