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Last May I started a monthly Girls lunch get together and right now have about 40 women in the group. The purpose was to make new friends, try new restaurants etc...but also to network. I do have two other agents in the group but only because they work in another part of the county. I did not invite anyone from my company because I didn't want any possible conflict.
I occasionally go to the local Chamber of Commerce after hours parties. I go with a friend that's not a Realtor, so I don't try to compete with anyone.
I do have friends in the business but we usually will go to real estate events together or maybe lunch.
If I had a party and invited friends that are agents and they handed out cards, I think that would be like stabbing me in the back being they know I'm an agent and depend on my contacts.
Rapture, I believe there is a difference between networking ( girls lunch out with professional women) and socializing (my friends coming over to play poker). Don't get me wrong, I will do business with both.... but one is serious fun and the other is seriously fun...
Realtors are different then funeral directors and dentists.... if you are in a fellow Realtor's house, respect the turf.
If your guest is asked about real estate by a fellow party-goer, then the guest should say "Mary works for XYZ Realty." Will they? Most won't.
If I was at a party at a fellow Realtor's home and there was a general discussion about plasma TVs, and a guest came to me and said "You said you were looking for a TV, I work for Best Buy, give me a call," I would not find that inappropriate.
If a guest said "If you are interested in selling, call me.. I work for ABC Realty," I would think this was wrong.
If I was at a party at a fellow Realtor's home and there was a general discussion about plasma TVs, and a guest came to me and said "You said you were looking for a TV, I work for Best Buy, give me a call," I would not find that inappropriate.
Ah, but if the host worked at Circuit City, is it appropriate for the Best Buy guy to flip the guest, his business card?
I just got an invitation to a Client Appreciation party. It is being hosted by a Realtor in my office...she and I had a transaction a few years ago when I was at another office...and when I recently switched she approached me with the idea that we might be a good fit to refer business to each other when we needed help (I love the optimism!)
My family and I will go and I'm sure have a great time - but its HER party! To be successful in this business you have to build solid relationships - and have people that you can trust. If she didn't think she could trust me, I don't think I'd have received the invitation...and if I betray that trust its gone and so is the future of a mutually beneficial relationship. I'm leaving my business cards in the car...and I'll be nothing but a friend of the host doing my best to talk her up positively with her clients.
Wow, in Austin we don't think about any of this. Many of our friends are Realtors. I've never thought in terms of "turf" or anything like that. I'm not even sure how to answer, because the question is entirely outside of my thought process.
Hmmm...
But I guess if I was at a Realtor friend's party, and a stranger asked me what I do, I'd say "I sell real estate", and the conversation would progress the same as it would in other other setting. It would not occur to me to hold back, or bow out, or defer to someone else because of "turf". That's really, really silly.
If it turns out the person I met was my friends Uncle, and I listed his house the next weekend, and my friend griped about it, I'd tell him to stop being shallow and I'd ask why his marketing and relationship efforts were so poor that his own Uncle would find and hire another Realtor at his party. I'd ask when the last time was that he took his Uncle out for lunch, or reminded him that he sells real estate. In other words, all of the questions that would need answering would be my friend's to answer, not mine.
Wow, Steve, that's definitely another perspective. Is this a Texas attitude?
It sounds fresh to me. I'm a little old fashioned and still stick to unwritten rules such as "You go home from the party with whoever brought you" and "You never date your best friend's ex" etc.
Wow, Steve, that's definitely another perspective. Is this a Texas attitude?
I don't know. Like I said, it simply never comes up and I've never heard it discussed like this. It's not something I even think about, except in this post.
It does sound to me like some agents think they have "dibs" on certain prospective clients. I'd feel rather insulted if I knew I was taken for granted in that way by someone, just because they market to me or invite me to a party.
And if one of my prospects lists with another agent I know, even if they met at my party, I certainly don't feel any resentment toward either of them. Sorry if I'm missing something here, but I don't own my friends and they don't owe me anything.
I guess to me the difference is, if I am having some friends and clients over for barbque in my backyard, and you specifically started marketing to them. First, regardless of what business I was in, I would find that behaviour to be boorish and in bad taste. And to add insult to injury, you did it with my client!!!!
However, if my client sought you out at the social fuction, and asked you what you did, and you replied, and they asked for additional information from you, I would think you would answer him : ) I would.
does that make sense?
Shelly
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