Here are some signs that your agent is from another epoch:- Tries to photograph your listing with a film camera
- Does not text message
- Doesn’t use sign riders with domain names or text messaging codes for mobile devices
- Still believes that a full page print ad is a “big time” marketing campaign
- Thinks a bowl of stale peanuts will get other agents to come to the brokers open
- Does not use or understand social media
- Tries to sell your home with out a dedicated website for the property
- Uses a binder full of paper instead of a laptop for a listing presentation
- Understands syndication only in terms Night Rider being shown in Germany
- Uses the “facsimile” machine so many times you can’t read your contract instead of electronic signatures
And the number one sign that you Realtor is a Realtorsaurus?- Has a tape cassette answer machine at home!Why These are important?- Text messaging is key in communication with today’s new generation. It’s fast and efficient. Sometimes it’s ok not to call! TEXT example… “R U going to B on time?”….”Yes c u in 10″
- If you a selling a piece of junk house where there is no commission to be had then I understand why an agent might not want to build a website and have a domain name for a home. If your home is worth more that $150k then you should have one.
- Hate to say it but print media is expensive and not what it used to be. It’s not nearly as effective as Google Adwords or good online marketing.
- You need to serve good food if you are going to get agents to drive 5 miles up a hill to see your home on caravan. Order a Mex platter from La Salsa. If you have a $10m listing, don’t be cheap, get an omelette bar, and send out online blast inviting every hungry, opportunistic agent within 100 miles!
- Social media will continue to be an important tool to promote the agent and his listings. Don’t be the annoying sales pitch guy, just announce what you do and that you do it better than most.
- Any agent who shows up with a binder full of brochures and paper is not prepared to show you how his last listing was on 20 different websites getting 10,000 hits a week. Today’s listing appointment really needs to be a discussion of online marketing, not an agents time to show off full page adds of them and their dog, both with a phone to their heads!
- Syndication is what happens when your agent builds a website and the platform automatically distributes it to a dozen other portals like Trulia, Zillow, etc. There are at least 10 portals that every home should be on and a dozen more that are emerging.
- Electronic signatures are where it’s at. Sign online, email it back, and I present the offer (in person, old school way) or send it off. I can’t tell you how many deals occur with clients on the go, like, “We are in Malibu today, Sundance next week, and the Hampty Hamps after that!” Clients like this need to access docs on their Iphone’s and sign on line, not waiting by a hotel fax machine.
