Recently, I listened to a fantastic podcast with Realtor Kyle Malnati and special guest Jimmy Mackin, co-founder of Curaytor, a company that powers marketing for many real estate agents, myself included.
In the podcast, beginning at the 10-minute mark, Jimmy Mackin touches on five business mistakes to avoid when building your business. Here they are:
1. Getting caught in the vicious cycle: If you cannot market, sell and service all at the exact same time, you are in the vicious cycle. Too many people get caught up entirely with marketing; or entirely with selling; or entirely with servicing. Doesn't work. You need to do all three, and you need to do all three each business day. And you need clarity on who owns each channel. Who markets? Who sells? Who services? Get clarity on this. Do all three each and every day. Clarity. Effort. Consistency. As Jimmy Mackin notes, "It's about moving the ball down the field, not scoring a touchdown on every play." Don't let the chaos of your business life take you away from what needs to be done each day. Get focussed. Get disciplined. Get what matters done.
2. Failing to invest in your brand. A failure to invest in your brand is a failure to invest in your future. Figure out your business brand and communicate your point of view consistently in your messaging AND your actions. For example, the Charles Cherney Team at Compass is here to help you buy the right home and sell for the best price in Cambridge and Somerville, MA and beyond. We will expertly guide you through the home buying and selling process. That's us. Every day. All the time. In all we say and do. "Without brand," Jimmy says, "you are in the race to the bottom."
3. Thinking your agents (employees) are going to remain loyal to your company. Your real estate agents may love you - and still leave. The secret to building loyalty is to make yourself irreplaceable. That is, to build a moat around your business. If you control the growth engine - the marketing and the front line sales - then your agents are more likely to want to stay. Yes, they can move on, but if they do, they will need to replace the machine you have built for their success.
4. Thinking your clients are going to remain loyal to your company. If you don't stay relevant to your past clients, they are likely to move on. "Know + Like + Trust" is not enough. To stay relevant post-transaction, you need to ADD VALUE. Build loyalty by staying relevant. Ask better questions. Deliver meaningful content. Aim to make a difference rather than a sum. Give, give, give. And always give something of value. Yes, you have to invest in sustaining relationships, but that's not enough. Make client relationships better by adding value.
5. Not removing legacy debt. You begin to acquire operational processes that made sense at the time but are no longer applicable. That's legacy debt. Doing things because that's how they have always been done. There is a real estate agent in my marketplace who prepares a multi-page feature sheet for every listing. Sometimes there are so many pages that an industrial staple is required. This started in the 1980s, pre-Internet. But it's more than four decades later now! Get a single page double-sided feature sheet and a mobile-friendly website page and digital brochure working for you. Level up. Remove legacy debt.