Standing out in one of the nation’s most competitive real estate markets is a challenge. Broker/Realtor Susanne Forbes Dicker, CRS, ABR, (hatlady@dallas.net) ranks among the top residential sales and leasing specialists in Dallas and is one of the top producers for Keller Williams Realty. Before joining Keller Williams, she was a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, an elite group of associates earning $1 million or more in paid commissions.

Susanne is well-known throughout the United States as a sought-after lecturer on the National Speakers Circuit. Her specialty is creative marketing and personal promotion. She has adopted a personal trademark that has made her famous: high-fashion hats (she owns more than 500 of them) that coordinate with every one of her outfits. Her chapeaued image emblazoned on business cards, billboards, yard signs, and other forms of advertising has earned her an endearing sobriquet, "The Dallas Hat Lady."

Not only has Susanne achieved a kind of celebrity status in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex; she is recognized across the nation, often by total strangers. How does she do it?

A.N.: What made you choose hats as an image-maker?
S.F.D.: Earlier in my career, I was a millinery marketing and sales specialist for Neiman-Marcus. I traveled to each of the five stores in the chain at that time. I learned to coordinate a hat with every outfit I wore. For me, dressing is an artistic expression.

A.N.: And how did that help you when you began your career in real estate?
S.F.D.: It just became an identity. I found that by packaging myself, I was more effective at marketing people’s homes. Recently, I was in Israel riding a camel with the swathing around my head, and a couple came up to me and asked, "Are you the hat lady from Dallas?" I was amazed.

A.N.: What about other agents? How do they perceive the hat lady?
S.F.D.: It's a great ice-breaker. I was at a convention once, and there was a woman I met that I like very much. She forgot my name but remembered my hats and found me in time to give me a $1.2 million referral. I also do a lot of public speaking about creative marketing and personal promotion, so they know I can speak from the heart and from personal experience. When I go to conventions, I travel with as many as 10 or 12 outfits, complete with millinery.

A.N.: What about other forms of marketing?
S.F.D.: I do target marketing -- mailings, theme events, Internet, charity events, Realtor events. One home I listed had a Texas-shaped swimming pool, and we staged a Texas-themed party around the pool to show off the home.

A.N.: Not everyone looks so terrific in hats. What can other agents do who want to stand out?
S.F.D.: I believe in providing unique services. For my home-sellers, I create a Home Book containing color photographs of the home, professional appraisal with quotable square footage, pre-inspection report, survey, home warranty, school locations, points of interest in the home, a map showing nearby shopping and entertainment centers, and a worksheet from a mortgage lender. I tell my sellers what they need to know, not what they want to hear. They must understand that the home will have one of two appeals, wholesale or retail, and that the difference is up to them. As far as marketing goes, I think people are tired of hearing that you are number one or two. Clients are interested in what you can do for them, not what your ranking is. They want to know how you are specifically going to perform for them. If you are too busy or you're traveling all of the time, you are not going to the best job for them.

A.N.: What is the one thing you would tell a home seller?
S.F.D.: You must prepare your home for the market with the right price, condition, staging, and an aggressive Realtor. You do that by having the home preappraised and pre-inspected to help position it in the market. If the price is even as low as $5,000 off, depending on the range of the home, it can dramatically affect the outcome. Staging is essential -- neutralizing the home and getting rid of clutter. We have to make our homes look like models. When we live in a home, it is very different from selling a home. It has to look good, smell good, feel good. There is too much competition in the market, especially from new homes.

A.N.: And buyers?
S.F.D.: You need a knowledgeable broker to represent your best interests. I personally will not work with anyone who is not willing to get prequalified for a loan.

A.N.: Your career volume exceeds $150,000,000. Do you have an assistant or staff?
S.F.D.: I answer my own phone. I am outsourcing my services now. I have a computer services outsource, one for mailings, etc. It is very cost-effective and, I think, the wave of the future. I love to hold open houses, and I will hire hosts and hostesses to work with me on large listings.

A.N.: Do you have a specialty, such as a part of the city?
S.F.D.: No. I am a diversified Realtor. Not everyone wants to live in the same place, so I go where the customer wants to go.

A.N.: Have hat, will travel?
S.F.D.: The only time you find me without a hat is at the movies!

Published: November 18, 1997

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