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Agents could use a few tips from drug dealers

By
Education & Training with breakthroughBroker.com

 

OK, I know that sounds strange, but it's true. I'll explain, but before we get there, let’s review our relationship with consumers.

As agents we're constantly thinking about what we can do to promote our services and our own personal brand. We refine and tweak our Unique Selling Proposition. Our coaches and brokers have us rehearsing elevator speeches and rapport-building techniques. At BreakthroughBroker.com we’ve even fallen into this rhetoric in our business planning materials at times. As agents we say to ourselves, “If only I had that tag line to make buyers and sellers want me.”

For the trainers, brokers, and agents, who can blame us? This is the legacy that has been passed down from the earliest of salesmen and saleswomen. Imagine if you had a dollar for every time you heard the phrase, "...Know you, like you, and trust you". 

The issue is that consumers don’t care. You may think they care, and your broker may think they care, and you may even be able to trick consumers into thinking they care, but they don't. You know what they care about?

Houses.

That's what your consumers really care about. They want to move (literally), and how it happens is secondary to them. You’re reading this and thinking, "Yeah, but the consumer wants a professional, they want a shiny process, they want websites and fancy tag lines, they want to work with a brand that cares, and they want to have a deep connection with their agent!”

They don't want these things. They expect these things. These are not sought-after features of buying or selling a home, but rather a byproduct. These are the basic expectations, because for years that’s what consumers have been told to expect from real estate professionals.

What the hell does this have to do with drug dealers? Well, I don't have a lot of experience with drug dealers, but I can make some assumptions, so here goes nothing. Drug dealers don't care what you think of them. They don't obsess about making the process more comfortable for the buyer. They don't have fancy packaging or taglines. They don't go out of their way to accommodate your every need. They don’t really care if you know them, like them, or trust them. You know what they have, and they have a product that people want, plain and simple. They know their product inside and out. They know what it costs and where it came from. They know when their product is good and when it is crap. 

So what can agents learn from this? Focus on the product. Focus on homes and focus on the market. Talk more about homes and neighborhoods, and less about the crap that people don't need, like fancy offices.

So how do you do this? Well, it's pretty simple. You need to know at least one or two active listings in every area of the market you work. You need to know details on available homes in all price ranges in your market. You should know the amenities and benefits of every major neighborhood. You should know the location and specialty of every school and what makes it unique. You should tour every school and meet every principal--trust me, they want your recommendation--then blog about it. You should know where the parks are, where the best shopping is, and who has the best pizza. Get the point?

Here is how I know this matters: In my experience of managing offices for just eight years, the top producers were the agents who could chat up any person about where they lived, where the kids went to school, and who owned the pizza joint. I had one agent who, if you told her an address, she could tell you the details of the last home that sold in that neighborhood. She studied the market diligently. My business partner (another top producer) was a former police officer. If your kids went to a school he knew the location, the type of curriculum, and who the staff were. 

The point is to be an expert in real estate before you become an expert in "Look at me!" That’s what consumers care about. Now go sell!


If you like this blog check out many others as well as a full suite of FREE marketing tools at: www.BreakthroughBroker.com 

Tammy Emineth
Personal SEO - Website SEO and Real Estate Marketing - Frenchtown, MT
Content Marketer, SEO Teacher, Website Fixer

Interesting post and congratulations on the feature without any comments! that's quite an accomplishment. Your right to a degree in that buyers just want the product but they also want someone on their side that really does care about them and not just getting the commission from the product. And sellers want to know that you are capable of doing the job and doing it efficiently and quickly not just that you can throw it up on a website. But, if you're talking a bout national offices and brokerages I don't think that matters nearly as much is the person and what they can do for you. Any agent can find you the home online and any agent can list a home; it's the one that goes the extra mile and helps you every step of the way that helps those referrals coming back.

Jun 14, 2012 12:43 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Knowledge of the areas is paramount to being successful. I once had a buyer that was riding with me to view houses, comment at the end of the day that I needed no GPS nor guess about where to go stop have lunch, etc. That was knowledge of the area. Nice post

Jun 14, 2012 01:07 AM
Nathan Froelich
breakthroughBroker.com - Fort Collins, CO
Sharer of Ideas

Thanks Tammy and Ed for your comments and feedback. After reading this blog a colleauge told me she "didn't get it" so I guess the main point I'm making is as agents we get wrapped up in the "look at me" or I need a flashy service or twist. The post has less to do with the level of customer service or caring which is assumed and more to to with being valuable not because of what you say you can do but rather what you actually know about your market.

P.S. Tammy- not sure if no comments is a good thing but I'll take the kudos if you're offering :)

Jun 14, 2012 01:45 AM
Brent Wells
The LivingWell Team - Celina, TX
Dallas - Fort Worth

Nathan,

You said 'focus on the product'. I could not agree more, we see so many agents that quite frankly don't understand how a home is built or what pieces go where. I would love to see a new class added that was required and taught the basic parts of a home. Then there is that whole issue of actually knowing the area you sell in...

Cheers,

-Brent

Jun 14, 2012 02:07 AM
Eve Alexander
Buyers Broker of Florida - Tampa, FL
Exclusively Representing ONLY Tampa Home Buyers

Well I scanned quickly to find the drug dealer part...

and I totally agree...focus on the product...to me that should also include focusing on the client.

 

When I read about points, competitors, market share, fancy offices, I am glad I have the drug dealers attitude

"Drug dealers don't care what you think of them"... I love that!!!

 

Eve in Orlando

Jun 14, 2012 02:42 AM
Nathan Froelich
breakthroughBroker.com - Fort Collins, CO
Sharer of Ideas

Brent- You are so right, what other profession allows the salespeople to know so little about what they are selling. I'll admit I'm even lacking when it comes to understanding construction (but I bet I know more than most agents). We should have more education on: saftey, effienciey, maintenance, structural integrity, and so on. Some will say, talk about all that and you'll get sued. Well if that's your attitude then maybe you're in the wrong business.

Thanks for the feedback Eve!

Jun 14, 2012 03:47 AM