The Secret Sauce – Is there such a thing in Real Estate?
Living in Kansas City we enjoy many secret sauces from our favorite BBQ restaurants. Gates and Sons, Arthur Bryant’s, and Jack Stack to name a few. When I am eating these delicious dishes I always wonder what’s in this sauce that makes it so darn good and these restaurants so much money. Then I realize they will never share the recipe with me so with a full stomach I move on.
But wait! What about the secret sauce to getting clients in real estate? I have been asked this time and time again. The answer I believe agents want to hear is that clients just walk through the door like Zombies from the Living Dead. That would be awesome, but a little weird. If clients were that easy to find, there would be no need for this article. Seriously, in an Inman Select survey conducted in the spring of 2016, it shows that 37.5% of agents said that lead generation was the most important area to work on in ongoing training, and 47% of new agents responded lead generation was critical in initial training. I believe lead generation and prospecting should be the overall focus of most agents in real estate today.
So back to the secret sauce… I will share mine with you. The secret is the methodology you use in your business to locate, connect, and follow up with prospects wanting to buy and list houses. So open the lid of the sauce and start by developing your Center of Influence (COI). Ask yourself who you know, how you know them, and if they will be beneficial to your business. Here’s another secret – everybody can be beneficial to your business!
Next, set up a weekly activity report focusing on connecting with people. Here are the key ingredients:
- Conduct 1 open house per week – These are available in most offices. Talk to the top listing agents for inventory
- Enjoy 1 face to face meeting each week with a friend, colleague, coworker, etc. Starbucks is full of agents doing this. Great way to add a personal touch.
- Join a networking group and get involved. Make sure you really like the group you join. You will attend if you enjoy. Go once a week.
- Make 5 personal phone calls a week to friends, past clients, neighbors, and have a friendly conversation with them. Wish them happy birthday, ask how their job is going, how did they enjoy France, etc. Just connect.
- Creatively write 5 hand written notes each week. Let them know you would love to get together, or congratulate them on an anniversary, or a promotion at work.
- Deliver 3 pop-bys a week in person to your clients. Flowers for a new baby, dog biscuits for the family pet, or even a bottle of BBQ sauce.
- Finally, pick social media outlets you enjoy, and create some excitement about real estate, what’s happening in Kansas City, or just to compliment somebody. Do as much as you like!
We live in a great BBQ town full of secret sauces with sensational ingredients that will never be revealed to us in our lifetime. Real estate is different! If you follow a method to prospecting, you work hard, and be a front and center Realtor for your clients, you will enjoy years of success with your own secret sauce.
