Making the Most of Marketing

Sandra Nickel
The Hat Team
Sandra Nickel Realtors
Years in real estate: since 1981
Team members: 9
Region Served: The Historic District; Montgomery, AlabamaWhen and why was the team formed?
We were a team of three in 1990 and then in 1997 we hired a buyer specialist. I have had a team for over 10 years because my first broker encouraged me not to “lick, stick and stuff;” she encouraged me to hire someone to help as an assistant so I did that in 1983 after only two years of real estate. I knew the age-old saying. “If you do not hire an assistant, you are your own assistant.”

What do you tell people on listing appointments about the value of hiring your team versus hiring a solo agent?
I like to use the dentist analogy. Imagine if your dentist met you at the front door and greeted you and then cleaned your teeth, and then took your X-rays and then got up to go let in new people and seated them, then processed the X-rays, then finally looked at your teeth and worked on them. Then he got up to make a follow up appointment and then did all the billing. Can you even imagine what your teeth would like?

What’s your best tip for getting a listing at the right price?
Tell the truth no matter how painful. And then be willing to walk away. The favored positions are first born son, second wife and third realtor. I would much rather get a hold of a seller after the market has beaten them into submission.

What advertising idea created the greatest return on investment?
Window Talk, which I have had for 10 years, works very well with a store front. But our Custom House newspaper is the most effective thing that we do. It runs 12 pages and eight are custom. I have a PR guy on retainer who ghost writes for me. He sells ad space and sends it to Custom House and it has made us the talk of the town.

What’s your best idea for holding effective team meetings?
Give everybody a job to do within the meeting. Keep it short, have an agenda and stay with it.

What works best in generating online leads?
Our IDX. Fortunately we are in a community where the MLS built an IDX and advertises it to the public. It does a lot of billboards and radio spots so the public knows to go there. We also promote our Web site on everything that leaves the office. Realtor.com is also doing a real good job for us and I am looking at the leads that I have taken in the last 60 days and sign calls still do the job for us too.

Do you rely on internal or external training and for what specific areas?
We have a professional coach-”the Joy Coach”-who coaches everyone on our team. I personally do a lot of one-on-one coaching. I look for teachable moments and step in. Because we are specialists in historic real estate we also train on historic styles. My folks go to school and take classes all the time. The only way a team works well is if everyone is committed to the belief that their actions contribute to making the team a whole.

How are you developing your team into a true business entity? We are an S Corp and have been since the day we opened. My father had always encouraged me to have a good attorney and a good accountant. One of my seller specialists is also interested in running the business but since I have no interest in retiring he will have to wait a while.

We also have a succession plan. Two years ago we realized that my face had been a major image of the company and we hired LuLu Strategy in Columbus, Ohio to make my face less important and the Hat Team brand more important. We have reconfigured the business to make it salable one day.

Philosophy on life in real estate:
You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give. How does that relate to real estate? If the client is truly the central focus, the money will follow.

Lesley Geary

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