I know what I am suggesting appears to fly in the face of the inherent secrecy within the real estate community, but real estate agents should connect with each other on Facebook. Yes, I know that you are friends with your clients on Facebook and you fear that I am going to sift through your Facebook friends in the middle of the night to ferret out a prospect or two. But, you must realize that 99% of Realtors respect your agent/client relationship…and the rest of us are too busy to spend that kind of time sorting through your beer guzzling college pals and funny looking cousins from Arkansas for a client (only kidding).
Hear me out – Facebook presents real estate agents with one of the most powerful free tools available to our industry – the power to network outside of our normal purview. Let me give you an example: last month I reconnected with a past client who wants to acquire several Burger Kings in the Northeastern United States. Clearly, I am a real estate broker in Nashville and have no knowledge of real estate, let alone, Burger King availability in New York or Pennsylvania, so I post the following status update: “I have a Burger King approved franchisee who would like to purchase 5-10 existing locations in the Northeast USA. Will need 2 years of P&L statements. Serious buyer.” You can probably guess the rest of the story, but I’ll tell you anyway. A commercial broker in Philly responds with her phone number and asks me to call. I pick up the phone and whammo, I am now working a several million dollar purchase that I NEVER would have had access to without Facebook.
Facebook can be a Realtor’s Best Friend
Granted, not every real estate agent’s primary use of Facebook is for business, but there are tens of thousands that do and I suggest that you friend them immediately. While you may never need a commercial broker in Philly or an ultra luxury specialist in Maui, you also never know where your next deal or referral may lead you.
Start the day off right, connect with me on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Nashville
While you’re at it, considering connecting with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/granthammond
Oh, and what the hey, how about a little Twitter action too: http://www.twitter.com/GrantHammond
