Farming: Why & What

As a new agent, one of the most common activities that we are taught to do is to establish a “farm”.  Although “farming” is commonly recognized as one of the most effective activities that you can do to obtain listings, very few agents are actually establishing one, and if they are, many are not consistent or patient enough to continue the activity long enough to reap the rewards.

Before I go any further into this topic, let me first explain how I would define a “farm”.  To put it into basic  terms, it is any designated area or group of people that an agent has decided to target for the purpose of building-up a long-term book of business  (the key here being “long term” hence the term “farming”).  Most successful agents have farms that they work.  The two most common types of farms are listing (geographic) farms and SOI (sphere of influence) farms. 

In a geographic farm, the agent will target a specific location to designate for farming.  The agent will then make a concerted effort to become known as the “neighborhood specialist” in that area by sending out correspondence on a regular basis to this farm area.  An example of an effective piece of farming mail would be providing current neighborhood news.  This marketing material might contain things like “neighborhood yard sale this weekend” or this home recently sold, this home recently went on the market, etc.  Due to the nature of geographic farming, many agents will make their own neighborhood their first geographic farm.    

Another effective way to make an impact in your geographic farm area is to get involved within the community (if possible).  If there is a homeowners association, try to get on the board.   Volunteer for opportunities within the community, head-up charitable activities such as blood drives or “dumpster days” where the community provides are large dumpster to help everyone clean-up their yards and the local community.    Another idea is to create a community Facebook page as a means to unite the community and keep everyone up-to-date on neighborhood activities.

These activities are a win-win, they show that you are concerned for your local community and bring you into contact with the residents in the context of working for the common good of your neighborhood!

With an SOI farm, you would be marketing to people who already know you or at least know of you in some capacity.    With this group of people, you can stay in touch with them through a variety of modes.  Since you do know them, you may have an e-mail address or a telephone number for them which can expand your communication options. 

Examples of ways to reach out to an SOI farm include drip e-mail campaigns, postcards, phone calls and social networking sites like Facebook.  The goal in reaching out to your SOI is to get them to think of you as the go-to person for any and all things “Real Estate”.  It sounds simple, but many agents have found that unless they continue to put themselves in-front of these people and remind them on a regular basis that they are a professional Real Estate salesperson, some of these people may continue to think of you as “that cousin who dabbles in Real Estate” or worse yet, completely forget that you are in the business at all!

Whatever type of farm you choose to cultivate, they key is consistency.  One of my favorite Real Estate trainers, Brian Buffini, has a great saying “work like a hunter, think like a farmer”.    In order to be truly effective, you should commit to a minimum of 6 contacts per year.   These contacts can be any of the modes previously discussed but again, the contacts must be made on a consistent basis.

As an agent, more than likely your business will ebb and flow.  It is not uncommon for an agent to have a month or two with no settlements and then 3 closings in one month.  This is due to the fact that many agents don’t have an automatic marketing system in place to reach out to prospects, even when they are too busy to do it themselves.   

At WEICHERT, we have the tools and resources available to make putting an automatic system in place easy.    With programs such as 8 Touches and WEICHERT I-mail, and Birdview for e-mail campaigns, you can set it and forget it!  To get started on your farm or to find out more about Weichert’s proven marketing systems, contact Kathy Huver @ 410-381-3331, ext. 103 or email.