BACK TO THE BASICS?!

“BACK TO THE BASICS”  The tragedy of a cliché
By Jignesh Patel

As I travel the continent helping Realtors® build their businesses, I find that one of the most common misconceptions of succeeding during a tough market is that agents need to get back to the basics.  

Although at the root of it, their brokers may mean well, the truth is that  “the basics” is interpreted as sales activities that worked in yester-year.  First we need to identify what exactly the definition of this phrase is. 

For most agents, it would be defined as working the phones, sitting floor duty, attending open houses, being involved in community functions and networking events, and perhaps placing more emphasis on house ads in the local magazines and newspapers.  Often it means attending more training classes to re-invigorate agents to use better closing skills, overcome objections, and reviewing pricing strategy.  Brokers will often times pair struggling agents with seasoned veterans who have used such sales skills and enjoy the activity, in order to motivate the agent and also free up time for the broker to get back to the basics themselves.

Now let’s take a look at what it means when a market is down.  Generally this means that we have fewer buyers than we have been used to, and we are sitting on listings far longer than in the past (i.e. inventory is up).  So if we do some basic math let’s see what happens.  If a market is down 50% (yes, some areas in the U.S. are in that predicament), then in a market that sold 500 houses/month last year, it will sell 250 houses/month this year in the same calendar month.  The question we have to ask ourselves is, “How will my activities change what the market does?”  The answer is of course that they won’t.  So now, if it took me 30 hours a week of sales activity to get the results I got last year, then I should expect to work 60 hours a week to achieve the same results this year.  Now will that motivate me?  Or will it de-motivate me?  If I was pretty good with my referral systems and was getting 4 referrals a month last year, I am probably getting 2 referrals a month this year. Again, am I motivated, or de-motivated?   Am I working smarter?  Or am I working harder?

What I am saying is this.  GOING BACK TO THE BASICS IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE AN AGENT CAN MAKE…. BECAUSE IT WAS THE BASICS THAT GOT THEM WHERE THEY ARE TODAY!!!!

Let’s face it.  Sales activities are sales activities.  It is the equivalent of going door to door and trying to sell encyclopedias.  It worked at one time, but I am willing to bet that most people reading this article can’t remember the last time they were solicited by the encyclopedia rep.  Even though sales activities can work, and are easier when the market is more favorable, they are completely dependent on the health of the market and the tenacity of the salesperson.  I would argue that most Realtors® do not favor working 60-80 hour weeks to achieve mediocre results!

So let’s take a look at what “the basics” are to the marketing minded real estate professional.  Basic marketing principles include:

Be visible – If I don’t know you exist, you don’t exist.
Be different – There are thousands of agents out there who all look the same to the consumer.  You’ll have to stand out.
Be a specialist – Specialists are more valuable to consumers, and thus they will pay more to work with one
Brand yourself – The most successful products in the world are branded.  Shouldn’t you be too?
HAVE A PLAN! – If you go out there and try to wing it, you will fail.  All successful businesses have a plan!

So the next time you are encouraged to “go back to the basics” be ready to respond with what your definition of it is.  Brokers, be specific with what you mean when you say it, or it will almost certainly be misinterpreted.  2008 will be your greatest year ever if you take advantage of marketing techniques over sales techniques!

If you have found this article useful and would like to provide feedback, your comments are always appreciated.  Please feel free to email me.