Are You a “Jack/Jill of All Trades” or a “Niche Ninja”?
Have you ever had a fellow agent hand you a business card that reads something like this:
Stacy Smith, Realtor®
Specializing in – Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Raw Land, Retail,
Sales, Leasing, Property Management, Short-Sales, Foreclosures
I have a question for you. Was this person likely an actual specialist in all, if any, of these niches, or was the more likely reality that this person was mediocre in one or two of these areas, and downright dangerous in the rest? Do they give off the vibe of a top-tier professional at the top of their game, or of a hack looking to make a buck of off whatever they can get? Let me clue you in to something, which I’m sure you intuitively know in your heart-of-hearts — a true specialist SPECIALIZES!
A real specialist concentrates in, for example, “Residential Sales.” They spend all of their time learning about and working on residential sales. They focus on becoming true sales SPECIALISTS, and they don’t get bogged down messing around with leasing, or trying to manage a handful of properties. These are the true professionals.
When you meet a genuine specialist, you can tell within 30-seconds of starting a conversation that they know their stuff and have put in the time. You can take whatever they’re telling you to the bank. In contrast, you can just as quickly spot the jack-of-all-trades “specialist” within 30-seconds of their trying to be whatever it is they think you want them to be.
*Whooo Are You (Who, Who, Who, Who — I really want to know!)
If you are a residential sales specialist, then you specialize in residential sales. You keep abreast of residential mortgage rates, the neighborhoods you choose to work in, which attorneys are “deal-doers” and which are “deal-breakers,” what’s hot and what’s not, and you have a pool of trusted referral resources for your clients, resources who are experts in the areas that you are not.
For example, you don’t do mortgages — you have a trusted mortgage partner to whom you refer your clients because you know they’ll get the deal done for you and preserve and enhance your client relationships. You don’t do inspections — you have a trusted inspection partner who you trust to look out for your clients’ best interests without nit-picking a property to death and killing the sale.
In short, you are a true specialist, and your expertise is readily apparent to all with whom you come into contact.
How a Property Management Specialist Can Help Grow Your Sales Business
Partnering with the right property management referral partner can enhance your business in three ways:
- Professional pre-sale assistance and advice to your clients that helps you secure the sale:
When you partner with a professional property manager, they have your back when your client contemplates the purchase of an investment property. Your property management referral partner can provide rental market data and expertise that may not be as readily available to you as a sales agent. Your property management partner will work with you to reassure your clients that their purchase makes sense as a rental, and they can make recommendations to help ensure a smooth transaction for you. - Generous property management referral fees:
As a sales agent, you expect to receive a referral fee for closed business when you refer a client to an outside sales agent. You should have the same expectation when you refer a rental property owner to a property manager. Click here for an example of a generous property management referral fee structure. - An enhanced reputation, which leads to more referrals and more sales:
By referring your clients to a professional property manager who satisfies their long-term property management needs, you enhance your own reputation, which increases the odds that they’ll buy additional rental properties through you (thus increasing your future sales commissions and management referral fees) as well as recommending you to their friends, family, and associates.
As you can see, partnering with the right property management referral partner makes good sense for your business.
A Referral Partner I Encourage You to Consider
I’m John Michailidis, Broker/Owner of Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee and if you don’t already have a satisfying property management referral partner relationship, I’d be happy to speak with you to see if you think we’ll be a good fit.
With thirty years in real estate, both on the sales and property management sides of the business, I’ve been in your shoes, and I understand what’s important to you. Your reputation is the most important thing to you, and I know you don’t want to turn your clients over to a property manager who’s going to throw you under the bus when that client decides to sell. Your clients remain your clients and are tagged as such, so when it’s time for them to sell, they get referred back to you.
As a U.S. Army veteran (Paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division) and a licensed attorney (Graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, and a licensed member of the Illinois bar) I’ve instilled my team with the importance of attention to detail and always doing what we say we’re going to do. My team and I understand that both your reputation and ours stands on the quality of the service we provide to our clients. We truly put customer service first, and our reviews and reputation from both owners and tenants back us up on that.
Finally, as the 2018-2019 President-Elect, and 2020-2021 President of the Sarasota/Bradenton chapter, N.A.R.P.M. (National Association of Residential Property Managers) I am heavily involved in helping to improve the quality and standards of our local property management community. I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, when it comes to walking my talk regarding the importance of high standards of excellence in property management. I look forward to speaking with you, and I can be reached at 941-225-8185.
*Any Sarasota, Venice, North Port area real estate agent who gets the reference and calls me with the right answer, gets lunch with me (my treat) at P.F. Chang’s in Sarasota!
John Michailidis, GRI, JD | Broker/Owner, Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee, 941-225-8185.
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