I am a big fan of using the latest technology in as many aspects of our business as possible! From looking around this blog, you can tell that I am a technology fan, but it wasn’t always that way.
I spent my entire first commission check on an IBM XT clone computer, a green screen monitor and a dot matrix printer. That purchase was revolutionary at the time as there were no computers in use in real estate offices at that time.
That one purchase catapulted me to the top top 10% of my office in production within 6 months and set me on the course to always look for new technologies. And I can truly tell you that doing so was the key to my success. But before that, I had to rely on non-tech methods to generate that first commission check!
Fast forward 32 years later and we have tech tools that we couldn’t even dream about back in 1986. Because of that we tend to think that the only path to success runs through new tech, new methods and new thought.
As tempting as that can be, I want to focus you on some tools that we used in those old days that weren’t tech based and were effective in “getting our name out there” and finding new clients. These tools will still work and because of the nearly universal focus on tech related tools, these methods won’t have as much competition!
To start with, let’s look at newspapers! One of the things that we did back in the day was to read the paper every day and look for birth announcements, promotion announcements, company news about expansions, moves and for the more adventurous among us, the obits!
What we would do was to send personalized note cards offering congratulations as appropriate and condolences as necessary. You would be surprised at how often this technique produced opportunities for us.
The next thing we did was to go to networking meetings. Today, you can find these opportunities through Meetup. The old school wrinkle is to actually follow up with each person that you meet and actually ask for business. Use your phone to call someone. Ask them to do business with you. If they don’t have a need, ask them if they have a friend, relative or co-worker who might need your services.
This next method is one that not a lot of people would do, even in the old days. And that is walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors!
Yes, I know, many people won’t answer their doorbell, but some will. Ask the ones that do if they are thinking of selling their home, or if they are looking to buy investment property. Use your tech tools to set them up on automated home valuation reports. Get them in your follow up email system at the very least.
But, go knock on their doors!
So, there you have it. 3 Old school methods, that still work and don’t cost an arm and a leg to implement. Give it a try! Who knows, you might get some new clients!
