GETTING HIGH NET WORTH CLIENTS
It has been established that one of the greatest challenges of dealing with Luxury/ultra-luxury properties is finding right clients to either lease of sell to. When I got into the real estate sector, this was my greatest obstacle, and for about a year plus I struggled with this as well. I was fortunate enough to get a company that would trust me to market their properties but I couldn’t close any deal for a long while. I mean, I tried to but it just didn’t happen. I remember clearly, the MD of that Company calling me and telling me how disappointed he was in me. He told me he had really high hopes for me but he has realized he made a mistake. I was devastated by these words but somehow, I managed to convince him to give me another chance. This time, I was going to get it right no matter what I had to do.
My start-up was awkward and stressful to say the least but it doesn’t have to be that way for you if you’re willing to consider and follow the following tips:
1.) Be Strategic: You need to understand your ideal prospects. It is extremely important that you know who they are, their lifestyle, their income bracket (i.e. annual income of at least $200, 000 and above for near luxury clients, $400, 000 and above for luxury products prospects and $1 Million and above for ultra-luxury clients), their likes and dislikes (they are usually very principled people and they’ll that you’re discrete in your dealings with them) and so on.
You can’t go after people you don’t know and you can’t really know them unless you take your time to study them.
Once you have done this, you need a strategy on how to meet them on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It’s too time and energy consuming running from pillar to post, so you need to target prospect.
2.) Set Goals: Once you have a strategy, the next thing to do is set goals. Set realistic targets for yourself on how many prospects you want to meet on a weekly basis and keep to it. Assess yourself after every week to see where you are lacking behind and make amends. The truth is, in order to make a sale; you would probably have to talk to like 20 prospects. So, you can’t relent, you have to keep making new contacts.
3.) Know Your Product: Learn everything there is to learn about the properties you’re marketing as well as what the competitors are doing. You don’t want a situation where your prospect knows more than you do about your industry (believe me, these guys are very knowledgeable). I’ve been in situations like this before and they can be very embarrassing. Also, because high net individuals are always very busy, you have a very limited time to make a good impression of yourself to them. Once they feel you’re wasting their time, forget about that transaction. It won’t work. So, prepare yourself adequately before going in for meetings or presentations with them.
4.) Network: You need to really network. I understand that you may be the quiet type who doesn’t like to go out and meet people but if you want to succeed in real estate, you have to adjust and adapt. I’m a naturally very quiet person myself but I had to change so I can excel. Meet agents and facilities managers or procurement managers of multinational firms (anyone in charge of handling corporate leases), socialize (physically and on-line) and while you do, tell more and more people about what you do. The more you do this, the more you’re known.
5.) Form Strong Alliances: This is one of the greatest secrets to survival in the real estate world. You need to identify individual and companies who have similar real estate goals as you and for a symbiotic relationship with them. For instance, I work with some bankers under this arrangement. They want to sell their mortgage packages to their clients but want to ensure that the client makes a safe and profitable real estate investment so the mortgage doesn’t go bad. To ensure this, they come to me. I get to sell and they provide the mortgage. All parties including the buyer get what we want.
6.) Set up an Online Marketing Platform: Since you can only reach a very limited number of clients physically, it’s only logical that you set up a platform that gives you the possibility of reaching the whole world in no time at all. You can set up a tweeter handle, Facebook page, website, blog or use any effective social media platform for this purpose. It saves you time, energy and lots of money. In addition, you’re not limited by time and space.
7.) Be Positive: Sometimes, I must admit, real estate can be very frustrating. When don’t close transactions for a while and your bills keep piling up, you feel like quitting. Things can get really though at times but you can give up. Remember, no pain, no gain. At times like this, encourage yourself and keep a positive attitude. Things will get better in no time, just relax and don’t put too much stress on yourself. Just make sure your processes are in order and with time, you get back to winning ways.
If you consistently follow the steps given above, I can guarantee you success in your real estate endeavor on any level of your choosing. So, good luck.
