Specialists and Generalists
(Part 1 of a 3-part series – parts 2 and 3 will run on the next two Mondays.)
Real estate has always been an industry where specialists and generalists could both be successful. Half of the standard advice out there centers around “becoming the specialist in a niche so people looking to buy or sell within that niche will come to you.” The other half of the standard advice goes something like “get out there and talk to everybody – find the people who need to buy or sell, and then take care of them.”
The internet has had a profound effect in this regard. Consumers have become more educated about real estate than at any other time in history, and they can do an enormous amount of research before even picking up the phone. Realtors have become more able to share their knowledge & expertise – faster, to a wider audience, and for less money than ever before.
The question then becomes, what are the affects of this changing consumer/Realtor relationship, and what can you do about it?
| * Harvest Point * |
The current trend is actually magnifying the age-old advice. You can be a specialist, or you can be a generalist. You need to define who you are, become obsessively dedicated to it, and market yourself as such. What you can’t do is get caught in the middle – the market for Realtors who know something about most areas, but sort of focus in one particular neighborhood, but are willing to help out in a different area, etc. – is disappearing, quickly.
This is especially true in metropolitan areas like Phoenix; a city with more than 20 different mostly homogenous suburb-cities strung together, 75 miles from corner to corner, encompassing all different types of housing and neighborhoods.
In the next two weeks I’m going to outline some ideas for the specialists and generalists, and how each has an opportunity to succeed like never before. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic – please feel free to comment below or shoot me an email.
Update:
Part 2: Specialists - become THE authority
Part 3: Generalists - be a concierge
Posted: October 20th, 2008 under Business Planning.