OK, all you non-believers out there!  There is yet more evidence that not only does selecting a niche market increase your success, but that the more extreme you go with it, the better off you are.  I have been preaching this for years, yet there is a stubborn majority out there that refuses to listen.  Or, there’s the even more guilty segment who do listen and fundamentally agree, but keep putting the decision off saying they are too busy to make changes now and other lame excuses.

My Niche Back Up Singer

Well, I’m tired of it - my voice is hoarse and my fingers numb from repetition.  So, here ya go… read this article recently posted on Inman News by Lai Saetern: Real Estate Niches Stretch from Nudists to Celebs and the follow up, Real Estate Jobs with Dogs and Logs . Lai’s articles escort us to specialty niches in every corner of the country, ranging from nudists to celebrities to military to dogs (puts a new meaning on the phrase “in the dog-house”, but hey - everyone needs a place to call home, right?).  The point of the article is to describe the extraordinary successes the agents/brokers are enjoying in these highly specialized and somewhat unusual markets.  Now, why would that be?

Oh, and by the way, two of the featured agents in these articles are students of mine.  OK, that’s enough of a rest for me, back on my soapbox for my favorite subject… 

REAL Men (and Women) DO Eat Quiche - AND Have a Niche

One of the number one reasons I hear people quip as a counter argument is “Well, that may work for some people, in a perfect world.  It would never work in my area.”  And another, “But if I limit my market, I’ll exclude so many people - think of all the business I’ll lose!” 

Well firstly, the agents in these articles are REAL people operating under the same market conditions you are, not fictional fairytale characters in a in some distant land once upon a time (though if you think about it, some of those characters would make downright horrific clients!).  And if it works in every region from Florida to New York to Texas to California to Maine, as Lai’s articles show it most certainly does, what makes you so special (or not?) that it won’t work in your neck of the woods?

And speaking of necks of woods, as you know, I travel all over the place giving my schpiel, and I have discovered that over 98% of audiences (representing over 10,000 agents per year) don’t niche!  This leaves a huge opportunity open for those who do to eliminate most of the competition out there.  Besides, you don’t actually have to select just one niche to specialize in!  If you are reluctant to, in your perspective, “limit yourself”, you can specialize in more than one niche - as long as you have separate sites for each target market.

Finally, by wrapping a targeted service brand around a niche provides you with a handy dandy automatic, and lucrative, exit strategy when you are ready to move on.

So, please, do us all a favor, and stop with the lame excuses.  Stand up with the really successful agents and get yourself a niche!

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Duh!  Seems like a self-explanatory statement, doesn’t it?  Well, yes - but there’s more to it than you think.  We all like to think that our decisions are well thought out, calmly considered, completely rational and totally logical courses of action.  But, being honest with yourself, deep down inside aren’t most of your decisions based on what you want to have happen anyway?  The emotion is what triggers the decision, and all the calm rational logic is merely justification for that course of action. 

Ruled By Emotional Decisions?

Yes, we are.  Emotional triggers apply to almost every decision we make through the day, and we are making decisions constantly.  Why did you listen to that particular cd?  Or hit the snooze button again?  Or buy Cheerios instead of Wheaties?  The snap answer is actually the truest in this case:  Because you felt like it.  As long as you have previous experience with a situation, you have an emotional basis, or what we often call a “feeling”, “hunch”, or “intuition” that triggers your decision.

Now, don’t feel defensive or foolish.  Everyone has these triggers, it is the way the human mind is wired.  In fact, the best sales people and managers in the world actually rely on these feelings (whether they know it or not).  The trick is how to access these triggers in other people so they make the decisions you want them to! 

Typical Decision Triggers

Check out this article How to Trigger a Yes Decision from Anyone by Russell Granger.  He explains amazingly well how and why these triggers do in fact work.  I won’t go into all the detail he does, but you can use this information to help you map out your personal contacts to elicit the exact decisions you desire.  The seven primary triggers Mr. Granger identifies are:

• The Friendship Trigger -  Activates trust and agreement through bonding
• The Authority Trigger - Activates acceptance through expertise
• The Consistency Trigger - Motivates consistency with past actions
• The Reciprocity Trigger - When you give, you get
• The Contrast Trigger - Structures contrasts to make one approach better than another
• The Reason Why Trigger - Emotional reasons to make decisions and actions
• The Hope Trigger - Instills positive expectations that persuade agreement

Triggering the Right Decision

Think about the circumstances under which you make contact with your target market.  How do you first introduce yourself?  What specialized information can you present to aid the customer?  How do you position your marketing approaches? What calls to action do you have on your site?  What irresistible offers do you present?  Do these things, when you are in your target market’s shoes, trigger not just AN emotional response, but THE emotional response you want to drive your business?

Probably the most important trigger you will want to focus on is The Authority Trigger.  I have been preaching for years to establish a niche market and become a recognized expert in it, and here is yet another reason why.  As Mr. Granger points out, why do you accept and fill a prescription without question from your doctor?  Because your doctor is a medical expert and you are not - you automatically trust your doctor’s authority and make the decision to accept his advice.

However, all the other decision triggers can and should be used in your customer contact strategy.  Once you make sure you are properly positioned as the regional authority within your niche, turn your attention to the rest.  If you are not good with words, are unsure how to approach the task, or just plain don’t have time, find a good virtual copywriter or marketing specialist to help you out.  Once your potential customers start making the decisions you want them to, you will get what you want, and you will be glad you did!

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Sad to say, the number of people trying to short sell their home to avoid mortgage default or foreclosure increases daily.  One may think a savvy real estate agent would look upon this situation as an opportunity to specialize in the short sell process, and garner a fair amount of business by doing so.  However, let’s take a look at the bigger picture…

The Short View on Short Sells

Basically, a short sale is a desperate measure for desperate times - for all parties involved.  The person selling their house is obviously in severe financial distress, and the lender is just looking for a way to cut their losses on a loan gone bad.  The sales prices on short sold properties are well below market value, requires a terribly complicated process, and the time involved for the deal to be completed is painfully long.  These factors combined have to make you wonder if the time you need to invest is worth the payoff.  Trying to make up for it though sheer volume will simply add the headache of tracking and maintaining all these deals to the heartache inherent in the situation.  In other words, it’s a lot of work and hassle for little return.  Wouldn’t it be better worth your time to focus on a niche that would garner less work and greater return?

The Long View Ain’t So Pretty Either

The realities of the short view on short sales aside, let’s take a look at the longer term view.  If you’re like most agents, a fairly decent percentage of business comes from either returning customers or referrals from happy clients.  Well, people who are forced to short sell their homes are neither happy, nor are they likely to be buying a home again for a long time given the hit their credit will take.

Also, although all prognostications say we have yet to hit the bottom of this mortgage crisis, the fact remains that it is ultimately a short-lived situation.  In a year or two, the market will level out again and a new normal will be established.  Short sells will be a beast of the past instead of the everyday occurrence they are now.  Where will that leave your niche, the specialty for which you are known?  You’d be coming’ up short, my friend! 

Primary vs. Secondary Niche

Now, all this is not to say you can’t glean some benefit from the current situation.  After all, most the people who have been backed into the short sell corner genuinely need the assistance of an experienced professional broker or agent to help them through this difficult time too.  There is no reason you should not be ready for the opportunity.  If you see enough value in short sells in your particular area, go ahead and develop short sales as a niche - BUT, do it as a secondary niche to your primary target market.  It would be a short-sighted mistake to rely on short sells as a long-term business strategy.

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