Marketing is not about finding new customers
When it comes to real estate marketing, the best offense is a good defense. I can hear some of you say the common phrase is the reverse, but wait, let me explain.
First of all, real estate is not a commodity that changes hands often. Agents typically have a small number of clients, and handle an even smaller number of transactions every year. Their business depends heavily on managing these transactions well, and get referrals from them, until the original client returns for repeat business (maybe several years out).
Their key to successful real estate marketing is obviously to make each client outrageously happy during a transaction to ensure he/she returns the next time, and to refer friends and family, hence, the phrase:
“The best offense is a good defense”
I know many agents who focus and invest heavily on finding cold leads through online/traditional advertising or knocking on doors. While it may work for some people, I personally haven’t seen it worth the investments in both time and money – and I have worked with thousands of agents in the last 15 years or so – just because of the nature of the business.
And it’s going to be much tougher to hold on to your existing client base and expect their loyalty when facing the accelerated attack from the technology giants going after your buyers and sellers with new business models. Don’t believe me? Just ask the industry veterans or area experts who might have dominated their neighborhoods in the past.
Fortunately it is still true that agents don’t need to have a large number of transactions each year to ensure a consistent level of income, as home prices have gone up substantially (or mortgage amounts if you are a lender).
“Marketing is not about finding new customers. It is about building a lasting brand that is meaningful and valuable to your existing clients, so much that they will share their great experience with friends and family.”
Many agents already have the expertise and know their craft well enough. They just need to learn to build and expand their brand – and focus on a great defense strategy to hold on to their clients and get even more referrals.
Watch my next post on how to build a great brand for today’s clients.
