I work with agents from across the country every day. I can tell you the most common problem I hear is “I don’t have enough good leads for qualified buyers and motivated sellers.” It is not like agents are the only ones with this problem -all of my other business friends tell me this is their biggest problem too.
At the same time, now is a great time to grow your business. I was reading my Wall Street Journal Monday morning and this headline grabbed my attention:
“An economic downturn is a great time to start a business. It sound paradoxical, but think about it. Costs are lower, and more talent is available, thanks to layoffs. Prospective clients are more likely to try a new supplier … Established players, too, are focused on cutting costs instead of increasing market share”
But you won’t increase your market share in this economy with traditional advertising. The advertising that you used for years is just not cutting it anymore.
The same Wall Street Journal article went on to listed the top five common flaws people make when starting a business. Their #1 flaw is also the #1 change you have to make to your advertising if you want to take advantage of the emerging economy!
#1 Business Flaw- “Here I am, Never Mind The Problem”
Any business that leads their marketing and sales efforts with “Here I Am” is doomed to fail. The average Joe out there is pre-occupied and worried about their job, car, family, retirement and health. Their mind is so full of negative thoughts and problems that they can’t even register your name, much less remember it later. Advertising that leads with your name is just not working anymore and don’t sit around waiting for the good ol’ days to come back – they are gone.
So what do you do about it? How do you grow your business with all of the negativity out there? How do you jump out of the crowd and get people to call you? Easy - focus on solving your customer’s problem!
What’s rattling around in your target customer’s mind that keeps them up and night? How can you help solve these problems? To figure this out, you need to start with the problems people have when they buy or sell real estate.
Once you have a good list of problems, figure out how you can help them solve the problem. Here are some big problems you can target:
- I am getting divorced – offer a “Divorce – 7 Mistakes People Make With Real Estate” report
- I am getting transferred to a new city – Offer a free relocation guide
- My mom died and I need to sell her home – Offer an “How To Sell The Estate Home” guide
- I can’t take care of this big home and I need a smaller place (downsizing) – Offer “How to downsize without losing your mind guide”
- I lost my high paying job and got a job with less pay and now need to move to a smaller home – Offer 25 tips to sell your home quickly in today’s economy
Other problems are small nagging questions, but they are great questions to solve
- What is my home really worth and can I even sell it – Offer a free over the net home eValuation
- Where can I find a list of foreclosed homes to buy – Offer a foreclosed home list
- How do I get into the MLS to search on homes for sale – Offer free MLS access
- What is happening to real estate in my neighborhood – Offer a real estate report
You can see there is no end to problems you can help solve. You should lead all your postcard, internet, flier and newsletter marketing with offers to solve a problem. Remember - It is important to have multiple offers out there, don’t get stuck on solving just one problem.
In future success tips I will help you figure out how to get your new marketing messages in front of the people you want as clients.
To your success,
Greg Pitstick & Bill Brown
LGM3 – Lets Go Make More Money
P.S. We just created a free training workshop on how any agent can easily convert more leads to clients. You can turn more leads into clients with the tips you will learn during the free½ hour audio training. You can also download the free cheat sheet guide that is a great everyday guide. Register for this free training at www.lgm3.com/workshops.
