Monday, October 25, 2010

Big Versus small



In today's world it seems people keep thinking with the Big Box mentality. Some think Big is better. Sometimes Big is better! Sometimes you can get a better price when you order in large quantities. Sometimes a large company can out do a smaller company on price because of shear volume.

In Real Estate this is not the case. In fact the larger the company the more expensive it will be to work with them. Usually when I pay top dollar for something I want the best quality or the best service. There are a few industries that have been able to duplicate their service or product in such a way that they can deliver the best quality and service while continuing to grow to enormous sizes.

The hotel and entertainment industry such as Disney, Harrahs and Marriott come to my mind as symbols of large companies that have been able to keep quality and service while becoming huge entities.

Real Estate service can not simply be duplicated because of the enormous emotions that go into a purchase or sale. I've trained some really great agents when I have been in management roles. Everyone always adds their unique personality. Most of those really great agents are also no longer selling real estate because of the emotional and financial roller coaster they found this business to be.

I guess you can say I'm a little fish in a big pond and that suites me just fine. Like the big box company you don't see my sign on every other street. I don't tend to have my houses on the market forever either. If a seller will actually listen to me, we will get the house sold.

The other Advantage (love that word) is I can change my marketing strategy. The big box real estate companies have what I call a broad marketing campaign. Every house gets put on that campaign. The only way something different happens is if the agent is willing to pay extra money on top of what they are paying the big company already for the broad based marketing campaign.

Evey home is unique. With the internet I can get a home in front of the right buyer by being extremely internet savvy. I am constantly learning new tricks to stay on top of this ever changing technology. A large company can't do this. Have you ever seen a real estate listing on line without a picture? You will never see one of my listings on line with out a picture. That is just a small example of quality and service you can expect with a little fish in a big pond!

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