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Farming, does it still work? That’s one of the first things you think of when you think of becoming the neighborhood Realtor everyone knows. You pick a certain neighborhood and send direct mail (farm) to its residents every month for an indefinite amount of time.
Yes, it still works, but sending direct mail to a certain neighborhood isn’t the only way you can become the neighborhood Realtor everyone knows. Today, you can farm your database, social channels, niches, etc. You can become the neighborhood Realtor without even living in the same neighborhood you’re the neighborhood Realtor for!
Note: Check out the podcast with Matt Muscast The Neighborhood Realtor Expert. Here’s a Sneak peak.
Regardless of what you strategy is, the concept of a maintaining a consistent presence of marketing using various channels is the blueprint to becoming the neighborhood Realtor.
Consistent communication leads to top of mind brand awareness, which leads to conversations, which trust, which then creates conversations that lead to getting you hired.
The real estate agent with the most amount of attention, notoriety, or largest brand are already and will continue to be the agents with the most sales. There isn’t any magic trick or super power to this. THe only goal is to be the first agent people think of when they think of real estate.
Consistent Communication To The Same People Over Time is How You Become Their Neighborhood Realtor
The first place to start is in putting together your database of relationships, past clients, and anyone else you would expect to hire you or do business with. People hire or are referred to people they know or know of not strangers. This is why the most important “database” to stay in front of are the ones you already know.
Most Realtors try to chase a bunch of leads before making sure everyone they already know, knows they can refer them business. The reality is you’re chasing a very small percentage of market that’s extremely competitive.
Does your entire rolodex of relationships remember or know to refer you business? Think deep, do they automatically think of you when they think of real estate?
Become The Neighborhood Realtor To The People You Know Before Trying To Reach The Ones You Don’t
Real estate is a referral dominated business, where over 60% of all agent business comes from the people you already know. The best people to farm are the ones you would invite to your wedding, funeral, hang out with, or say hello to in the grocery store, not complete strangers!
Real estate is a belly to belly business where overwhelmingly people want to work with someone they know, trust, and like, but so many real estate agents place their marketing efforts on shiny objects they are told will create business for them.
Here’s where most real estate agents think they should be doing.
- Buy an expensive zip code or online lead platform to keep “leads” coming in.
- Get a mega website they don’t know how to use or drive traffic to.
- Cold call cancelleds, expired, and FSBO’s constantly. They are told that it’s a numbers game and once they get 10 rejections they are one step closer to getting a “YES”.
- Get a super duper email autoresponder to “drip” on people until they respond to you.
I’m not saying these activities don’t work, they do, but most agents don’t have the budget or systems to work them effectively to scale. The good news is you don’t have to because the business is right in front of you already.
Any logical business owner would place the majority of their marketing budget and energy towards the largest source of business, right?
When the people you already know forget you’re in real estate, they forget to refer and use you.
People refer real estate agents for 3 reasons.
- They have to like the agent they are referring them to;
- They have to like the person that is asking or suggesting for a referral for an agent; and
- The person referring the agent has to notice that an ongoing conversation is taking place (about real estate) and they have to THINK OF YOU (this is the key).
If you are interested in the psychology of referrals, read the rest of this article below;
The Real Reason People Refer Realtors
It is our job to remind our relationships what we do for a living. It is not their job to remember to refer business to us.
I don’t want to be salesy!
Don’t be. It would be cheesy if you did (or you can join Referral Sweet). You cannot get nervous about consistently marketing your database. That’s why you have to apply a “sell without selling” type of approach. You can consistently market your brand without doing this very easily.
The goal of marketing your database is not to generate a lead or create an opt in, it’s to not be forgotten.
Here’s the main point!
If real estate farming works, imagine how it would work with people you actually know. Staying on top of mind as the go to real estate pro amongst your database pays off big!
These are the facts. If 10-15% of people you know, or know of you, are moving this year, how many of them remember you are in real estate?
The primary reason you are marketing your database is not for their direct business, although that’s nice, but to get their referrals because everybody you know, knows someone who is moving this year. That’s a fact.
When you become the “neighborhood Realtor” in their minds, you’ll get their referrals and repeat business.