A Fresh Approach to Real Estate Rookie-hood with Jennifer Allan

As the Introverted Real Estate Agent's New Best Friend (I just made that up), I give out a lot of advice on how to make a real estate career work even if you aren't the most outgoing, charismatic social butterfly in town. The other day I was asked about the appropriateness of adding people to your mailing list (either email or snail-mail) without their permission. Spam issues aside (we're talking about people we know, not strangers), many introverts are hesitant to begin any structured communication with a friend or acquaintance for fear of annoying them.

I get that. Oh, how I get that. I agonize over my mailing list every time I send something out, whether it be to my real estate Sphere of Influence or my Sell with Soul readership. I wonder if I'm communicating too much; if I'm wearing out my welcome; or conversely, if I'm not communicating enough and my audience has forgotten who I am. I worry about the appropriateness of including a little promo for my next product or new listing. Conversely, I worry that if I don't, I'm not fulfilling my duty to myself to effectively market my stuff.

It's easy to over-think such things and end up doing nothing. Which is a bad plan. So, if this sounds anything like you, here are a few thoughts to put your mind at ease...

First, ask yourself if what you're getting ready to send out is something you're proud of. If it's something you'd enjoy receiving in your mailbox or inbox. Or, egads, if it's some cheesy newsletter or sales piece that you'd toss without reading if it were sent to you.

If your communication is something you are proud of and would enjoy receiving, then move on down to the next point. If it's not, if you're actually embarrassed by your effort, then you need to honor that gut feeling and return to the drawing board. Because, in my opinion, sending something cheesy or dorky is NOT better than doing nothing at all! But that's a topic for a different day.

If you're pleased with your piece, send it out. To everyone. Here's the thing. A few might be annoyed or feel spammed. That's a fact. But most won't. The vast majority won't. If you're sending out good stuff, most will enjoy it and be impressed by you. Which is good for business.

I'd rather impress 10 people and risk annoying one than take the chance of some other agent getting my SOI's business because I was worried about the one...

Yesterday, I got a call from a former client of mine. She was one of my biggest investor clients during the Denver real estate boom in the late 1990's, but has since left town and no longer invests in the Denver market. We stay in touch and she sends referrals my way when she can.

Anyway, she called asking for my help in appealing a low appraisal her brother received on his home he's trying to refinance.

No problem, I tell her. I pull the comps, confirm that the appraisal is ridiculously low and email her the information, which she forwards to the lender handling the refinance. The lender calls me, asks for a little more information, including a copy of the tax assessor's record, which I immediately fax to him. He emails me the low appraisal and asks for my input which I provide. I explain in detail why the comps the appraiser used are inappropriate.

He thanks me profusely and tells me I'm awesome. I smile.

From the time my client called me to the point I evaluated the appraisal for the lender, about 90 minutes passed. All in all, I spent maybe 25 minutes of my time. Piece o' cake to do.

The moral of the story... this is pure SOI in action. Do you think I'll need to constantly remind my former client that I LOVE Referrals? Uh, no. I'm her real estate resource in Denver, no question about it. Because I dropped everything and helped her out right away, she knows she's a high priority for me. She knows she's special. I don't have to tell her, I showed her. And I won't have to remind her.

This is pretty simple stuff. But what if I followed my buddy Dirk Zeller's advice and put her off until later in the day (or even tomorrow) so I could finish up my prospecting or other more critical work? I mean, isn't it way more effective to pester ten strangers than to take care of one person who has already proven to be a source of business for me?

What do you think?

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copyright Jennifer Allan 2007