In real estate, it’s referred to as working the farm, but the concept is the same – you select a particular market segment and focus your marketing activities on that segment.
Classified under two general headings – geographical and personalized – farming is one of the most powerful prospecting techniques available to you. You choose your market and you position yourself as an expert in the minds of buyers and sellers in that market.
Geographical farming is targeting a specific area/neighbourhood. Personalized farming is based on your interests, hobbies, and relationships (e.g., people in a specific profession, or people who belong to a specific club).
Regardless of what type of farm you choose, you will have to work it if you want it to grow and prosper. Here is what you should do.
Keep It Small – At First
Start small. If you’re working a geographical farm, start with 200 to 400 homes. For your marketing plan to be effective, you need to follow up with the people in your farm area.
Identify Your Farm Members
Geographical Farm – Obtain the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the people in your farm.
Personalized Farm – Based on how you defined your farm, make a list of the people in your farm, including telephone numbers.
Please ensure you do not contact anyone on the National Do Not Call List (for more information, go to https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/index-eng) or who is currently listed for sale with another brokerage.
Choose Your First Approach
Your first approach should be in person (door knocking) or by telephone. Remember the following when speaking to (communicating with) your farm members:
- tell them that you’ve started a new career in real estate
- ask them if they know anyone who may be thinking of buying or selling in the next couple of months and, if yes, ask them for a referral
- obtain their permission to put them on your contact list
Work Your Farm
Maintain contact with your farm members at least monthly. When you first start out, we recommend weekly or bi-weekly.
You can maintain contact by telephone calls, and/or distributing various marketing materials, such as brochures, newsletters, announcements of recent properties you’ve sold. Your goal is to keep your name front and centre with your farm members.
Stay Tuned
We will examine several marketing techniques in a future blog post.
For More Information
For more information on sales techniques, please consult our A Mentoring Kit for New Salespeople: Training For Success at http://www.oreacollegestore.com/ShowItem.aspx?ItemID=LT-PB-MentoringKit&Design=false&CurrentTab=divCatLearningTools. This is a valuable resource for both brokers and salespeople.
Share
Do you have any suggestions on how to select a farm? Let us know.
Leave a Reply