When I moved to LA from NY eight years ago I only knew one person in the entire city. I had been selling real estate for about fifteen years in NY so I knew the real estate business. But how was I supposed to start over in a place where I knew no one? I joined an independent Real Estate firm and depended on up-calls for the first few months. I was making a living, but I certainly wasn't keeping myself in the manner that I was accustomed to. I needed drastic measures.
The year was 1999 and I was sitting in the theater watching The Fight Club....I'll never forget it. The narrator in the movie, played by Edward Norton, has insomnia. His doctor refuses to write him a prescription and instead recommends that he visit a support group for testicular cancer sufferers to appreciate real suffering. This seems to cure his sleeplessness and now Norton is hooked on a different support group every night.
OK, so as sick as this might seem, a light goes off in my head! Joining a support group would be a great way to meet people and network and get real estate leads. So I started searching for support groups to join. First I went to an Alanon meeting. I figured, I'd known enough alcohol abusers in my life to qualify. So I went and sat through the meeting. The people were super nice and friendly and I actually learned quite a bit. So I went to another meeting the next night and then the next. After a few evenings of this, I realized that the members were there to talk about their issues and that I'd have to hang out there a long time to make friends and gain contacts, so I moved on. I just didn't have enough connection to this group.
I'd always heard that the three life events that inspire people to buy or sell a home are the birth of a child, death and divorce. OK, so I wasn't pregnant and was too old to get pregnant so a Lamaze class was out of the question. And lurking in the maternity ward seemed like ambulance chasing for the desperate real estate agent so that was out. And, I didn't really think it was appropriate to hang around in bereavement support groups, although I did think about this for just a moment.
But....the reason that I had left NY in the first place was because I was getting divorced....so I immediately started searching for a divorce support group. I found one in my local area and joined. I nervously walked in to my first meeting and was surrounded by a group of about 20 people in all different stages of divorce. The group was run by a psychologist and had a structured topic the first hour, but the second hour was basically an open discussion. When the participants started their open discussion I was amazed. I had so much in common with these people. I had come to the group to generate leads, but had found kindred spirits.
OK, so now I solved my friendship problem but what about my lead generation and data base building? Here's where it gets interesting. This group met once a week and because I was genuinely involved and had a lot in common, the friendships naturally grew. And yes, these people really did have to sell houses, and get new ones. And yes, it was a difficult time in their lives, but guess what? Since I was in the same place in my life, I understood and could handle their transactions with compassion and understanding. Did I get leads? Yep, Did I sell houses? Yes. But I also got a lot more than I bargained for. I made dear friends, and I met the friends of friends. I networked naturally, and became a member of a new city.
The moral of this story is two fold:
1. Make lemons into lemonade. Take whatever is happening in your life and make the best of it. Take the lessons from your problems not the baggage. Shhhhhsh, pay attention to the people that you meet along the way, they have clues and answers but you'll only hear them if you listen.
2. Networking to build your database is a great idea, but join groups that you're really interested in. This is a people business and people do business with people that they like and can relate to. We're not used car salesman, we're so much more than that. Think out of the box, and don't be afraid to try all sorts of groups, you'd be amazed as to what's available in your own town.
Stay tuned to my blog, I will write part two of this story tomorrow. I did some other very interesting and unusual things when I first came to town to build may data base.
Comments (44)Subscribe to CommentsComment