My colleague Todd Dubner has just started a blog on Active Rain. Part of his responsibilities at our company is managing our custom magazine product line for real estate agents, and he thinks a lot about how agents approach the issue of building a personal brand.
His first post makes some observation about how important a close network of relationships is to successful agents.
In recent conversations with agents, I have heard a common theme of “market segmentation”. While none of the agents I spoke with actually said those two words together, they referred to different parts of their personal and professional networks differently. Also, the segmentation did not follow any demographic or sociographic focus. All of this segmentation was based on closeness of relationships. Every agent seemed to have their core group that were their key source of word-of-mouth recommendations, their broader community involvement relationships and the broad general market. Some called it their “core sphere of influence” and others “their best customers”. Each had different ways to reach each segment. What was common to all of these conversations was that these agents had essentially entrusted their brand to a set of friends and colleagues where they trusted their network to help them get out their message.
Two agents quickly posted comments on the post, and a common thread links the two responses: patience and hard work.
Says one:
I have found though being yourself is how it works.
Adds another:
I’d like to think I “stand out” as an agent and as a person. Like any other relationship…it doesn’t happen immediately, it takes time, building trust, reliability, prompt follow up (that’s my forte..so I’m told) but it does take time and energy.
I remember my mother saying that anything worth having is worth waiting for. That’s the essence of building a good set of relationships, and as Todd underscores, using tools to manage and sustain those relationships makes all the hard work you’ve put in pay off.
At any rate, pay a visit to Todd’s blog and encourage him. He’s got a lot to add to the dialogue.
