Doing Business
Selling
Sales Clinic Q & A
Finding your niche
Narrow your focus: use your interests and connections as starting points.
Ralph R. Roberts
I’m just starting out in real estate sales. What advice would you give to a beginner like me?
Tina Elliott, RE/MAX Real Estate Services, Columbia, S.C.
The two main things you should be doing are shadowing and marketing. Find the salesperson in your office who does the greatest number of transactions and ask whether you can spend a day with that person. Don’t be embarrassed about asking for the opportunity. That individual probably shadowed someone at the beginning, too. Take notes on the successful salesperson’s style and work habits.
The second thing you need to do is market yourself. Selling is marketing. You should be setting aside a minimum of 10 percent of your income to promote yourself. As your income increases, you can bring that percentage down--but not too quickly. I didn’t drop my marketing budget below 10 percent until my take-home income was well into six figures.
I’ve been hearing a lot about the benefits of developing a market niche for myself. But if I limit the people I market myself to, don’t I also limit the amount of business I will generate?
Jane Baer, Louise McTaggart & Associates Inc., Blairsville, Ga.
When it comes to niche marketing, less can actually mean more. It’s much easier to be a big fish in a small pond than the reverse. If you focus your efforts on a specifically defined group of prospects, your marketing and advertising will become more focused and cost-effective, and your past customers will be more likely to give you referrals.
For example, my friend Alan Domb, the “condo king” of Philadelphia, works with buyers and sellers in only a few specific condominium complexes. Over the years, he has come to dominate that market totally. Anyone looking to buy or sell in those complexes goes to him. Needless to say, he makes a very good living.
When you choose a niche, it doesn’t have to be based on geography. Do you have some hobby or interest that puts you in contact with a potential pool of like-minded customers? Maybe you know a lot about gardening, or you’re a single parent or a Civil War buff. People like to do business with people they have something in common with. Use what’s unique about you as a tool to build rapport with prospects.
I’m seeing a trend among people in my market toward renting rather than buying. Any suggestions?
Carol Paris, Coldwell Banker
Pacific Properties, Honolulu
Your job is to drive home the long-term value of investing in real estate. Create a buyer presentation packet that includes graphs illustrating any positive appreciation your market has experienced. If necessary, focus on a single house that’s been bought or sold several times at increasing prices over the past five to 10 years. Finally, there’s the whole question of putting down roots. Renters, to some degree, are always in transition and subject to the whims of landlords and condo converters. Owning their own home gives them some control. It also gives them a stake in the community in a way that renting doesn’t.
Roberts, a nationally recognized expert on real estate sales and marketing, is the author of Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman and 52 Weeks of Sales Success (New York: Harper Business). He’s also the owner of Ralph R. Roberts Real
Estate Inc., Warren, Mich.
Need help with sales problems? Roberts’ column appears monthly at REALTOR®Magazine Online and quarterly in print. Contact Roberts by fax at 810/573-9845 or by e-mail at Ralph@RalphRoberts.com.
