Stuart Smith

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this is my fourth market. Throughout the various stages of my wifes education we have moved from city to city and each time I must start building my business from scratch. As I have only sold in each city for a few years my focus has always been on the immediate sale. I did not put any effort into maintaining a relationship with my client. While working with them I know I worked hard and did my best for them, but our relationship ended when the transaction closed. I have never had repeat business.

Three and a half years ago I met the family of a young woman moving to London, ON. She was beginning her university education at the University of Western Ontario and they were considering the possibility of purchasing her a condo. I assisted them in the purchase of a $130,000 condo, explained the convenience of public transit from this location to the school etc. etc. I have never thought of them since the day that condo closed. In fact, I had completely forgotten about them.

Move forward three and a half years. I now live in Oshawa, ON, 250 km from London. I am with Re/Max when I was with Century 21 in London. I have a new website, email, phone number, city, everything. Yesterday I received a page from my new office with a name and number. I immediately call the number and a vaguely familiar voice explains that Samantha will be finishing her education next month and that they want to sell the condo. I said, "That's great, but how did you find me here?"

They explained that they were very happy with the service they received almost four years ago. They remembered my sons name and what my wife was studying. They remembered me. This family that I had forgotten, had formed a relationship with me. A relationship so strong that when told I don't work at that office anymore they asked which office I was with. When told that I no longer sell in London they asked then in which city does he sell? They were told that I am no longer with C21 and no one could tell them where I was...so they found me.

That is the best testimonial I have ever received and it has taught me a powerful lesson in maintaining relationships.

To the family that is the subject of this post, I am sorry for forgetting you. I am humbled by your loyalty to me and I promise to learn from the lesson you have taught me about the power of relationships. Thank you for remembering me, trusting me and mostly, for allowing me to refer you to another great agent in London.

10) We will work harder to protect you. We care about YOU as a friend, not just as a client.

9) We will go the extra mile for you. Christine, I will see you in London next weekend.

8) We will fight harder for you. Helping you buy a house is fun. Helping you save thousands in tough negotiations is rewarding and fun.

7) We know secrets about you already. What are a few more skeletons in the closet amongst friends.

6) We will give more to you. I will do whatever I can to help close some tough deals for friends. Burlington anyone??

5) We will be there for you long after the deal is done, because we want to, not because you are on a mailing list.

4) We trust one another already. Why enter a new relationship with a complete stranger? (And if you only remember me from highschool, I am much more mature now :)

3) We will always do what is best for you unless you suggest otherwise. Then we will take your overpriced listing, cross our fingers and enjoy the extra time we will get to spend together.

2) Because I want you to pay ME commission. I want to feed my kids and keep a roof over their heads. I want to send them to nice schools and wear new clothes. I want my wife to have everything she wants in life. I want to be able to pay all my bills on time and have some left over for charity. I want to say thank you for choosing me, when you could have chosen anyone.

1) We will work harder overall. We need you to tell our friends that they should use us too. We know that you are trusting us with the biggest purchase or sale you will ever make and we don't want to let poor decisions or lazy behaviour affect our relationship. Friends ALWAYS work harder than strangers, or they aren't good friends to begin with.

Friends...CHOOSE STU!!! To those that have...Thanks. To those that didn't...I meant it when I said I understood. I really do. To those that may or may not...read this list. It could cost you thousands of dollars to choose someone else. There is nothing you can tell me, nothing so personal, that you can not trust me to keep secret. After all, we are friends and that is what friends do for each other.

We all know the expression "think outside the box" but how many of us ever do? We advertise in the same publications and fight for the bus stop bench space when it becomes available but with so many people doing the same things, how do you standout?

We use creative "unique" slogans or catchphrases that all sound alike. We buy domain names for template websites that all look and sound alike (www.insertlocationhomesforsale,com). We are a dime a dozen. For most of you referral business and name recognition are the lifeblood of the industry, but for those of us still building our business, how do we set ourselves apart. What do we do to make our name recognizable.

This is my fourth market. My fourth time building my business from scratch. We have been moving from university town to university town. Finally, now that my wife has finished her university education and I can focus on a long-term relationship with clients, I can use what I have learned over the years to build a sustainable business. But what have I done to succeed (she is a PhD with no student debt) in 3 previous markets where I didn't know a soul when I started. I manipulated the media.

