By Walter Sanford
Columnist
For the past 25 years I have lived the game of real estate, watched others who have lived the game, and now I teach the game. I must say there is no more exciting, challenging, scary, profitable, or easy business than the one we are all in. Yes! I said easy. That’s because when you strip it down, only five steps are needed to achieve happy clients and profitability:
1. Pick a group of people that need your help.
2. Become the best at contacting them.
3. Determine that your contacts are profitable.
4. “Manualize” your profitable system.
5. Delegate the system to someone who gets paid less than you.
It’s simple. However, the rules to massive real estate profits and happy clients do require discipline.
When I lead a seminar and ask, “How do you get more buyers and sellers?”, I get answers like “Internet proficiency, direct mail, telemarketing, door knocking, advertising, open houses...” and you all know the rest.
These broad-brush responses are common because demographic targeting is just not taught in real estate. In almost every other business the determination
of who buys a product is usually done before the product is made. Marketing and promotion therefore target the group most likely to
buy the product.
In real estate, we hang up a shingle, run a few ads, wait for the walk-ins and do an open house. We wait for whoever may be interested. But there is a faster way to success - be proactive! Take control of your inventory and target people most likely to become sellers.
And remember, sellers come in all shapes and sizes. The No. 1 group for all of us comes from previously satisfied clients and their friends. This should represent the highest degree of activity on your new demographic Hot List.
The No. 2 group is people who have been trying to sell their home and have become unsuccessful, typically called “expireds.” You can let new listing expireds know that a joint marketing program could help them sell their expired property. Old expireds, unsolicited by the competition, also may be ready to put their property back on the market.
The “For Sale By Owner” market is another hot demographic group. And consider “Non-Owner Occupieds” - people who own real estate in your town but do not live there. This group is often overlooked and is not constantly bombarded by your competition’s marketing materials. They need a helping hand in managing their far away investment.
Other valuable targets are newlyweds, couples who just had a new baby, and renters. All these people need our services, and marketing systems can be designed to attract them.
Also include transferees, business referrals and Chamber of Commerce referrals. These groups provide a constant flow of potential new clients.
Use your creativity, too. Target people who live in a city that you are going to vacation in that happen to own real estate in your town. Or how about the parents of that college freshman who are going to have to start facing dorm rent when buying an inexpensive condominium. You may discover that offering extra benefits reaps extra rewards.
How about garage sales? Check them out. That home owner may be considering the sale of his home and is clearing out excess “stuff” prior to putting it on the market.
The longer you sit down and think about potential client groups, the more groups you will come up with. Being a “niche” marketer in any one of these groups is like laser surgery. It minimizes your cost of marketing because you have fewer numbers to reach. Shotgun marketing has always been expensive and not extremely satisfying because you are trying to meet the needs of everyone rather than doing an outstanding job for the needs of a few.
My challenge to you is to determine potential clients who would be most appreciative of your services - people who need you and make you feel like being a real estate agent has meaning. It’s a great feeling to design a marketing system around delivering a solution to the needs of specific groups.
Your specialization is more rewarding and it will end up being less expensive to implement.
- Walter Sanford was a real estate agent for 23 years and is now speaking at seminars.