| A Magnificicent Obsession | ||||||||
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Things got interesting when we looked at the next group that had a “marketing focus” (they actively market to a geo farm or target demographic or group 2-3 times a month). They averaged 22 transactions, $13.2 million in volume and $292k in GCI. Then the most astonishing results. Those that had a “SOI focus” (working a SOI is considered their dominate activity). They averaged 65 transactions, $19 million in volume and made $453,295 in GCI. All three groups worked 46 weeks a year. All three groups spent roughly the same amount to market or promote themselves. All three were a cross section of the US, various brands and companies, and marketplaces. The only difference as a group was what they focused on. What makes one agent make $180k vs. $450k? Why did one group out-perform the others if they all did similar things?
They constantly looked for ways to go above and beyond. When others send Christmas cards to their data base they send birthday cards – to their SOI’s children. They learned to care about the things their clients care about. They pamper, care for and make their clients feel like they are the most important people on the planet. One stand-out invited his “Top 15″ on a trip to Tuscany for 10 days to ride Vespas. Total cost $50k. Total reward – unfathomable. These clients had already referred 5+ closed transactions each. It’s fair to say that he’ll get at least 5 more (5 x average price of 2.5 million x his average commission x 15 people = $1.875 million in commissions). This group considers their primary job to spoil their sphere. They sell houses. They are good at it. They understand people are more important than transactions or houses and that lesson has paid them very, very well.
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| PS. Have you seen our individual agent and team program that combines coaching, advanced marketing strategies with hundreds of pieces of personalized print ready marketing collateral, specialized training, and all the tools you need to get into the top 1% of agents nationwide? Check out YourRECoach.com for more the details. | ||||||||
| Recommended Reading – | ||||||||
| Copyright 2007-2010 – Mastery-Coaching.com and Chris Pollinger – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | ||||||||
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We did a composite of our Mastery Coaching clients through our proprietary business analysis tool which we do annually to track our client’s business (and our success or failure as coaches). We found that the average client that had a “prospecting focus” (they spend 10 hours a week or more actively prospecting) closed an average of 16 transactions with an average volume of $7.8 million. Their average GCI (gross commission income) was $180k. Not bad given the market conditions the last 12 months.
It’s boiled down to their focus. What they focused on allowed them to develop into their magnificent obsession. While the first group got really good at scripts dialogs and overcoming objections, the second group developed great ads and mailers that made the phone ring, the SOI group became obsessed with being thoughtful and providing delightful surprises to their people.
I’ve asked this question countless times to agents across the country and I am constantly astonished with the answers I get. Some reply that they give great service, some always wear a hat, some do coloring contests in their geographic farm. But most, just look like a deer in headlights, shrug their shoulders and stare at their shoes and mumble “I don’t know.” 
It is very important to determine this before you start your marketing campaign. Most agents jump into the business and start pumping out whatever the office says to – usually farming clubs, teams or groups are set-up to share the idea of the week and soon you find yourself shelling out gobs of postcards and such with coloring contests, quotes, or whatever else strikes you at the moment. 
Those that make it in this industry in today’s world are those that approach it with an amount of business prowess. Unfortunately, that isn’t taught in the “learn everything you need to know to become successful in real estate in two weeks” class. So, we throw the newbies to the vultures (vendors who sell BS products that do nothing but line the pockets of the vendors and serve as filler our nation’s dumps). We let them sling mud on a wall and see what sticks and hope against hope that they will be one of the very few fortunate ones who will survive the first three years.
There’s an old sales adage that says “People buy from people they know, like and trust,” and public relations (PR) is one of the most cost-effective ways to build the awareness, goodwill and credibility that help influence buying decisions. Not that we would suggest that REALTORS® use PR to the exclusion of all other marketing tactics, but a healthy dose of PR, combined with a little advertising, direct mail, or other tactics, can provide a big sales boost for many small businesses.
weeks” class. So, we throw the newbies to the vultures (vendors who sell BS products that do nothing but line the pockets of the vendors and serve as filler our nation’s dumps). We let them sling mud on a wall and see what sticks and hope against hope that they will be one of the very few fortunate ones who will survive the first three years.
the country’s defenses budget. Those massive advertising dollars don’t buy you anything; they just keep you from losing your market share to your competition. Think 10% of your CGI to dedicate to your overall marketing budget to spend annually with ½ of that going to advertising.
Consistency is absolutely key. Consistency will trump all other factors. Rule of thumb is 1 x week for the first 10 weeks then every 10 days until you have 35% market share or more. Only then can you go to 2 x a month. With that said, I will tell you that in our media planning with clients we stack the mail to reflect the coming trends in production. For example, we do less mailing in November and December (1 piece each) and save the extra pieces for February and March which is 6-8 weeks before the busy listing season. It’s a game of impressions a year and keeping top of mind. Anything less is a waste of money. 
Budget before you get started. Budget for a year at a time. We encourage clients to take 15-20% of their gross commissions and put them into their marketing budgets if they are wanting to grow (10% if they want to maintain). Out of the money that comes in, we allocate and take on mail campaigns is 12 month intervals. Only take on the amount of houses that you can dedicate and be consistent for a 12 month period. It is better to have a smaller number of homes and do it right than run out of marketing funds or cut corners.
We help agents, brokers and companies develop values based businesses. We firmly believe that to achieve long term success and venture into the elusive significant, you need to create a business that stands on principle and shared values. We help clients discover and articulate their values and strengths to develop a strong and profitable marketing plan that attracts people who care about the same things the client cares about and truly appreciates the clients strengths. Prospecting methods are all build and tailored around the client’s individual personality. And we walk out the execution of the business plan with them to ensure everything is bundled up to contribute to their business’ overall culture and brand.