Broker Tour Tuesday

Tuesday is Broker Tour day here in my area.

If at all possible, I'll try and get out of the office on Tuesdays and meet some of the dedicated and professional Agents in the area.

That sure sounds a lot like sucking up doesn't it?
Well... Yes and No.

Walk into an open house on the weekend and you are likely to be greeted at the door by a relatively new agent.
Why? With inventories as high as they are running it's easy to see, there's plenty of open houses out there.

The experienced, dedicated and professional agent is still out there but may have 3 or more listings that all need to be held open at the same time. Those open houses need to be manned by someone, and legally they have to be manned by a licensed agent. As a new agent you'll have ample opportunity to work every weekend holding open house.

Take someone in your office's listing, pack the corner signs in your trunk and create some flyers to hand out.
The concept is simple: expose the home to as many eyeballs as possible.
But then again, as most people should be using the expertise of a Realtor in finding their home, isn't that contradictory?

It is. But there's a lousy fact hanging out there.
Typically, from the time a person starts looking for a home to the time they actually purchase a home, they come in direct contact with 17 Agents. That's a number from the National Association of Realtors. People don't stick around, they are flighty. Very little "stickiness".

Turning the tables, how do those 17 agents manage to come in contact with the potential buyers?
Mostly by marketing.
That means putting their faces on everything from shopping carts to restaurant take out bags.
My local drugstore pharmacy bags have a Realtor ad on them.
Newsletters, Bus Stop Benches, Pizza Boxes, and anything else they can to generate the phone call. Oh yeah, and by holding open houses.

That's right!
The underlying reason to hold an open house is to meet and greet potential buyers.
Selling the house is secondary. They know chances are they are not going to sell this house to you.
It's all about establishing a relationship, it's starting the conversation, it's building common ground.

Walk into an open house and the first question you'll likely be asked is,
"Are you currently working with an Agent?"
They want to know if you are attached to an agent already or do they have a chance on earning your business.

The bigger original question was, "What's a Broker Tour?"
Every area has a local Realtor marketing group.
In my area it's called CCRIM.
Contra Costa Realtors in Motion - catchy eh?
Solano has it's SAOR - Solano Association Of Realtors
Name aside it's a wonderful idea.

When an agent gets a new listing they are able to put it on Broker Tour.
Like I mentioned, in this area it's Tuesday.
From 10 till 2 or so, the agents will hold the home open not for the public, (although they are always welcomed) but for the other agents.

This way, when a home comes on the market, a good agent has had a chance to preview it, and then possibly suggest it to their clients.

But I'm not looking for a home.
I'm also not a Realtor.
So what am I doing on Broker Tour?

In part, I'm doing the same thing the new agent is doing on the weekend - I'm meeting and greeting, not the public but the professionals that drive the market.
I'm always looking to build professional relationships with honest dedicated agents.

On the other hand, I need to hear the word that's out on the street.
I need to know the vibe, the pulse of what's going on.
How the market is treating them and so on.

I'll use this information in my TV and Radio appearances as well as in the seminars.