Why estate agents should network

 

Have you noticed how much a recommended person will trust what you say immediately and without questions? Recommended clients are the best you can get because their trust in you comes before they talk to you, because someone they already know and trust has recommend you as someone they know and trust. So it really pays to work on getting recommendations. And a wonderful way to do that, is to network.

Almost every area will have a local chamber of commerce, or a retailer’s association, or some sort of similar club for local business owners to get together and support each other. They often take the form of breakfast meetings and can be structured or unstructured, depending on the set up.

One of the most significant things about these meetings is that, in the main, estate agents don’t join them. I don’t know why, but aren’t they just an opportunity screaming to be heard?

Joining your local business association is a great way to feel really connected to the local business community – of which your estate agency is a part – and to generate goodwill towards your company.

By offering help and advice while chomping on sausage rolls with local shopkeepers and business owners, you show them you care about where you work. Employing a giving methodology – rather than simply sniffing around for business – will gain you many fans and many recommendations.

Shopkeepers and business owners are having conversations with their customers all the time. And if one of them is thinking about moving home, you can bet your bottom dollar it will come up in conversation. Imagine if every time that happened, the owner of the business said: have you spoken to <insert your name here> at so-and-so estate agents? That would be a perfectly natural thing for them to say if they’d met you and seen how helpful and giving you were .

Given the chance, everyone naturally wants to help everyone else, so why not give local business owners the ability to help their customers by sending them your way?

Hop online and see if you can find your local business association. Or, better still, wander into a couple of local shops and ask the owner if they know of one and if they’re a member. Perhaps they’ll take you along to the next event and introduce you.