The Perfect World
Let’s imagine that after years of building your professional bona-fides, and a lot of trial and error, you realize you really understand the things that support and grow your business and are ready to turn your back on the shiny object distractions and crap that really never worked, but you felt obligated to continue.
Money is No Object
Here’s the hard part of this exercise. Assume for a moment that money is no object. Assume that you have at least one of the following two things going for you – and maybe both. One, you have the cash on hand – the capital to invest – in your ‘sure thing’ business plan, or two, you have enough excess monthly cash flow to fund your new investments month after month. And please make no mistake, spending money on your ‘sure thing’ is an investment, not an expense.
Crap That Didn’t Work
When I think about crap that never worked, meaning, any return on investment I enjoyed at all was nowhere near the money or time I put into it, I think of these greatest misses:
- Paying for leads – Yes, I’ve tried paying for leads on Zillow and Realtor.com too. It was a waste of money and no way to live. Who the hell wants to respond to a buyer at midnight because “I didn’t want to bother my agent after hours.”
- Personal marketing/building awareness. Hey, I’m a great guy, you should know that. Let me remind you of that by throwing some money at Facebook ads. It’s easy, they have my credit card on file.
- And how about those mass emails to purchased mailing lists that nobody opened? I’m looking at you MailChimp.com.
- Bringing on new agents ‘for the money’. Back in the day broker owners brought new agents into their companies because they had more work than they could handle. They needed help to field incoming phone calls and get their listings shown. If they happened to make a little money – like half – on any business that new agent generated, it was considered a big fat bonus. Now most of us aspire to get a cut from whatever income an agent generates. We’ve become body shops for anyone willing to hang their license with us.
- Working with people I did not enjoy working with because it’s my job.
Really? Did I really want this job? WTF? Lousy hours, no health care, inconsistent paychecks and everybody, including my broker, has their hand out. What I needed to do was build a business on my terms that worked for me.
Things That Worked
- Working by referral and the ongoing investment necessary to execute my after-unit marketing plan.
- Creating a before-unit that offers potential buyers and sellers exactly the information they need when they need it.
- Investing in the training necessary to ensure that my team members offer a during-unit service experience that is second to none.
- Bringing on team members/agents because I had more incoming work that I could handle.
- Collaborating with other business owners and service providers to add greater value to my clients.
- Focus on listing multiplier goals.
- People love and will wear free t-shirts.
- Nurturing a database and staying in touch.
- Becoming a savant about the neighborhoods I work in.
- Coaching and training for my team.
- Coaching and training for me.
Things I’m Willing To Bet On
As a broker owner and entrepreneur I know I have to add greater and greater value to my clients, agents, and collaborators every year. Often, I may never be paid directly for the value I provide, but if I don’t offer the tools, education, and perspective my clients and future clients require, then I am no better than the broker down the street.
- I am always willing to bet on ‘education marketing’ with quality content that is exclusive to my company.
- We have to be the go-to resource first and foremost. However, I will always look for ways to become part of the fabric of the neighborhoods we serve with community involvement that promotes our agents as real estate experts and complete human beings.
- I know my clients, and I know where they live. Our property management division markets directly to people who will need us someday. We know where these owners live, we know what real estate they own and how much they own.
- Every broker wants to build a business around listings. I, however, want to dominate whatever geographic area I, or one of my agents, want to specialize in. We do this through a ‘Getting Listings’ strategy based on the fact that we know who owns these houses and just about everything there is to know about these houses. (Thank you internet!)
- We make our own markets. We attract buyers because we go deep into our neighborhoods. Our job is to put buyers and sellers together. Duh.
- As a broker, I want to add team members because I have too much work to do. However, I also know there are agents out there who can be superstars if they want to be. At the risk of sounding overly boisterous, I know how to help motivated agents, regardless of where their business is today, level up dramatically over six to thirty-six months. I know the names of every agent in our market areas, I know where they live, I know where they work, and I know how many houses they sell a year. I know who to talk to and the value I provide.
It’s Really About Confidence
You, as a broker owner, have your own list of hits and misses. Are you conscious of them? Are you putting your experience to good use? Or, are you doing what everyone else is doing? If you are like me you are sick of playing the same game everyone else is playing. You want a new game and a new set of rules. Get after it.
