Tip: Use a team car as a rolling billboard to drive clients to and from showings.
A support group helped Ashley Spurlock more than double her sales volume, from $2.7 million in 2000 to $5.7 million in 2001.
Spurlock, a sales associate with Locations Real Estate Group Inc. in Baton Rouge, La., attended a seminar in January 2001. But it was the people she met, more than the content of the session, that made the difference for her business. Many of the attendees were mid-career professionals, so the young people in the audience were drawn to each other, she says. The new friends connected as they described their experiences and frustrations of being young and fairly new to the business. “It was as if we were kindred spirits.”
The group decided to keep in touch, despite living in different corners of the United States. “There are people from Chicago, Arizona, Dallas, and Minneapolis. We use e-mail to share ideas, marketing and selling tips, and daily concerns,” Spurlock says.
One member shared his idea to use sign riders stating how low a monthly mortgage could be on a house. “A lot of potential clients call about those,” Spurlock says. The group members also keep one another motivated. “They help me remember I’m not the only young salesperson in this business.”