Placing a Listing on MLS and Putting up a Lawn Sign Just Isn't Enough Anymore
In the good old days, it might have worked for an agent to merely upload a listing to MLS and plant a lawn sign in the front yard. But in today's market, if that's all you're getting from your listing agent, you may be in trouble.
It's 2011 and I still see agents, even good agents with a good reputation, making a pretty minimal effort to market their listings. I saw an example of this kind of mistake yesterday, in an upscale area of Hennepin County. The house was priced right, but there was almost zero marketing being done. I saw no virtual tours, no social media marketing and no premium photography.
Things are tougher out there today. Sellers are counting on us to make it happen and the stakes are higher. Isn't this the wrong time for agents to limit there efforts to "the bare minimum"?
To the listing agent who has adopted this very, very passive approach to marketing client properties, I have a little advice for you.
- Your "reputation" isn't going to sell the property. It won't procure a buyer or attract prospects.
- Billboards and bus benches may bring you listings, but vanity marketing doesn't equal selling success.
- Your company name isn't enough to sell the property either. No matter what they tell you at corporate "rah-rah" conventions or in motivational rallies, all those warm, fuzzy television ads and Superbowl spots aren't going to do the job either.
There's no substitute for marketing. Doing the job may not be easy or glamorous, but it's what is needed these days to get the job done.
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