From delivering the right message to prospective clients, to closing deals, it takes hard work to achieve success in the real estate world. In the following interview, Tim Brett, Sales Manager withBrett/Robinson Real Estate lets us in on his top tips for a winning it big with business.
Tim Brett
Sales Manager
Brett/Robinson Real Estate
Gulf Shores, Ala.
Region served: The Alabama Gulf Coast
Years in real estate: 18
Number of offices: 2
Number of agents: 36
Top tech tool: My iPad.
Best piece of advice for those just getting into the industry: Work hard and work often.
Please describe the current market trends in your area.
We’re seeing less inventory than we had 6–7 years ago when we had a plethora of inventory, but no buyers. While last year was the best year we’ve had in about eight years, we seem to be on track this year. Even though we’re seeing less inventory in the second-home market, prices aren’t skyrocketing like they were during the boom years, although they have gone up a little bit at a time over the past 2–3 years.
What demographic segments are driving your business these days?
We have a lot of first-time buyers discovering the area. In addition, about half of our buyers are repeat buyers who have bought multiple properties from us.
How are you getting the message out in terms of now being a great time to buy?
We manage nearly 3,000 properties, so we spend a lot of time marketing to the people who are renting our properties. Whether it’s speaking with them face-to-face or simply leaving flyers in the room, we’re constantly getting the message out that now is a great time to buy. We also encourage our agents to call their customers at least once a month. Since we’re in a vacation/resort destination, many of our buyers don’t reside in the area, so staying in touch is crucial.
How are you using technology to better serve your clients?
We’re old-fashioned in a way since a lot of the stuff we do involves the tried-and-true things that work, such as pushing our agents to not just email or text their sphere of influence, but pick up the phone and call. We also take advantage of our website, sites such as Trulia, realtor.com® and RealEstateBook.com to interact with customers. Outsourcing our listings and having them featured on other national real estate sites has helped us get our product across as well. We also create YouTube videos where we feature one listing a week.
I’ve noticed that you advertise in The Real Estate Book and on RealEstateBook.com. How do those work into your overall marketing strategy?
While a majority of people are turning to the Internet to search for homes today, people still enjoy the feel of holding a book in their hands, therefore, The Real Estate Book is an instrumental part of our marketing strategy. When an agent goes on a listing presentation, they take the book with them because sellers not only like the fact that their home will be displayed online at RealEstateBook.com, they also love to see it in print. We’re still getting a lot of calls from prospective clients who are picking up the printed books.
For more information, visit http://www.brett-robinson.com.
