Master the Art of Networking: Secrets for Real Estate Professionals

“It’s not what you know but who you know.” That is no truer than in the real estate business. Before you can land a sale, you’ll have to meet the prospective client. This is what networking is all about. Marketing yourself is the key component to driving up business and finding new leads.

Traditional marketing like cold calling and posting flyers can essentially be replaced with networking if you put some effort into your network. So, where do you begin?

Objective

Is your objective to make millions in the real estate business this year? Networking isn’t a money tree but it can serve as a sturdy branch. Set a clear, concise objective to your networking efforts. Do you need to gain understanding of the needs, concerns and problems of prospects? Of course you do. Without knowing this information, you won’t be able to assess whether or not you offer the services they need.

Strategy

Get out of your comfort zone. Your friends and family know you’re in the real estate business. Find places to meet strangers and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself.

Lend an ear. Don’t waste precious time with existing contacts by focusing on yourself. Spend time asking questions and collecting information.

Don’t fumble your words. Come up with a list of standard questions to identify primary needs and concerns and a little personal information from prospects. Come up with a 15 – 30 second speech (elevator speech) for prospects and fellow real estate professionals. Key points should be the problems you solve, beyond “I help people find houses.” You need to stand out in the minds of those you deliver this speech to, both initially to get their attention and long term to keep their mind on you.

Find solutions to problems you can’t solve. If you only deal in commercial real estate but a prospect is actually looking for industrial, don’t turn them away. Find a colleague that specializes in industrial property and refer your prospect. Not only will that prospect remember that you solved his problem, that colleague will remember the referral and may send one your way in the future.

Give it away. Do you have a weekly or monthly newsletter? If not, you should. Send it to your clients and associates to keep your name fresh in their mind. It also helps establish your credibility by providing valid information at no cost. Post it on your website and keep previous issues there as well. While someone might not be interested in a particular subject the week or month you cover it in your newsletter, they might want to refer to the article at a later time. The more content on your website the more search engine hits it will receive.

Manage your information. Whether you use a pen and notebook or high tech computer software, you need to keep your contacts organized. The benefit of using software is that you can sort, edit and even perform mail merges with a couple clicks.

Networking is crucial to the real estate business. Figure out your objective, lay out your strategy and start selling – yourself.

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