I’ve had my share of luck in my life, most of it good luck, so generally I live with an expectation that things will almost always get better. In my wildest dreams I never would have expected the whole world to change to accommodate me, but it did.
Even in the early stages of my real estate career I felt I was a good agent. I was technically proficient; I understood the importance of business systems, client service, follow-up, a positive attitude, professionalism and much of the other stuff that makes a good real estate agent good.
I had my share of weaknesses as well and naivety topped the list. I had this crazy idea that everyone I knew would soon be calling for expert assistance in buying or selling a home. It hadn’t occurred to me that those who knew me best also knew that I was greener than green and they might be a little hesitant to trust me with one of their most important investments.
I quickly learned that “prospecting” was another of my weaknesses. My most recent work experience was in broadcast sales where I had a list of “clients” who expected to hear from me. I was always pretty comfortable calling people at the office when I wanted to develop a new account but the idea of cold calling into people’s homes, or knocking on their door unannounced wasn’t working for me. The thought of soliciting private sellers and previously expired listings was even less appealing. I will most certainly starve to death before I ever call into a stranger’s home, without an introduction, to solicit their business. I probably should have failed.
I poured money into advertising with limited results, held some open houses with some success, and worked hard to keep in touch with my “sphere of influence” using traditional methods like newsletters and calendars. After a couple of years, and before I had completely depleted my savings some referrals started to come and I managed to keep my head above water. Still, I was living from one paycheck to the next and just managing to keep the bills paid. It was a life of mediocrity to say the least, and I knew that only I was standing in the way of my own success. Why couldn’t I pick up that damned phone or knock on a few doors?
I’m sure that it was “creative avoidance” that was behind my interest in computers. It was something that I could rely on to get in the way of those prospecting activities and I used it to the fullest spending countless hours organizing my business and my “client base.”
If I was interested in computers, I was totally swept away by my discovery of the Internet and before long, I was spending several hours online each day, exploring and learning. I read everything I could find about real estate and how the business was about to change. There wasn’t much out there at the time, but all that I read convinced me that I could find a way to get ahead of the changes that were coming. I had found a passion for the business and I found it in a place that nobody else in my market was looking.
I won’t bore you with the details of how my small team and I came to dominate the online real estate world in my area. 🙂 I will say that every minute that I spent with a computer was a valuable one that paid off in spades. The hours that I “wasted” online have ultimately brought me more business than I ever expected I might be involved in.
I’ve come to love my prospecting time. We don’t make cold calls. We don’t knock on doors. We don’t go anywhere without an invitation. Instead, I write it, they read it, and we discuss it. Often we come to know each other and end up working together. As far as I’m concerned there is no better way to prospect, but then, I’m hardly an authority on prospecting.
I’m a lucky guy. After all, the world literally changed to accommodate me.
