How do I find people ready to sell their home?
As I drive through neighborhoods, it’s almost as if new for sale signs are popping up out of nowhere! Here’s one…there’s one…everywhere is one! Blue, red, yellow, green, and purple… yard signs of all shapes and colors…there are tall ones and short ones — new ones and old ones — with numbers to call from near and far.
Ok… so I am no Dr. Seuss, but it was fun to pretend a little.
It is awesome through, don’t you agree?
I was speaking with a coaching client just this morning and he said, “There is so much business to be had out there. It’s all around me. The market is great. I just have to figure out how to grab as much of it as I can.”
This image spoke to me. We both agreed that it was very much like being in one of those big glass boxes where paper money is flying around and you have to literally grab as much of it as you can in a short period of time — what you have grabbed is what you get to keep when the time is up.
Sadly, many agents operate this way. They look at the potential short term gain of the “grab” versus the long-term strategy of attracting and creating.
Consider the big glass box scenario and all that money floating around in there. Now imagine that you have a built-in vacuum cleaner up your sleeve and you flip the switch. It sucks in all the money that you were originally trying to grab, one bill at a time.
This is the difference between creating a self-sustaining and long-term real estate practice and having a sales job where every day you are back to the same old grind
Strategy is everything. Work smarter — not harder.
An effective long-term strategy includes these 5 things:
1. Knowing your target audience including their needs, concerns, questions, and goals, and creating a value proposition that effectively addresses them.
2. Multiple means of connecting regularly with those who you can help and who need your service.
3. The ability to articulate your value and your services in such a way that it differentiates you from the competition.
4. Delivering on your promises through high level customer service, management of the transaction beyond their expectations, and achieving the agreed upon result or goal.
5. Systems to provide ongoing support, connectedness, and added value to your followers as to insure a steady stream of referrals and repeat business.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks that agents have is that they are constantly “grabbing” for all the available business out there. Talk about overwhelming. As I said in the key things needed for a long-term sustainable business, you have to know and understand the needs, concerns, questions, and goals of your target audience.
Well, if every single seller out there is your focus, no wonder you are overwhelmed!
You can simplify your efforts by creating a targeted and specific niche that actually expands your opportunities.
Remember the vacuum cleaner analogy?
This is exactly what you are doing when you create a targeted niche or specialty like mature adults, first time buyers, or luxury.
You are focusing your energy on attracting people into your pipeline versus expending all your energy trying to grab everything out there.
By creating a value proposition that addresses the very specific needs of mature sellers, you stand out from the crowd and begin to attract those clients who match up with what you have to offer.