Don’t ask how, but earlier today I came across a post on letter writing at ArtofManliness.com. (Let it be…) You must understand, I’ve been surrounded by technology and electronic communication for most of my adult life. I am very connected. The fact is, I feel I’m too connected. But not for real.

Like any good businessman, I’m always on the lookout for process efficiency. For years, I’ve investigated services that facilitate, or even automate, communication. As a Realtor, the most important thing I do is communicate and interact with my friends, clients, and prospects. Not surprisingly, there are legions of salespeople and vendors pitching me about how their product will save me from the arduous task of personally attending to all those that I ought to be routinely engaging with.

The problem is, these products and techniques promote the worst kind of mediocrity; that which attempts to commoditize my treasured relationships and turn them into mere contacts. To my mind, squandering the goodwill of one’s social network by applying a “Dear {FirstName},” drip campaign is not only lame, its disrespectful. However, we agents are trained to do it because, unfortunately, it works. And because anyone can do it.

Well, I’ve never been particularly attracted to work that anyone can do and I don’t pitch my friends. The names in my address book represent my most prized relationships and I’ll much sooner neglect them than abuse them. Nevertheless, I work hard to stay connected with these people, though I have plenty of room for improvement. In fact, I’d love to meet with each one of them frequently and stay caught up with all that’s happening in their lives, but I just don’t have the time to do it. Consequently, I do need to be systematic in my efforts to remain in touch and to make sure that I at least check in with everyone periodically. And the post I referred to earlier reminded me that even if I don’t have the luxury of meeting face-to-face with my friends as often as I’d like…

…sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door. Ink from your pen touches the stationary, your fingers touch the paper, your saliva seals the envelope. Something tangible from your world travels through machines and hands, and deposits itself in another’s mailbox. Your letter is then carried inside as an invited guest. The paper that was sitting on your desk, now sits on another’s. The recipient handles the paper that you handled. Letters create a connection that modern, impersonal forms of communication will never approach.

Now, where is that fountain pen?

Click image for larger version –  Click here for printable PDF

I’d say the bottom line is something that most of us already know: A long-term focused effort on a single niche market can provide much more stable business with exponentially higher ROI than a scattershot approach will. Every effort, every success, every activity increases an agent’s visiblility and market command. And since it takes 6-9 impressions before most people start to take notice, an agent hasn’t got time to spare.

Of course, every market is different, so you’ll need to be the judge of whether it’s more likely that you’ll need to get 5% of a $40M neighborhood or 10% of a $20M community. In any case, you’ll probably not want to go head-to-head with area’s mega-agent with a monster budget. Don’t worry, with a little research, you should be able to find an undermarketed neighborhood that has enough charm, value, and turnover where you can quickly establish yourself as the best source of information and the trusted real estate resource for the community.

What do you think? Does this model fit with what you’ve seen?

theodor seuss geisel

Many agents, but especially newer agents, try very hard to be all things to all people for fear of offending someone, anyone, who might want to use them as a Realtor someday. In truth, this is frequently nothing but a “fake it ’til you make it” routine and nobody is fooled by it. People quickly surmise that the agent is after any warm body they can fast-talk into working with them. And they’re right. Furthermore, why should anyone submit themselves to be represented by an agent who doesn’t really care about them beyond what it takes to make a commission?

The irony is that most people want to work with people they like. If an agent is guarded and inauthentic while making her pitch, the person they are trying to impress is unlikely to want to hire her. I firmly believe an agent’s best marketing plan is turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers. (Seth Godin made this simple tagline famous in his wonderful book: Permission Marketing.) Friends will give you the latitude to be imperfect because they believe you honestly want what is best for them. And they’re right again.

If you’ve read The Millionaire Real Estate Agent you’ll recognize this as the directive to convert your “Haven’t Met” group into your “Met” group while you convert the “Met” group into your “Advocates.”

So take the risk to show your true colors to the people you meet. Be yourself, rather than a characature of a “real estate professional.” If they like you, chances are they would enjoy working with you. If they don’t like you, then why would you want to work with them anyway? Besides sharing an unpleasant time, would you really give them the same level of service you would give to a friend? If your answer is “no” then I think the most ethical thing to do is to refer them to an agent or two who you think they might work well with.

In summary: Stay true to yourself, make friends with people you think you’d enjoy working with, and do the right thing. And one more thing — Be obsessive about your niche.