Imagine you’re talking to someone at an open house. You find out they’re looking for a home and they don’t have an agent yet.
This is where a lot of REALTORS (TM) feel torn in half. You try to get their contact information, or better yet, a commitment. At the same, you suppress your own enthusiasm, so you won’t seem too aggressive.
Stop Fighting Yourself
There’s an alternative way to act. It takes some preparation, but you’ll be way more successful.
Imagine the same scenario, but instead of jumping into sales mode, you listen to the prospect a little bit more. You just need to find out about their top concern, question, or interest. Then you make their day:
“Oh, you have two daughters! You know, I recently wrote up a Family Report about this area. It’s a list of all the playgrounds, family restaurants, kid-friendly activities and schools. If you give me your phone number, I’ll text you the link.”
This accomplishes a lot:
- You’ve been genuinely helpful
- You show a level of expertise that most Realtors have, but rarely get the chance to demonstrate
- You’ve got their contact information for follow-up.
The prerequisite, of course, is that you create the report. And the prerequisite for the report is that you’ve chosen a specialization.
An Infinite Sea of Clients
There are literally infinite types of buyers and sellers. You could be the family expert, as in the example above. Or you could be:
- The expert in local pubs, mountain bike trails, or entertainment
- “The Victorian Homes Gal,”
- The GLBT Realtor
- An advocate for first-time home buyers
Pick a niche, create your resource, and soon you’ll have a unique reason for clients to do business with you. Not only that, but since you’re such an informed and helpful person, you’ll soon get lots of referrals.
Three Easy Ways to Pick a Niche
Look at where you’re already an expert. If you’re not sure, follow the trends in your neighborhood, and pick a niche that’s likely to bring you a lot of clients. Or, best of all, follow your own passion. What do you love about your neighborhood?
There are an unlimited number of empty slots you could fill.
Tap Into OPE
What if you don’t have time to write a report? You can use Other People’s Energy (OPE) to create your resource.
Sites like Upwork and Fiverr are filled with freelance researchers, writers, and graphic designers who will put together a professional-looking PDF or video for you—often at a surprisingly low cost.
Getting the Most out of Your Special Report
If all you do is casually offer a neighborhood report to a few home buyers, it will still bear some fruit for you.
But you can get a lot more from it—and you should. If you’re going through all the effort to put this together, here are few essential tactics to adopt:
- Build a list and follow up. Put all your new contacts into some kind of CRM program—or at least a spreadsheet. Keep in touch with them.
- Continuously offer value. When you follow up, start with a greeting such as, “I thought about you the other day. You see, I just found out about _____________(tidbit of information related to the report your gave them). I thought you would like this.”
- Actively promote your report. Go to clubs, meetings, and other places where you’ll find people who are interested in the same thing.
- Create a form on your website where visitors can download your report
The Power of Focus
At first, this is going to feel like you’re cutting off a lot of potential clients. But you’re not.
You will always work with people outside your chosen niche. Yet you will appear more experienced and credible just by having chosen a specialty.
Many REALTORS (TM) try to be everything to everyone. As a result, they have nothing to offer but a brochure or a web page with their basic information.
All you need is a little bit of thoughtful preparation, and you can overcome both of these roadblocks. You will stand out, and gain more clients with less effort.
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About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.
