Marqeteer

10/28/09

Let’s get this out of the way first…you don’t get instant respect with the title of “Realtor” anymore.

Sad, but true.

Your prospects don’t care how many houses you’ve sold.   In their world, that doesn’t matter.    They only care about how you can help them, so as you begin preparing your business plan for 2010 make sure you take time to assess your contact methods and your results.

Are you focusing on your credentials when you’re trying to gain rapport…or are you focusing on your prospects’ needs?   I cite car dealership commercials for an example of impersonal marketing that makes less and less sense in an economy like this.   You know those “Sales Event” car commercials?  The ones that say things like “We’re trying to set a sales record” or “Help make us the #1 dealership in (enter your state here).”

I’ve always had a big steaming plate of “Who Cares?” for those commercials.  They offer nothing for me as a consumer.  They’re asking me to go into debt so they can break some sales record…?!

We have been programmed for many, many years to focus on credentials…the impersonal part of our professional lives…when we market ourselves.   At some point, your true intent and the extent to which you really care for people dictates your long-term success.

I recently had a call with an agent who gave me a perfect example…

She told me about two 4-year full time agents in the same market who are in two totally different places career-wise after 4 years.   One works mostly off referrals while the other still has to add 15 prospects a day to her database.  One still has to hustle like a brand new agent, while the other…well, you can figure that out.

Which one do you think is taking better care of his/her people?

How are you taking care of your people?  Do you have a manageable database that allows you to maintain monthly email contact to augment your normal day-to-day and other marketing you do?

It is more imperitive than ever that you keep your name in front of your database on a monthly basis.  As the winter approaches, make plans to scrutinize your database and your methods in your preparation for 2010.

Well written monthly email drip campaigns can do wonders for your long-term business in tandem with a strong day-to-day work ethic.

10/20/09

Some people get it and some people don’t.

And there’s just not enough good education available to help navigate those choppy waters known as today’s consumer.

With that in mind, I present to you the educational video below to put things in perspective. It comes from the 1987 comedy film “Amazon Women on the Moon” (some of you already know my sense of humor) and is a great example of how consumers now view salespeople in all realms…including real estate.

Think of Steve Guttenberg as the realtor/salesperson and Roseanna Arquette as today’s skeptical consumer…

Always remember that today’s consumer wants more information when they first meet you. Maybe your track record with your clients is good…even stellar. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that a new prospect meeting you for the first time is going to have questions…simply because they don’t know you.

It’s not about memorizing the right lines or finding a dialogue “formula”…it’s about sincerely caring enough about people to try to help them:)

10/8/09

Here recently I’ve found myself in more and more conversations with agents complaining about changes in their local MLS…most frequently I hear complaints about Prime Access.

Now I’ve never used Prime Access, so I can offer no educated opinion one way or the other…however, what I’m finding is a whole lot of unnecessary change in some areas of the real estate business.   Some changes make sense while others don’t.   To quote my good friend (and one of my favorite RE people) Grace Morioka, “The easiest people to sell to are salespeople.”

She’s right.

Again, sometimes change makes sense, but just as often these changes seem to happen more because someone in charge got sold.   I’m not just talking about your local MLS…I’m talking about all aspects of business that affect you.  I’m talking about your decision making…heck, I’m talking about my own decision making!

Every day I encounter people in all realms of business who make decisions to switch to a different CRM, different real estate company or some other tool because the one they’ve already invested in requires some effort.   These people are constantly jumping from one system to another, never fully committing to a system long enough to even know if it works.

When you are considering making changes in any aspect of your business, ask yourself this simple question:  Why?

Are you looking for an easy way out…or have you really found a better way of doing things?  What personal experience are you basing your decision on?  It’s not always the tools…it’s the way you use or don’t use the tools that can be the issue.

Take a look at these pictures:

They were all done by Don Marco, an Army Air Corp retiree…with Crayola crayons.

Yep.

Remember…your tools don’t necessarily have to be fancy.  You just have to use them.

And thanks to my mom, Josephine Boyd, for sharing these pictures with me so I can in turn share them with you.

Cheers!

10/8/09

There was a wonderful article from RISMedia in my inbox today called Online Marketing – 3 Rules to Help Make Every Lead Count by Mike Parker.

A very disturbing statement opens the article:  “50% of agents call leads back within 54 hours; 50% of agents never call them back.”

In my marketing work with real estate professionals over the past few years, I cannot argue that point.  Incidentally, that statistic comes from NAR.

How are you with your callbacks?  Are you timely?  Do you ignore them?

It’s easy to talk yourself out of calling someone back when “they don’t appear to be serious,” but the truth is you’ll never know for sure until you make the effort.

Today’s buyers and sellers are skeptical and for the most part don’t believe anyone really cares.  Every call you ignore supports this belief, and the truth of the matter is that no quality or amount of marketing can overcome poor habits with people.   If you spend a lot of money on marketing, but you don’t handle your contact with people well, then the result of your marketing is going to be that more people will know that you’re non-responsive.

Prove the negative consumer wrong.  Show them that you care.  After all, you’re helping them with what will probably be the largest sale or purchase of their life.   Click on the link below to read the whole RISMedia article yourself…it’s well worth your time:)

Cheers!

10/8/09

Special thanks to my friend Eric Lanspa for sharing this quote that has quickly become one of my very favorites ever:

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them. – Malcolm Forbes

I’m reminded of this quote every time I hear a real estate pro use the line “I’m NOT a bank!” when referring to how they handle people coming to them to advice when they’re considering refinancing.

If you’re one of these agents, I ask you:  What CAN you do to help them?

Always be in that mode of thinking when people with no immediate need for you ask you for help.

It takes no effort at all to tell them “Sorry, I can’t help you.”   With just a little bit of effort, you can help point them in the direction of someone who can…and at the same time you’re giving them a reason to refer someone to you when the opportunity arises:)