Realtor Right Fit Client & Community

This past year has provided me with a great opportunity to expand my critical thinking and delve into the work of thought leaders and top women in real estate. Each week, I plan to read an article and provide my thoughts, interpretations and comments based on my own experience in real estate and business. 

I recently found a great blog written by Tim Stoddart entitled, “How to Build a Personal Brand Business: 7 Steps to Create the Business of You,” that gave me some ‘aha’ moments, particularly around five of his steps. Over the next few posts, I will discuss each of the five, starting with Establish Your Perfect Customer. 

For many years I just thought everyone was my customer. I put up signs, sent out flyers, advertised in various places, and hoped I would find a new customer. And this worked to an extent, but I didn’t have a real plan or truly understand who my ideal client was. This is often the case with new real estate agents. We rely on referrals from friends and family. 

As I grew as an agent and learned more about my personal style, I began to see patterns amongst my clients. I got better at figuring out who was a good fit and who wasn’t. I learned to say no - to be picky,  and to refer potential clients to other trusted agents that were better suited. Referring potential clients to my competitors may seem counter-intuitive, but it fits in with my sales style, which centers around relationship building. 

Relationships take time and trust to build. Clients remember that I had their best interests at heart and are more likely to refer me or come back to me later. The agents I refer to learn to trust me as well and reciprocate. It’s definitely not a strategy that has an immediate return. You have to be in this business for the long haul. 

Another component of my marketing strategy has been geo-farming. If you’re not familiar with this term in the real estate world, it refers to ‘working’ a specific community or geographical area. Agents that advertise with terms like, “your local area expert,” or “community specialist” are engaging in geo-farming. 

When we moved to Calgary we picked a newly developed community centered around children and young families, to call home. We had two young kids and I didn’t know anyone. Given that the community was still being built, there weren’t many established programs or resources. I took this as an opportunity to achieve two goals - to meet other mothers and to meet potential clients. I set up a moms and tots meetup, supported the local Girl Guides, organized community garage sales and annual events like halloween pumpkin give-aways. Doing so let me connect and establish relationships with my ideal clients - middle-income parents with young children. By geo-farming and developing relationships within the community, I was able to get a good understanding of the wants, needs, likes, dislikes and goals of my ideal clients. As families expanded and children grew up, I was there ready to offer my services!

Next blog - I’ll discuss websites.