Being A 'Jack-Of-All-Trades' Will Cost You!

I recently attended a seminar, where at one point, agents were sharing which target markets they were working in and how they were doing in them.

I was shocked by many of their responses.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Most of them were naming all of the different target markets as though they were going through the alphabet......listing up to ten or more different categories that they "SPECIALIZED" in. It was incredible!

My question to them would have been, "How can you be a specialist in ALL of these areas?"

Do top brain surgeons also market themselves as a General Practioner or OB/GYN?

Do criminal attorneys also market themselves as attorneys, who specialize in intellectual property laws?

Do CPAs who handle corporate tax preparation also market to the general public, who gets a W-2 and fills out a 1040-EZ form?

What's important to understand here is that you can't be all things to all people. Also, if you think you can do it all, are you really serving your client's best interests?

Have you ever heard the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none"?

Consumers will pay more for 'specialists' than generalists.

I've seen business cards, where agents list their specialties - residential,commercial, leasing, farm property, condominiums, waterfront properties - all on the same card. Now if I got an agent's card that listed all of that, I'd be confused and wonder to myself, "Do they really know how to handle all of those different areas of real estate and how good can they really be?"

Here's a partial list of target markets many real estate agents work in:

• Referrals
• Past Clients
• Sphere of Influence
• Neighborhood Farming
• Agent Web Site
• For Sales By Owners
• Direct Mailings
• Expireds
• Corporate Relocation
• Sign And Ad Calls
• Seminars
• Social Networking
• Foreclosures and REOs

Take a moment and write down which of these target markets (or any other target markets that aren't listed here) you're currently working in to find home buyers and sellers as clients.

Now, go back 12 - 18 months and count the total number of closings you had from each target market. (Really, I'm waiting. You need to do this.)

From your list, which three are your top, income-producing, target markets?

Ok, now you've got your top three identified.

Next, write down what you did in each target market to find clients.

(Go ahead and do that now, please.)

(If you're still reading, stop and do this exercise right now. I know you're probably still reading and not doing it, because that's what I used to do. I thought I was too cool to do an exercise like this. Not doing it before cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income over my career. I do it now. )

Now, this is a critical point in this exercise.

What additional strategies can you use or do to improve your system in each target market? Go deeper than just surface stuff. Research the target market and find out what others are doing in other areas of the country and fine tune your system. Test different ways of reaching your target market. What worked last year may not work now. Test, test, test!

Also, what skill sets do you need to improve upon to increase your efficiency and effectiveness? What are your weaknesses or things you don't like to do in your business? Delegate them!

Of those target markets you're focusing on, what problems are you experiencing with making them work? Then go find the solutions!

In today's market, I believe it's better to focus on fewer target markets and become "SUPER-SPECIALIZED" in them. You'll earn more income, have a larger share of the market and have less competition.

Now go out and specialize!

To your success,

Dan

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