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| A Quarterly Publication of the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® |
October 2008 Issue
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About Us March Dates to Remember
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What’s
luck got to do with it? With North Carolina now having a lottery, you find folks stopping by convenience stores and buying “Power Ball” or other types of tickets and hoping they will defy the odds and become big winners. People have been gambling in different ways for years and will, unfortunately, continue to do so. It’s just human nature. Gambling, in fact, happens all the time, even in our industry. It’s just not perceived as gambling. Too many REALTORS® get up each day without a plan and just hope they’ll be “lucky” enough to have a prospect call them and buy. But, luck has little, if anything, to do with success. Those who are truly successful know that the better they plan, the “luckier” they will be. One of my pet peeves is to hear someone say, “I don’t think I could sit onsite all day” or “She got the really great site and I got the worst one.” First of all, if you are going to be successful onsite, you don’t just sit. You’re busy doing the things necessary to generate business. Second, there seldom are ‘bad’ sites, just sites that require more effort and some that require less effort. Both can provide sales successes with the right attitude, work and planning. So what kind of planning is needed? We have all been taught the critical path of selling and it’s essential, but it only works once the prospect is in your presence. How do you get the prospects to your site? Many times, sales people wait on the marketing department to provide aids for this task. Not a problem and definitely appreciated. But, why not put together a plan on your own. If you’re a commissioned sales person, believe it or not, you’re a business owner and you need to look at what any successful business does to succeed and do likewise. One of the major things any business needs to do is establish an identity, a brand so-to-speak. Your “brand” is yourself, but that can change depending on your audience. Ask yourself, what is unique about you and what you have to offer and then devise a method to present this feature. Do you want to develop a “niche” market? Ask yourself, why a prospect would choose you rather than your peer? Could it be your user-friendly Web site, your “tag line” or your crisp and clear voice mail? People make choices for all kind of reasons. The next step is to ‘get the word out.’ Identify who you need to make aware of your business. The obvious answer is that you need to connect to everyone. But there are many options to produce prospects. How about networking groups and civic/social situations? Don’t dismiss any opportunity to tell folks about your business. Plans are only as good as their execution. So, identifying what you have to offer and how to tell your story is only the start. You must then have an action plan. Look at your work week and determine how many hours you can devote to “advertising” and make an appointment to do just that. As with any plan, there comes a time to evaluate what you’re doing. Is it working, is it producing the desired results? This is the time to become very critical and determine if any alterations are needed. Things tend to change rapidly and the successful individual knows that what worked last year or even last week may not work today, so be flexible in your approach. A word of caution, also recognize that you need to allow time for results to happen. So, how lucky do you want to be? It’s your choice. Plan, execute and evaluate, and you’ll beat the odds and win the real estate lottery. (Heathcote, a REALTOR®
with Coldwell Banker HP&W Builder Services, is an RRAR member.) |
