After listening to top Realtors talk about their recent successes, I noticed a common theme with all of them. They believe in marketing themselves and doing it consistently. Let me share with you some of their views.

First, you need to know that the agents I'm talking about had been successful in one area of the country and moved to another area and started over. They had each been in the business for more than nine years, and had annual incomes of close to if not above $1 million, after being in their new areas for just three years.

Spend Money to Make Money

Each of these sales associates believed that they needed to have a good amount of money to spend on their business. They felt that in order to reach a high level of income they had to invest in themselves. One of the agents spent $40,000 in marketing himself his first year in the new city. Another spent nearly $10,000 a month just on mailers. The consensus of all of the agents I listened to was that you had lean years of actual money you brought home because you were putting all you earned back in the business; especially the first two years.

The comment I heard over and over again was that people need to see your name and remember it. If you are not getting your message out to mass numbers of people it will take you much longer to reach high levels of commission income. One rule of thumb was suggested that if you are growing your business, then you should be spending 50% of what you are earning on marketing. Wow! That is a big number, but the results that these agents were achieving were remarkable. And, they were in all different market places from an average sales price of $180,000 to $650,000.

Mailers Are Important!

Every agent said that they were consistent in mailing to consumers. They mailed to geographic farm areas, just listed/pended/sold cards around their listings, and to their sphere of influence. One mailed as many as 30,000 pieces two times a month. All of them had a consistent time schedule for mailing. They all also hired help to do it. One of the agents commented that you hired a $12/hour person to do $12/hour work—you should not be doing it.

You need to know your audience in order to determine what you would be mailing. Most of the agents used full-color pieces on good paper stock, especially in the areas where the average sales price is high. You are judged quickly by what you send out. If it is not worded properly, looks “cheap,” and has no clear message, the chances are you will get no response. But if you send consistent pieces that convey your success by the quality of what you are sending, you will receive a greater return.

Customer Service Is Key

All the agents said that providing good customer service was invaluable. They were available for questions by their cell phones. They were very quick to return all calls. They provided lots of information. They asked lots of questions. One recurrent statement was, “it isn’t about you in sales, it’s about them.” You are helping clients achieve their goals, not yours. You need to determine what they want to do and then provide that.

Listings, Listings, Listings

All of the agents believe in listings. Their time was spent prospecting for listings, and making listing presentations, and letting sellers know what was going on with their listings. Buyers were handled by others—either their buyer’s agent or by referrals. They perfected their listing presentations and were fast in going in and getting out with the listing in 30 to 45 minutes. That was because they prequalified the appointment before they got there. They spent very little time talking about themselves or their company, but focused on asking questions and giving the sellers what they wanted.

To recap…spend money on your business, do lots of consistent mailings, provide excellent customer service and follow-up, and concentrate on listings. They all had different personalities, but pretty much agreed that if you do this, you will be successful. Give yourself three years to reach high commission levels.

If they could do it, so can you.

Published: August 26, 2002

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