"This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile"

I just taught two back-to-back CRS 206 technology courses, one in Waltham, MA, one in Bryan, TX.  Attendees were the usual mix of ages, experience and success levels.  During the two days, we covered literally hundreds of ideas, tips and techniques on how to use today's technology to build a successful business.  Modules included Web marketing, blogging and pod casting, automatic followup systems, contact management techniques, social networking, digital and video marketing techniques and strategies, email marketing, print and multimedia marketing, tech tools that work (and those that don't!) and much, much more. 

At the end of the course, I present "The Equation": K - A = I, meaning that Knowledge without Action is Inertia.  In other words, unless you take action on what you've learned in any course, you are no different than you were before attending the course. 

As an example of The Equation in action, consider two car companies: Mercedes vs. Oldsmobile.  Years ago, both faced declining market share because their target market had changed.  Mercedes marketed basically the same body style for years.  Oldsmobile had changed little over those years, as well.  Meanwhile, their target market changed.

 Mercedes realized that they were losing market share in the luxury car market to BMW, Japanese luxury cars and other competitors.  They realized, too, that their customer base had changed.  Realizing this, Mercedes bit the bullet.  They abandoned the familiar, stodgy body style and invested enormous amounts of time and money retooling.  They restructured their management team, their marketing strategy and their primary focus.  The results are obvious when you see the new, sexy models they have produced and at the fact that their market share has rebounded nicely.  

This happened because they took action on what they knew.

What about Oldsmobile?  They tried to reposition their failing brand with some minor tweaking and a slogan (a "Magic Wand," if you will) aimed at the new consumer: "This Is Not Your Father's Oldsmobile."  The final production day for Oldsmobile was April 29, 2004. 

In other words, Oldsmobile, too, knew that their customer base had changed but did little about it.  Their customers had aged.  Oldsmobile ratained a smaller and smaller percentage of the car buying market, yet they made no significant changes.  They did not take effective action on what they knew.  They did not invest the time, money and hard work necessary to get where they wanted to be.  They attempted to capture a new, younger market relying on a slogan. 

Both Mercedes and Oldsmobile recognized a threat to their business.  Both attempted to correct the problem, but with different approaches.  Mercedes took the hard road, spending money and time analyzing and fixing the problem.  Oldsmobile tried little more than p.r.  Mercedes is doing well; Oldsmobile is no more. 

There are several lessons in the Mercedes/Oldsmobile saga that apply to real estate agents: 

• You first need to recognize the problem.  NAR statistics show that 87% of today's consumers go to the Web first to find an agent to sell their home or to sell them a home.  Agents who do not have a strong Web presence have a big problem.  Simply put, they are pretty much missing out on 87% of the available market. 
  
• You need to take the right kind of action to solve the problem.  An agent without a strong Web presence needs to develop a specific strategy to build his or her Web presence.  This includes building a deep, consumer-oriented Web site, creating and contributing regularly to a blog and developing a concrete social networking strategy.  He or she must budget the necessary time and money to realize the strategy, create a timeline for implementation and create some kind of accountability system.
  
• There is no Magic Wand!  Agents who commit to attending CRS 2-day core courses realize that success takes work.  They commit time and money to attend the courses with the best material and instructors real estate has to offer.  They are not looking for a Magic Wand but rather for the knowledge needed to build a solid foundation for their business.  On the other hand, agents who, for example, flock to various social networking courses before establishing a solid business and Web presence are looking for a Magic Wand.  Social networking, when part of an overall business plan, succeeds; social networking without having first mastered today's business skills, using today's marketing tools and establishing a successful Web site and effective (automatic) followup systems, fails.

We as real estate agents face the same problem that Mercedes and Oldsmobile faced: our market has shifted radically.  Today's consumer demands a new kind of "car."   Agents who meet the needs of this new, Internet-based consumer succeed.  Their success starts with Knowledge, proceeds to Action and results in Success. 

Attending solid, demanding educational offerings that focus on building your business and skills, courses that show you how to use the tools that today's consumer demands are the cornerstone of this success strategy.  Once you attend such a course, act on what you learn....you'll be glad you did when your career provides you with a good life! 

It's a great day here on the lake in Reston...hope it's a great day wherever you are, too! 

Check Out Allen's New eBook, "Digital Essentials for Today's Agent," Here!