Are You Game?
Real estate is a competitive business. Everyone is out there trying to find the next seller or the next buyer who might have a need they can help fill. Our listings need to be strategically positioned so they garner more traffic and attention from the buyer pool. We want our client's offers to be the one accepted instead of the other potential buyers submitting offers. We love to have more friends and followers on the major social networks and we seek to increase subscribers to our blogs. Even though it isn't really a contest, it's kind of neat to grow our Klout, become a Mayor, or earn "likes" from people.
With over 310 million people in the United States and slightly over 1 million members of the National Association of Realtors (actually 1,024,863 as of the end of July), that means there are approximately 302 people for every licensed member.
Why would the next consumer pick you?
While it may seem like a rhetorical question, it certainly is something you should be thinking about all the time. What are you doing each day to increase your odds that one of your 302 will call (or refer you) because no one should be naive enough to think that everyone doesn't know (or at least know of) more than one real estate agent.
How you choose to approach your business this week might come down to how serious you are about achieving success. And when I say "serious" I am not talking about how focused or dedicated you are. I'm talking about the "furrowed brow, never smiling" type of serious that people don't like to be around. Mark Twain once said,
"Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions."
So perhaps instead of "working" so hard to find clients, you could challenge a fellow agent this week to "play" a lead generating game. Make it simple. Start calling prospects at a designated time and the first person to secure an appointment earns a point. The first person to three points wins ___________________ (insert something fun here - lunch, cocktails, ice cream, etc.)
Maybe you could invite your current Seller who is in desparate need of a price reduction to a game of "The Price is Right." Drive him/her around to see some competing listings and ask them to tell you what they think they are priced at. Imagine some of their surprised gasps from the passenger seat.
Hey Managers! Isn't now a perfect time of year to kick off a listing contest? Get your people focused on building their inventory. It's never a bad time to have more signs in yards. Maybe a For Sale by Owner blitzkreig? When did you host your last "Dialing for Dollars" night?
How about having some fun with your Open Houses? I heard of one agent getting creative with multiple opens on one day and attaching a "check-in" contest on the geo-location network FourSquare to build buzz and generate traffic.
All Work and No Play...
It's kind of neat to see what could happen when you start building releationships, solving problems and having fun without all the pressure of "work" hanging over your head. Look at everything you do this week and try to figure out a way to make it fun.
What kind of games do you like to use to help you stay focused on business development activities instead of allowing the work of business support activities to drag you into a "No Fun" zone?
