During this week I spoke to 3 different struggling agents who were discussing their challenges with me. When I asked about their marketing, the responses were the same. Money is too tight to spend on advertising. I asked all three the same question. So how's that working for you? In one case I spoke to that agent at least two other times in the last three months and gave several ideas for generating business that would cost little or no money. To date not one has been tried. You can predict the results without a crystal ball.
Last evening I was in the Rec. Center where I run the community chess club. My car was parked in front with my Century 21 signs on the sides and my website address and slogan "Not Just Another Pretty Face" lettered on the rear window. (My wife's vehicle is adorned with the same signage.)
Shortly after arriving a young couple walked in and introduced themselves to me. The wife was a REALTOR® who I had not met before. She saw my car with the slogan and pointed it out to her husband and said that is the guy with the big mall signs. After we introduced ourselves to each other, she asked if my marketing was working. I almost started laughing. It made them want to meet me, didn't it? Instead of my usual wise crack response, I said it was.
- Struggling Agent: How are you surviving in this terrible market?
- Me: I think the market is pretty good.
- Me: How long have you been in the business?
- Struggling Agent: 5 years.
- Struggling Agent: I hear about 30% of the agents locally are getting out of the business.
- Me: There must be a ton of new agents, because our Board membership seems to be up. Me: What kind of marketing are you doing?
- Struggling Agent: Oh, I am doing my own thing.
From her comments and the fact I have never heard of her, we can assume it is not working.
I have told this story many times, so if you heard it before I apologize. My older brother told me something very profound over 25 years ago when I was new to the islands and having trouble finding a good job. He asked how many job interviews I went on that day. I said three. He said not enough. He asked how many hours a day did I plan to work when I get a job. I answered at least eight. He then said something I have applied to many situations. If you are not employed, you have a job; it is finding a job. If you spend eight hours a day job hunting how long will it take to find a job? The answer is obvious, not long. I got a great job a couple days later.
If you do not have clients, your full time job is getting clients. If you spend eight hours or more a day on your marketing how many clients do you think you can get in a month? On the other hand if you sit home and complain about how bad business is, you should start planning your next career.
If you are a struggling agent; dust yourself off, plan your 8 hours a day and stop by and tell us what happened. It is not easy, but with good planning and hard work you will succeed.
Wonderful post Randy.
My best advice to new agents is always the same.
"Get up and go to work in the morning."
Dave - They would make a lot more money.
Lenn - That is the one thing many don't seem to be able to do.
It still amazes me everytime I hear someone say "the market is bad" ...... I've never slowed down!
Randy,
I wanted to THANK YOU for all of the additional insights!
Sincerely,
Hey Randy...one thing is for certain....working for business is the way to go....for the amount that I do...blogging (oops..did I say that?) for business has turned out wonderful :) Bottom line...we don't sit around and complain huh? And as always chameleons who adjust to markets no matter which way it is will have success.
Randy,
once again your Post is full of insightful advice. The best parts of your Posts are they are real.....they show how hard YOU work, and that what you aren't just typing a bunch of empty words.....I hope those new agents actually listen.....and I love what Lenn said...."Get up and go to work". It makes a difference.
Tracy - Even if the market were slow someone is always making money.
LaNita - Absolutely, if yoyu can't feed your children you better be doing everything possible.
Gary - That is a good moral.
Ricardo - it was nice speaking to you on the phone. Good luck, I know you have your act together.
Sally - You are right, you have to adjust your plan according to the market.
Marc - There is so many free and cheap ways to market on the internet. Those agents I mentioned were not doing anything on the net. Two of them do not even have a web site.
Hi Randy,
Good advice. Marketing doesn't always need to cost a lot of money. Sounds like your brother gave you some pretty good advice.
For me, one of the best things I can do is make my personal FORDcalls and discuss family, occupation recreation and dreams.
Sharon - I am looking forward to the classes next week in Honolulu.
Kathy - I loved Lenn's comment also. Thank you for the kind words.
Mary - Nobody likes a whiner, especially their clients.
Linda - He gets lucky oince in awhile.
Lynda - I am sure that if we look at what we are doing there is plenty of things we can do more of or better to grow our business.
I used to hate applying for jobs...it takes many hours and the waiting game is horrible...anxiety...nerves...I'm glad I picked RE because any firm will take you as long as you can produce...you do need to send out many resumes in order to get a few good leads but I just didn't want to deal with all the rejection.
Marketing? ...thats all I do in between getting my deals in order so I am a firm believer in doing it in quantity but with quality also. Repetition is the key.
Thesa - I have to also focus more and increase me efforts. This post was also a kick in my pants.
Neal - I feel you are applying for a job with each and every client. So you didn't really get away from it.
B.B. - It is just basics, not rocket science. I amazed how many people think this is complicated.
Frank - I know agents that spend so much energy complaining and feeling sorry for themselves that they would be the top producer if they spent half that energy on marketing.
Randy your brother is a smart man. Those that are successful in this business are always busy, either they are working hard with their clients, or they are working hard to find new clients. I all adds up to the same thing, working hard.