Your Clients Are Part of Your Marketing, Too

January 11, 2007 |

Every business has, or should have, a marketing plan.  A marketing plan is especially important to REALTORS.  It is important not only for the listings that a REALTOR markets, but for the REALTOR as well.  A marketing plan is usually concerned with how and by what means a REALTOR plans to market himself.  One part of that plan that may be overlooked, but is very important, is the REALTOR’s clients.  Their is an old saying that goes, “if you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.”  This can be all too true in real estate.

I will illustrate my point with an experience I had this past weekend while showing property.  I met a couple at a home that they wanted to see.  This was a resale home that was a few years old.  One of the first questions that they asked was, “Do you know who built the home?”  I didn’t, so I told them I would find out from the listing agent.  I have heard that question enough times to know that it is usually motivated by a desire to avoid a particular builder.  To find out more, I simply asked them if they were looking for any builder in particular.  They said no, and left it at that.  We went from that house to another house, which happened to be new construction.  Walking up to open the front door, they again asked about the builder.  Being new construction, I knew the builder, so I told them.  The next words out of my client’s mouth were, “Oh S—-.  Forget it!”  He then proceeded to tell me about the lawsuit his family had been involved in with the builder over their current house, and went into great detail about the horror he had been through.

Fair enough.  I can understand his sentiment.  My family had actually had a very horrific experience with a builder, so I could relate.  The thing that I found interesting, however, was the fact that his anger and disdain was not reserved only for the builder, but extended to the agent and the listing company as well.  From what I can tell, it was not because of anything that the agent had done specifically, but more because he felt he couldn’t trust anyone associated with the builder.  Sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident, and I have heard similar stories from others who have dealt with this particular builder as well.  My question is, why would any listing agent or company continue to represent this builder?
As independent contractors, REALTORS are able to choose their client.  No REALTOR is obligated to work with anyone.  There are those people out there who will cost much more than the commission can ever pay for.  I wonder if this agent is even aware of the situation.  And if not, how would the agent react when told about the detrimental effect this is having on the agent’s reputation?

For me, personally, there is no client in the world worth the destruction of my reputation.  Marketing is about message, and if your clients are putting out a negative message, maybe they shouldn’t be your clients.  In a business like real estate, that relies so heavily on word-of-mouth personal recommendation and involves most people’s largest and most emotionally charged assets, once you’ve got fleas, they can be awfully hard to remove.

[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, marketing, reputation [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Industry Issues 

Comments

2 Responses to “Your Clients Are Part of Your Marketing, Too”

  1. Jim Duncan on January 11th, 2007 10:09 pm

    My question is this - did they have Buyer Representation or were the buyers involved with a Dual Agent?

    [Reply]

  2. Daniel Rothamel on January 11th, 2007 10:42 pm

    I didn’t ask, since I didn’t really want to pry into such a sore subject. After looking the house up in the MLS, it would appear that they did, indeed, have their own representation. That agent’s name never came up in the story, however.

    [Reply]

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