Some years ago, there was a sole practitioner in Houston who sold a lot of real estate. His name was Ken Jacobson. He was a blond-haired guy with a big smile, a resonant voice and a gift for gab.
He made tons of money, drove a new paid-for Mercedes 560-SE, that, when he was home, was parked on the brick-paver circular driveway in front of his expensive and paid for home.
And most of the people he called from his Rolodex every morning -- his client base -- felt that they were his good friends, Interestingly, most had never met him. They had probably not knowingly seen him across the room at a restaurant or a party.
Ken didn't have a logo and he didn't run ads. His office was a desk and phone and two chairs, all stuck in less than 100 square feet. He had his college diploma on the wall. It was in a cheap dime store frame. If you asked him, he majored in choral music performance.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you that Ken didn't take listings either, that is he didn't take listings he didn't feel he could find a buyer for within the following couple of days.
Ken's idea was that taking listings for the sake of having listings was a waste of a broker's time and money. Much more pressure than he needed. Everything he did had to be pasted to the present with money making Super Glue. No bets on the come.
What Ken did was develop his referral base. Before he hung up talking with you, he'd have gotten the name of another person to call and who would then be added to his Rolodex, and that new person would now be receiving regular chit-chat calls from Ken.
"Ralph? Ken Jacobson. I just got off of the phone with our friend Rusty McKnight. He said you run the most reliable plumbing shop in town, and do I need a plumber. By the way, this might be some information you can use. Do you know David McDavid? You don't? Well I'm going to introduce you to him. Best place to buy trucks, and he told me the other day that he is horribly over-stocked on panel trucks....I call them plumber's trucks..."
You get Ken's strategy. It was impossible for him to get a rejection because he never called to sell a person anything, just to chat and in the process do something for them while they gave him at least one new name he could use.
Well, while I'm no where nearly as adapt at it as Ken was, nevertheless, I've used a modified version of his marketing plan for many years, now. Most of my listings, sales and consulting haven't cost me a dime to develop and get. They've come from my Ken Jacobson-like Rolodex that is full of dog-eared cards.
And that, quite frankly, is why you should call me when you have what may be a real estate challenge. My Rolodex friends and their friends and their friends will most likely supply the answer for me to deliver to you with my best impression of a Ken Jacobson smile.
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