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It's the height of summer produce season, and my garden is bursting. I walk smugly past the signs in
the supermarket: "Green Beans-Special $1.29 a pound". The roadside stands have them for about
$1.00 a quart, if you are lucky. My garden has them for FREE! And, as I smugly remind my husband as
we enjoy beans and other goodies, all it cost me was $1.29 for a pack of seeds. That, and some work-
roto tilling, mulching with grass clippings from the mower, watering, some Miracle Groâ--some weeding,
but I'm up to my ears in green beans, yellow beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and-my new favorite
regular tomato-"Mortgage Buster"-named, I sure, for how prolific this plant is-if you sell the
tomatoes, they'll help lift your mortgage. I don't sell my produce. I enjoy it (I graze on the cherry tomato
plant, and all I need is a salt shaker for the other tomatoes); I freeze it and I share it with friends and
neighbors. Please don't irritate me, by the way, by asking if my vegetables are 'organic'. All vegetables
are organic! If you don't believe me, see 'organic' and 'inorganic' in the dictionary. But, mine are grown
without pesticides, herbicides and other nasty things. Sandy, our yellow Lab is on constant rabbit patrol
(which is why I have beans, and my friend Barbara doesn't-the rabbits crop hers off at about 2").
So what does this have to do with real estate? Plenty! Trick question: "What's easier for a real estate agent-going out every day and reinventing the wheel by convincing total strangers that they should know you, like you, trust you and become your clients OR plucking your clients from the list of people who know you, like you, trust you, and need you again-or have a friend or relative who needs you?" Answer, if you have a pulse: "DUH!" That would be why the word 'farming' in real estate means the process of diligently tending to your past clients, and diligently working either geographical areas, social networks, a group of people who already know you, etc, etc, etc and marketing to them. Telling them you are there. Letting them know you can help with their real estate needs. Stopping by to see how great that house you sold them looks since they deep sixed the Pepto Bismalâ pink in the bathroom. Clipping out stories about their kids, and sending them with a personal note. Yes, farming is work, but the rewards are huge! But what is the state of real estate? Well, two scary things I found out during the past year. First of all, while speaking at the NAR convention, author Seth Godin stated that less than 10% of all REALTORS® contact a client after closing. At all. Ever. Not even sending the Lowe'sâ 10% off card. Some of them, who are surviving somehow, are probably wondering on occasion why those folks never came back to them. Then, while rewriting the REBACâ e-Buyer course with my friend Amy Chorew, we discovered that less than 10% of all REALTORS® have a good, clean, useable data base. We are defining, by the way, a good, clean, useable data base as one in which all the people are still alive; the phone numbers and addresses are current, and they would, if you contacted them, have a clue about who you are. So, this means, in this market, which is tough in many parts of the US, agents are choosing everyday to do things the hard way-not the easy way. I garden, because I love to. I farm, because this is my career. I've been gardening for over 30 years. Same thing for real estate. When you eat your next fresh vegetable or fresh fruit, think about me, and farming.
Melanie J. McLane, ABR, CRB, CRS, ePRO, GRI, RAA, SRES, 32 year veteran of the real estate industry. Offering training, speaking and consulting throughout the industry, I teach everything from ABR to USPAP. Certified ePRO Instructor. To contact me, email me at: melanie@TheMelanieGroup.com or visit my website: www.TheMelanieGroup.com
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