I was always excited to tell my prospective real estate clients why they should consider my services! To elevate my message above the din of numerous competitive agents, I constantly sought groups of clients with special needs who were grouped using specific criteria. As the criteria became more unique there was less competition! If the criteria were specific, I could custom design services for these special potential clients. For my thirty year career, I loved finding groups of people that needed me.
Many niche-marketing agents use geographical criteria for grouping their clients and their needs. These “farmed” clients were easy to research, but they did not have many special needs except those shared by being within certain geographical boundaries. The competition from other agents was fierce in some “farmed” areas!
Therefore, finding groups of prospective clients based on their use of real estate or their social leanings allowed me to design custom services that really excited them to pick up the phone or click my site plus there was no competition! Also, rather than telling them how great I thought I was (feature selling) I suggested what I could do for them (benefit selling). Groups have similar needs and hot buttons, so my phone button lit up when we provided answers to their needs.
In researching special groups and offering them services my competition did not, my research allowed me to minimize my contact cost because I had fewer contacts or numbers in my sample. I increased my closings because I had better quality leads from that sample. When I delivered on the needs of my clients, my relationships were more appreciated and sincere!
Some examples of my niches and the respective benefits I provided are as follows:
- Mature Homeowners in homes over 2500 square feet system (previously mentioned this week). I researched them by using a combination of list brokers and the local tax records. Their hot button was buying down into a more secure home, with smaller yards at lower interest rates and freeing up some equity to re-invest. The list broker had everyone over 65 and then I cut that list by applying the tax records of all the homes over 2500 square feet. This gave me mature people in big homes, which sell in a frequency seven times greater than normal. Sending them a postcard with the benefits above really made my phone ring!
- Four-Plex Owners. Their owners have all the challenges of management and have values as high as those compared to 5 unit properties because of preferential financing available on 4 units that is eliminated at 5 units. If I move them to larger sets of units (i.e. a 12 unit building) the economies of scale of larger buildings come into effect. This means it costs less per unit to take care of a building, the more units you have. This can be accomplished via a 1031 tax deferred exchange so that gain on the four-plex building is deferred. The owners are easily researched using the tax records. Send them a letter today regarding these benefits.
- Your church or service organization. These potential clients are easy to find, they are familiar with you and are very happy to see that 20% of the commission earned on every transaction you do goes to the church or a local school project or whatever the organization that sponsors you as their real estate agent. I told them about my giving attitude by advertising that was offered by the organization and I also helped them! An example of this would be the back of the church bulletin, special program flyer, or at the organizations’ sponsored events.
- Attorneys in your town are listed in the phone book. They love your free lists of comps, inventory, rental value estimates, forms, investment advice for their clients, fast-price evaluations, and the impartiality offered to divorcing clients. Contacted with a high value letter, they will then accept your phone call. Also, you can also let them know you are available as an expert witness.
- Colleges have housing problems and if they are enlightened enough to sell or give you their student’s parent’s addresses or E-mails you can solve those problems. Suggest to the parents the advantages of buying an inexpensive condo or home. IE: The tax benefits, appreciation potential, sub-leasing to roommates and the free real life course in ownership 101 to their college bound child. I have had parents pay for the college education after the sale from four years of appreciation!
Whether you choose to phone them, E-mail them, send them to your website or send a simple postcard, you will be talking to an interested group that needs your assistance. Contacting potential clients with real help to real problems is fun and less tiring than cold calling, door knocking or any shotgun approach. I imagined the demographics I could help. I would personalize the values offered to that demographic. Then make sure it was profitable, perfect the approach and then delegate the system to someone that would work for less than I was earning.
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