Many years ago, when I first got my Real Estate license, my Broker gave me some sound advice. He said, “If you want to succeed in Real Estate, you’ve got to come to the office.” This made complete sense. If you want to make money, you have to show up for work, right? For the next six months, I woke up early, put on my best suit and came to the office each and every day. My goal was to be the first agent to arrive in the morning, and the last to leave at night. I was proud of my work ethic. My Broker even mentioned me at our weekly sales meeting, telling everyone how hard I was working. Everything seemed perfect, except for one important fact: I had no clients. What was I doing wrong?
One night, after leaving the office feeling a little depressed, I stopped by the local pub for a beer. It was one of those trendy neighborhood places, always busy; however, I found a spot at the bar and took a seat. One beer quickly turned into two, and after a while, the bartender started a conversation with me. To be honest, I didn’t feel much like talking. After all, I was deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to “get some business.” Then…it happened. The bartender asked what I did for a living. I told him I was a Real Estate Agent. The next thing that came out of his mouth seemed almost too good to be true. He said, “My wife and I are actually looking to buy a place.” I couldn’t believe my ears. After a few minutes of conversation, I had my very first client. Mike (the bartender) and his wife came to my office the following day and we started looking for homes. After driving around for a week, we found the perfect place, and I was able to get their offer accepted.
That night, I learned the most valuable lesson I could ever learn about being a Real Estate agent. If you want to increase your business, you need to get out and meet the people in your community. As with most businesses, Real Estate is all about relationships. Additionally, it’s about trust. In order to build trust and rapport with people, they must first know who you are. They need to feel comfortable with you. Being a successful Real Estate agent has very little to do with selling a home. In order to succeed in Real Estate, you must first learn how to sell yourself. In Real Estate, it doesn’t matter who you know. All that matters is WHO KNOWS YOU.
If you walk into any Real Estate office across the country, you will likely see the same agents showing up day after day, yet many of them have little or no business. Instead of going out and meeting new people, they choose to spend their day hanging around the office, chatting with fellow co-workers by the copy machine, or sitting around discussing the production of other agents. Some agents really enjoy sitting behind their desk, organizing their files or doing whatever it is they do, however, the name of the game is getting business and closing deals. This means you have to go out and meet new people. If you surround yourself all day with fellow Real Estate agents, the chances of selling them a house are slim to none. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go out and meet some real clients?
There are many ways to meet potential clients. You can pick up a phone book and start “Cold-Calling” or go door to door like Johnny Cash did in the movie, “Walk the Line” ("Hello…I’m Johnny Cash"), however, prepare to have many doors closed in your face. A more effective way to meet people (a.k.a. potential clients) is to get involved with your community. There are literally thousands of ways to meet new clients. Here are just a few:
- Get involved with your church
- Volunteer at local schools
- Volunteer with local little leagues
- Volunteer to coach children’s soccer, or children’s sports.
- Become a regular at local neighborhood hot spots, restaurants, etc. Get to know the staff. (HINT: Don’t forget to tip well)
- Get involved with local PTA’s, etc.
Additionally, if you’re marketing your services to the people in your community, you NEVER KNOW when you are going to meet a potential client. Therefore, it’s important to always look the part. This means keeping your car clean and looking nice when you go to the market or picking up your kids from school.
Myers Team owners Bill and Francoise Myers with Simply Vegas Real Estate are Las Vegas Top Producing Real Estate Agents. Call The Myers Team direct at 702-677-4343
Visit The Myers Team web site at http://www.LasVegasList4Less.com
For Short Sales, visit: http://www.NevadaShortSaleInfo.com
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