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At the heart of any real estate growth strategy, you need a solid training program.  A lot of agents don’t include training as a part of their marketing strategy and I’m sure people are asking why I’m talking about training on a real estate marketing blog.  If we define marketing as the way you connect with and develop your customer base, it becomes pretty clear that in the people-oriented work of real estate, training is the ultimate marketing tool.

I’m interested in how training can help you build your brand by getting more advertising and exposure for your office.  There are plenty of experts out to help you train salespeople on closing listings, but I find that most agents don’t have formal training for the selling of marketing material.  Selling marketing is often more difficult than getting the listing.  The successful sales person first needs to be able to convince the vendor to spend 2-3% on commission, then needs to ask for an additional 1% for marketing the property.  Many vendors simply refuse to do any marketing except the internet listing and a board. 

Or do they?  I find that many agents spend years mastering the art of closing the listing, but spend virtually no time on the sales process for marketing.  They tackle the marketing section of the sale by throwing down a proposed advertising schedule and they simple start to cross items off it as the vendor questions each item.  I believe that agents need to develop a comprehensive and sophisticated sales philosophy to explain to vendors why spending $5,000 – $20,000 on marketing will help them get a higher price for their home. 

I’ve got a few ideas on the subject that I’d like to share with you in the next few days, stay tuned.