Every media outlet needs stories and if you can provide them, they will print or air them. I have never been in a market where the content and advertising fill the paper perfectly. I see it as my challenge to find and create content that they can use to fill that space.

Let me be clear. I do not spend any money on print advertising. I do not buy bus bench ads. I have not sent mailers, calendars, pens or any other promotional material. This may change as I am more focused on repeat and referral business.

I create news and I am always the headline. And sometimes the news is barely news, but it gets in the paper. This Halloween, for example, I carved pumpkins for an Open House. If I hadn't sent photos to the media my six hours of time and $15 worth of pumpkins would have been viewed by less than 20 people. Instead, my photos were published in 2 local papers with a readership of over 50,000 each. These were my pumpkins and the photo that appeared.

.This year I decided to gift-wrap the home that I sold closest to Christmas. It has so far been seen in print in the Toronto Star, Canada's most read daily newspaper, Metro News, with over 1 million daily readers, Oshawa This Week and SNAP Oshawa. Tonight it was seen on CTV national news by colleagues I worked with over 400 kms away and by thousands here in my city. Video content was also posted at http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/144414 My total cost...$25.

So think outside the box. Be creative and build name recognition quickly, with very little money. My exposure this year is valued at well over $50,000 and I have spent less than $100 to achieve that.

Please reply and share your ideas and feel free to steal mine. I would love to know how they work for you.

Why use one Realtor when you can CHOOSE STU!!!

I wish you all good luck in 2010.

Stuart.

The Month of December.

This time, every year, millions of Canadians cram the malls looking for the perfect gift for the ones they love. They dip into their savings and spend more than they had intended to. Stockings are lovingly filled with useless trinkets. The tree is lifted off the ground by the sheer volume of carefully wrapped presents. The dinner table displays a massive turkey with all the fixin’s. It is the greatest holiday of the year. Families come together. Children squeal with delight. Presents, which took hours of patient care to wrap, are opened in the blink of an eye. Paper is strewn around the room, impossibly difficult packaging is finally forced open and batteries are inserted into toys and games. Giant flat screen tv’s are mounted on the wall and new jewellery is tried on. This is the exact moment that the new Christmas puppy has his first accident on the floor.

The Month of March

Winters grip on our lives is finally breaking. Spring has sprung and we can’t wait to get out of the house. Ironically, we also can’t wait to get into a house at this time of year as well. The real estate newspapers are snatched off the shelves as families begin the annual hunt for the perfect home. But that perfect home is always $20,000 more expensive than the mortgage we are able to attain. Weekends are consumed by going to open houses and preparing our homes for sale.

Then IT appears. The perfect house on the perfect street. Best of all, we can afford it. We call the number on the For Sale sign and ask for an immediate showing. We arrive and have to wait in the car for 5 minutes as a young couple is touring the home and will be done soon. When we finally get into the home we see the small collection of business cards on the counter. “Didn’t this house just get listed yesterday?” we think to ourselves. What a home. There is no question that we will be making an offer, but for how much? We contact our sales representative and are informed that there are already two other offers on the property. In the end, we lose the house and have to start again.

The Greatest Gift

What if, instead of blowing all of your savings on Christmas presents, you decided to invest in a home and make that the present you give to your family? How would the previous scenario change?

1) By saving $1,000 on Christmas gifts you are increasing the amount you can afford to spend on a home by $20,000 if you get a 5% down CMHC guaranteed loan.

2) The number of people competing against you for the perfect home is greatly decreased as is the risk of losing a bidding war.

3) As demand is low at Christmas it is typically a buyers market and you can aggressively negotiate for a better price.

4) Associated businesses such as movers will compete for your business at this time of year for the same reasons.

Sure, the bottom of the Christmas tree may be bare, but the tree is now 6 feet taller thanks to your new cathedral ceilings.

It is not too late to return the presents you have already purchased. In fact, if you buy a home before Christmas with me, I will personally gift-wrap your home. Think about it, and then give me a call.

Stuart Smith

(905) 728-1600

stuart@stuartsmith.ca

Only 400 home sales to go to reach my target of donating $100,000 to the Breast Cancer Foundation in 2009.