Comments on: Why Does Real Estate Require Relationships?

By: RRAR

RRAR — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:44:25 +0000

Does RE require relationships or are agents like car salesman? @agentgenius http://bit.ly/bN4vKt

By: AgentGenius

AgentGenius — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:03:52 +0000

#agnow [...] Why Does Real Estate Require Relationships? (agentgenius.com) [...] http://bit.ly/c8CoF5

By: Ideal Customer and Lead Nurturing « Grow a Biz

Ideal Customer and Lead Nurturing « Grow a Biz — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:01:01 +0000

[...] Why Does Real Estate Require Relationships? (agentgenius.com) [...]

By: AgentGenius

AgentGenius — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:50:12 +0000

#agnow I think you need to define "relationship" to really answer that question. People in these comments keep talk... http://bit.ly/c8CoF5

By: AgentGenius

AgentGenius — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:40:55 +0000

#agnow If you don't build relationships with past clients in some way, why is it hard to move and start over in a n... http://bit.ly/c8CoF5

By: Missy Caulk

Missy Caulk — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:40:54 +0000

If you don’t build relationships with past clients in some way, why is it hard to move and start over in a new location and have the same amount of business?

By: Steve Simon

Steve Simon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:52:37 +0000

Car sales & real estate sales have more than one or two similarities. The high ticket, infrequent nature of both provides much more focus on the product and related costs than the deliverer of the service.

In 24 years of teaching real estate license law ( while doing everthing from consulting to holding office) I have seen many propel themselves forward in spite of their persona.

The two things that I have seen over & over in the winner (I have taught over 25,000 real estate students) are an intense desire to succeed and the ability to persist…

By: AgentGenius

AgentGenius — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:51:34 +0000

#agnow Yes, the definition of "relationship" would seem to be the root of any disagreement here. In my 25+ years... http://bit.ly/c8CoF5

By: John Cannon

John Cannon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:54:18 +0000

I think you need to define “relationship” to really answer that question. People in these comments keep talking about “having a beer” or “having dinner” with someone as having a relationship. I believe that if I know who you are, or know someone who knows you, then we have a relationship. We can skip over some of the stuff that you have to do on a cold call, and just get down to business. I’m a loan guy, and when Realtors who have worked with me recommend me to clients, they do so because they’ve worked with me before.

I think if you have a chance to work with someone that you know, even a little, it’s better than working with someone you don’t. That doesn’t mean you get a “pass” in that situation. If you don’t do a good job, you can still lose that client, and the referral source.

My past clients know that I care about them and will do anything I can for them, but we don’t have to talk about our kids once a week to show that. I send out emails every month or so just to remind them that I’m still in the business, not to further some kind of “relationship.”

So in answer to your question, I think it helps, and probably more now than ever.

By: Michael Patton

Michael Patton — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:51:33 +0000

Yes, the definition of “relationship” would seem to be the root of any disagreement here.

In my 25+ years in the real estate industry I’ve trained a number of agents and what I’ve learned is there are basically a couple of ways of getting business.

1. The one that appears easiest requires spending money (and yes, I can hear the screams out in CyberLand that viral marketing doesn’t cost anything) on marketing/advertising as you constantly try to be the agent that people contact when they have a need.

You’re constantly on the prowl for your next deal and when the phone doesn’t ring enough you drop some more mail and/or buy some additional type of advertising.

2. The one that has a lower cost of customer acquisition is to leverage your contacts/database with frequent targeted contact that encourages them to share the great experience they had with you with their friends, family and neighbors.

In Keller Williams (full disclosure – that’s where I hang my license) we’re taught to have many contacts a year (33 of them) and only a few are an actual phone call. Most use the mail or email – all in an effort to be top of mind with the client.

Which works better? Both do. Or neither do. It all depends on which one will the agent utilize consisitently.

In my experience their are long term agents that focus on one or the other and there are long term agents that utilize some form of blend of the two.

Relationships with clients don’t factor into it (my definition is a relationship involves primarily SOCIAL interaction).