How often do you spend time networking with luxury professionals outside of the real estate industry?
We’ve all heard the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and in today’s competitive luxury real estate market, that sentiment couldn’t be truer.
With so many luxury real estate professionals vying for the same listings and buyers with an endless supply of choices, strategic partnerships—both with other luxury real estate professionals and other professionals who work with affluent clientele—can be your ticket to success.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other industry professionals whose clientele overlap with that of a luxury real estate professional, including wealth advisers, CPAs, business attorneys, or even wine storage specialists, venetian plasterers or luxury pool installers.
The best part? You can leverage other professionals’ established networks both online and offline, and the benefits are mutual.
Here are just a few reasons why taking the time to create and nurture strategic partnerships is essential for growing your luxury real estate practice—plus a few practical tips on how to do it:
Strategic Partnerships Help You Get Closer to the Clients You Want
According to David Friedman, co-founder of wealth lookup resources Wealth Quotient and Wealth X—both of which are available to members of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (The Institute)—most luxury real estate professionals are taking the wrong approach to prospecting, especially when they’ve identified specific clients they’d like to work with.
Instead of making a direct connection with those prospects, David recommends finding a way into their circle to be introduced by one of the prospect’s trusted peers or advisers. This is what he calls an “Inward-Out” approach, in which you become a vetted “referral” rather than an unknown agent.
Creating and nurturing strategic partnerships with other luxury professionals is a simple way to arrange these introductions, which can go both ways.
Strategic Partnerships Can Help You Grow a More Engaged Social Media Following
Another way to benefit from strategic partnerships is to create content online for, or with, other professionals with overlapping clientele to attract qualified leads.
For example, you might interview a local, high-end interior designer with a large social media following to talk about seasonal trends on your blog, livestream or podcast, and have them announce the upcoming interview to their own following, effectively landing you in front of their audience and potentially gaining a few interested followers and prospects.
Similarly, you can offer to write or create content for other local professionals for their blog or other media platforms, which also puts you directly in front of their established audience. Some examples of this could be writing about local real estate trends in your market for your local luxury financial adviser’s blog or partnering with a local wine enthusiasts club to send a “guest email” about a listing with an incredible wine cellar, inviting them to a special open house.
This method is especially helpful if you’re a new luxury real estate professional with a bootstrapped marketing budget, or if you’re looking for more ways to grow your online presence within your community without spending more on paid advertising.
Want a Competitive Edge in the Luxury Real Estate Market?
The Institute’s in-person Luxury Live events are back and, for the first time ever, we’ve introduced a Member Happy Hour to give you even more time to network with other luxury real estate professionals (or aspiring luxury real estate professionals).
The curriculum for these exciting two-day events is based on our proven Seven-Step Luxury Marketing Blueprint to help you break into luxury real estate or reach the next level in your luxury real estate career.
To learn more and see when Luxury Live is coming to your city, click here.
Diane Hartley is the president of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, a premier independent authority in training and designation for real estate agents working in the upper-tier residential market. Hartley brings her passion for luxury marketing and more than 20 years of experience growing and leading businesses to her role as president of the Institute.
