Agent or Marketeer?

Real Estate Marketing 101 - Agent or Marketeer?

You will often hear a real estate person referred to as a Salesperson. Many prefer to be called an Agent, and some elevate their job description to Consultant or some other term. It has often been said that, as an Agent. you don't sell a home, but rather a home sells itself after adequate exposure to the market. In reality, it is the owner who sells his home to a willing buyer! The only time we get to "sell" a home is when it's our own home!

So, if all of this is true, we should then ask ourselves what we are, really. I would suggest to you that we in the Real Estate profession could best describe ourselves as Marketing Professionals. You see, once you engage in a real estate career you, in fact, enter a career in marketing. There will be times when you will be marketing a property and there will be times when you are marketing your services. You will be marketing yourself 24 hours a day, every day for the rest of your career.

So, do you leave a positive impression or a negative impression? We have all been told that it takes 30 seconds to make an impression. If it’s a negative impression it can take a lifetime to erase that impression. An impression can be based on how we speak, how we appear, our attitudes and our responses – even our Internet presence makes an impression. Success will often depend on how we market ourselves on the first contact.

Let us now take a look at the marketing sequence that a Real Estate Agent will usually find themselves engaged in. These are…

a. Prospecting for opportunities to do business.
b. Meeting at an appointment.
c. Qualifying for wants, needs, motivation and timeframe.
d. Making a presentation of yourself, your company, and/or your services.
e. Asking for your clients’ commitment.

You will notice that the first 4 all involve marketing. The 5th will demonstrate the effectiveness of the first 4 activities. You will get either a "yes" or a "no". Good marketing earns you the right to ask for the clients’ commitment and being quietly confident that you will get that commitment. I never cease to be amazed how so many so called “salespeople” expect to get business with very little, if any, marketing. Even friends, relatives and acquaintances need to be convinced that you can do an adequate job for them.

THE VITAL STATISTICS

What are your vital statistics? And I don't mean height, age or waist!

Every professional sport has vital statistics to measure a player’s proficiency. Baseball has ERA’s and RBI's. Football has yards gained average and completed pass percentage. Golf has par for each hole played, and Hockey has its plus-minus rating for both offence and defense. Real Estate is no exception.

I have always encouraged Agents to be aware of their statistics which are vital levels of their performance, especially in these 4 areas:

a. How many contacts to get an appointment?
b. How many appointments to get to do a presentation?
c. How many presentations to get a listing?
d. How many listings to get a SOLD listing?

I have seen Agents who prospect constantly and could never be faulted for their energy but somehow fall short of getting an appointment opportunity. Some get to arrange an appointment but never do a presentation. Others do a presentation that is inadequate and do not get the listing. Then others get the listing but price it too high because of poor marketing skills and it does not sell. Now these people are working hard, but they don’t get rewarded for their work.

Imagine the effect it has on a career when you need 50 prospecting activities before you get an invitation. Then you have to do 3 visits to get a real presentation opportunity. Then add four presentations before you get a listing. And then, three listings to get a sold listing. If you fail in any of these steps you have to go back to the prospecting grind again and again. No wonder people with poor statistics in any of these areas have to leave the business. By comparison, the person who can improve in these areas will have more time to invest in higher earnings or a better lifestyle. It's no accident that the Agent with the good marketing skills is the one that can take exotic vacations and also find time for family and recreation. You'll find that these individuals have developed market stats that everyone else envies.

We will take a closer look at marketing through-out this series.

Stay tuned!

Coach