Over Easter weekend I took my little crew to an Easter Egg hunt. Upon arrival I realized that this event was very well attended by what looked like hundreds and hundreds of kids. Fortunately for my oldest two, they got dad’s super competitive gene and prepared themselves for the start of the event as if they were JJ Watt of the Houston Texans going in for the sack. Unfortunately, I realized the strategy for winning wasn’t necessarily having JJ Watt like strength and aggression, but rather outsmarting your competition by running past them to the open fields of uncontested sugary goodness.
More specifically, if you look at the picture, you’ll see the mass of little munchkins fighting for the same eggs right near the start line. I noticed that every time a kid bent down to get an egg in this area, there were several other little hands vying for the same egg. Only about half of the time, depending on the assertiveness of the child, would he or she come up with an egg.
The wiser of the little participants (probably well coached by an intelligent mom or dad) actually spent the first few seconds of the event sprinting out to uncontested space where every time they bent down for an egg, their hand returned with an egg to the basket.
Unfortunately, my kids were not well coached this year… but watch out world. Next year, we’re going to dominate! (You’re probably thinking I’m one of those over-zealous parents right now).
So, how does this apply to being a Realtor in a tight inventory market? One might say that those with a sole focus on working with buyers are like those near the start line. So many buyers, so few eggs. Every time you bend down to get one, there are numerous hands vying for the same egg.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to get out in front and grab the listings? Competitive, yes, but once you have a well-priced listing, aren’t you better positioned and don’t you experience an increase in what each hour of your time is worth?
So, how do you get those listings when there appears to be so few of them on the market? My mentor, leader, and friend Steve Yeager posed this question as a really good answer to that question…
What are you doing that is keeping you from spending every working hour on getting listings?
Therein lies, at least in part, the solution. Have one sole focus, get rid of (delegate to another person, system, or tool) every task that is not directly tied to getting more listings.
If you are truly a buyer’s agent and you’re not interested, designated, or tooled to get listings, what can you do to get out in front of the competition?
Is it having your clients shop for homes $50k less than for where they are qualified to buy? Is it creating a 60-day rent back agreement in your offers?
Surely there is a way to put yourself in lesser contested conversations, make more use of your time, and better fill your basket.