IAR Broker Sentiment Survey January 2011

What are the most effective (or creative) ways your agents are working their sphere?

• Senior Real Estate Specialist Committee
• Investors for foreclosures, cash buyers and private funding
• Taking second jobs and using new contacts to find new potential customers
• My staff is working with investors and flippers for the REO properties I list.
• E-mail and personal conversations. NOT social networking—that is for agents with nothing better to do.
• Our agents are spending more and more time on Facebook. It is a hard concept for older people to get their minds around, but it appears to be a significant part of how young people communicate and socialize. One of our agents has taken on the role of Facebook liaison - she loads our properties, events, community participation to our office page. People can become fans of the page. More and more businesses are participating on Facebook this way.
• We are signing on for the Lowe's program, direct mail and e-mail.
• E-mail updates on the market conditions.
• They're working the sphere big time—this is the ONLY successful method of securing serious sellers and buyers. Personal "asks" is what's working.
• Constant contact, dropping by their homes, and calling them on a regular basis.
• Our best approach to maintaining a strong relationship with our sphere has in general been our ability to provide information that is pertinent to the sphere. Depending on the agent and their sphere this can range from warm contacts, direct mail, e-mail or blogs. Most favorable responses have been to our market information (e-mailed from the CRM on each agent's website).
• Make contact and let them know they are still in the business. With so many agents falling out they don't know so it's our job to make sure they do know.
• Word of mouth is still the best; if you are honest and do a good thorough job, they will tell their friends.
• Calling for non business reasons: Happy New Year calls, etc.