As a real estate professional you are in competition with all the other agents in town. And, if that’s not enough, there are all those prospective clients who decide to Do It Themselves.  What can you do to give yourself the competitive edge and ensure that you get the market share you need?   You need to be a little bit superior than your competition in a variety of ways.

ONE STEP AT A TIME

If your production is not where you want it to be it can be disheartening to compare your production to the production of the top agents in the area.  The steps needed to close that gap can be and often are a big job to handle.  BUT…if you remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that it is best to take things one step at a time, you can take heart and compete and win. 

SELECT AN AGENT TO BEAT

Instead of trying to compete with the number one agent or agents in your area, set your sights at a more realistic target.  Select a goal that will take you one or two steps beyond your current level of production and make your plans to reach that goal.   Sometimes it helps to select a specific agent that has a bigger market share than you do and develop ways to top that agent’s production.

COVER ALL YOUR BASES

With a reasonable idea of who your competition is, you do not have to beat ‘em by a mile, just a few feet in a variety of ways will do the trick.  Some of the ways to consider are: make sure your geographic farming is consistent and meaningful; evaluate your marketing strategies every six months and make adjustments when needed; make sure you are evaluating the right things; make sure your Website and your Internet marketing are right on target.

It is not all that hard to make small improvements in what you are currently doing but several small changes will add up to BIG RESULTS.  Here are some ideas.

ONE: Increase Your Farming Effectiveness

You can do this by increasing the number of people you contact each month or you can do this by increasing the effectiveness of the messages that you send to your existing farm. You can also do this by switching from postal to Email marketing.  Call me at 888-814-5347 to find out how.

TWO: Coordinate All Marketing

Start with a strategic plan. Support all your marketing efforts with your Website and then stick to the point.  Visit http://sellrealestate.net/coordinatemarketing.asp for an interactive session on coordinated marketing.

THREE: Make Your Website Work for You

Your Website is your online ambassador so make sure that it answers questions and invites contact from qualified leads. Web visitors do not like things that are unclear.  For specific help with Web Design visit http://sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp and you will receive a Free Custom Web Plan.

FOUR: Evaluate What You Are Doing

Make sure that every thing you do is designed to meet your goals to increase revenue and reduce costs. Template Websites, mailing out recipes and farming in areas of low turn over can eat up your budget without producing much in terms of results.

Visit a variety of real estate Websites and you will find that many agents and brokers seem to have very fuzzy ideas about their job descriptions. 

THE BROKER / OWNER

An ideal company Website will reflect the agency’s goals, not by stating them necessarily but by demonstrating them.  A brokerage with a few or with hundreds of agents could support each and every agent with marketing oriented Web programs as well as with agent sales training and with strategies that help agents provide superior service and save time.  A managing broker’s goal should be to improve the production of each and every agent and the Website is a terrific way to help with this.  Want more specific suggestions for making your Website work for you?  Visit me online at http://sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp.  Tell me a little bit about your goals and I’ll help you plan for how to reach them.

SOLO AGENT OR TEAM

The ideal Website will reflect the agent’s or the team’s goals, not by stating them necessarily but by demonstrating them.  Am I repeating myself?  YES!  An agent or a team Website needs to work towards improving production, making follow up easier and reducing marketing time and costs.  Websites that are set up as mini search engines such as most template sites do not focus on any of the stated goals. Want more specific suggestions for making your Website work for you?  Visit me online at http://sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp.  Tell me a little bit about your goals and I’ll help you plan for how to reach them.