The ABCs of Real Estate Basics

RISMEDIA, June 14, 2008-Now is a critical time to reassess; re-evaluate the basic essentials that made you so successful at the start-recruiting, retention, agent education and true customer service. Here, three industry pros offer their thoughts on what brokers and agents can be doing to reinvigorate their businesses. In the second part of the series, CJ Olsen, Outside Sales Coordinator for On the Move asks, being part of an ever-changing and innovative world, are we disregarding the basics?

CJ Olsen
Outside Sales Coordinator
On The Move
www.onthemovetrucks.com

Understanding and performing the basics is essential to survive in such a competitive market. Attention to consumers’ needs, branding yourself, and community are three basics that might be overlooked by even the most successful real estate professionals.

Attention to consumers’ needs is not only a basic in real estate, but also a necessity. Consumers need guidance not only when choosing a home, but with the services they need during the entire process. Help direct them to companies that will save them money, without cutting corners.

Your client’s rely on your knowledge, even though there is an increasing amount of clients arriving at your office with folders containing listings they have researched. They seem prepared, yet they do not know where to begin when it comes to the loan process, warning signs in a home, or even the moving process. Having these bases covered will ease their mind and build your credibility.

Branding yourself effectively is a crucial basic. Besides having business cards, real estate professionals have taken their marketing to another level. You probably have seen your competitors on the side of moving trucks, billboards and banners at local sporting events. Do not assume that having your brand solely on the Internet will suffice. The Internet is an excellent way to advertise, but can also be abused if you are not using it to your advantage. Try to be unique in your brand and remember to track your marketing efforts.

Community involvement seems to be a diminishing trend-not only in the real estate industry, but in the neighborhoods as well. People are not taking the time to host “pot lucks” like they once did, and keeping up with the Jones’ has become a saying of the past. These days, most people do not even know what the Jones’ are up to, much less know who they are. Orchestrating and attending events in the community allows you valuable entry to a slew of possible leads. Building rapport and rooting yourself into the neighborhood will brand you as part of the community. Think of the community as a building block to your success. The more networking you do, the more leads you will generate.

Remembering these three basics will not only prove beneficial to you in the long run, but is imperative to your success.

Next week, Jane Ellsworth Purcell, vice president of Sales for Property Minder Inc. shares her view on heading ‘back to the beginning.’

To read the first part of this series, click here.

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