There is a term in the real estate business called “Creative Selling.” When you sit back and analyze what really makes the great Realtors great, it is creativity. Unlike many other types of selling professions in which a person has a particular product to sell, a Realtor only has their service to sell. The product is available to all agents because of our Muliple Listing Service arrangement and the Internet.
So what is it that sets Realtors apart? What is the common thread among the successful ones? It is difficult to pick one certain aspect and say that is the one thing a successful agent needs, because in reality there are several. You’ll never be able to replace hard work, contacts, product knowledge and people skills. These attributes will always be necessary, but along with these qualities, a Realtor has to be creative. It’s sort of a “dare to be different” mentality coupled with a “can do” attitude.
The obvious place that creativity is important is in marketing. Writing ads that get people’s attention and making them want to call you about a property is very important. In addition to that, ability to come up with new marketing ideas is also critical. As always, the trouble with a good idea is that it is soon discovered and copied by the rest of the pack. Ah, the burden of leadership. Agents use things like flyers and email blast too tell about the house or informing of some status change regarding a property.
With the accessibility of desktop publishing, these flyers and email blast have become very creative and attention-grabbing items. Another trick is the Agent’s Open House. Several agents will join together and hold certain properties in the area open for agents to see during the week. This exposes the property to an important segment of the market–other agents. And then, there’s signage. Yard signs are placed on the property with care, making sure they are visible in all directions, and other signs can be used to promote Open Houses, etc.
Beyond these, companies and agents will use some print media, social media, television, and radio in creative ways to promote themselves and their listings. These are all tangible examples of creative selling. When you begin to see the intangible evidence of creative selling, you know you are dealing with a top-notch salesperson. What do I mean by intangible creative selling? Well, since I haven’t used up my 500-word limit, I’ll tell you.
This is the true essence of creative selling. An agent will see a house and a little voice in their head will say, “This house will be perfect for the Joneses.” So they call the Joneses. They show the Joneses the house and they love it, the Joneses can’t buy another place until their mother sells her house. The agent looks at the mother’s house and that little voice goes, “This house will be perfect for the Browns.” So the agent calls the Browns. They look at the house and they love it, but they can’t buy a house until they sell Mr. Brown’s old bass boat. And, again, that little voice goes, “You’ve always wanted that bass boat, and there’s enough commission in these sales to buy it.” So the agent says, “We’ll buy it.”
And then the dominoes begin to fall. The agent and the little voice buy the boat. The Browns buy the Jones’ mother’s house and the Jonses go and buy the house that started the whole thing in the first place. It’s a beautiful thing.