Hello everyone!

It's been a while since my last post here...

I would like to find a few brokers - not traditional ones, that is, ones that demand that their salespersons hold open houses, take floor time, farm geographically, spend a small fortune on advertising and self-promotion gimmicks, etc. - BUT brokers supportive of aggressive prospecting on the part of their agents as the primary strategy to generate sales. My personality is ideal for this type of prospecting and I do not want to waste my time and efforts on the other less proactive strategies mentioned above.

Unfortunately, most brokers I've talked to so far seem more than a bit shy when they hear an agent talk about direct prospecting (knocking on doors in neighborhoods, etc.) and about treating his business just like any other type of business, that is, with a focus on profitability.

What's the best way to locate the brokers I'm looking for in my area? I tried contacting the Ferry Organization (Mike Ferry is a trainer advocating just the type of prospecting I intend to do) on a couple of instances, explaining I'd like to locate a few brokerages in my area supportive of Mike's approach to sales, but no one there cared to return my messages...

Thank you all,
Ray

So, no one here with an aggressive prospecting approach to obtaining listings?!?

How did you go about finding a suitable broker?

Ray

My broker doesnt't care how I get my business. She provides me the opportunity to do the traditional stuff, but I don't have to. I suspect your broker wouldn't care either, as long as it was ethical and above-board.

However, I have found that most brokers are turned off by what they may see as overconfidence,simply because those are the people who make the mistakes they have to clean up behind. And if you worded your approach to them as you did in the two above posts ... it might make them a bit nervous.

Of course, also bear in mind that I'm in the South. Attitudes in California might be different.

You sould like the kind of agent that most people would want to hire.

As a Realtor you are self employed, I cannot imagine why a Broker would frown upon your ideas.

Take that "knocking on doors" attitude of yours and go knock on broker's doors!

Talk to them - interview ALL of them (it's never a waste of time to grill as many brokers as possible about their brokerage/business practices).

Other than that, talk to other agents in your area and ask them. I don't think there's any short-cut to it...just one foot in front of the other until you find the right fit!

re deeds --- which part of the LA basin?

You would be a welcomed addition to the company I work for, but we're in the Bay Area. There are about 12 agents in my office who are in MFO 1-on-1 including myself, a few others who follow the system, and the broker/manager is also in the management coaching. The support is great and the intensity level in our office is amazing. The broker turned a big section of our office into a prospecting room, with 12 stations, all high desks (no chairs), with a phone/headset, nothing else. The environment really helps and pushes you to hit your goals.

CarolinaSongbird: In my post I tried to be as direct and specific as possible, as concisevely as possible, and I understand how that might have come across as overconfidence...

Auburn CA: Well, self-employed yes, but the broker is still liable to a certain degree for his salespersons' behaviors. Also, I find that some brokers view the real estate business differently than most businesspersons... in that they feel above going out and prospecting for sales... they'd rather have people calling their agents in response to ads, signs, etc., but not to have their agents go out and get business as effective salespersons usually do.
It's an image thing, I think. It does not make much sense from a business/profitability standpoint, but it's clearly out there, in my experience.

ManFromTheBand: Well said, and that's good advice. Thanks.

staggart: West LA area... Why do you ask?

Thank you all,
Ray

Lucky you to be in such environment...

Excellence in selling is mostly about maintaining the proper mental attitude and getting constructive feedback constantly. It's great to have such a support from your office.

I'm looking for a similar type of situation here in LA.

Ray

One of the agents in our office is under Ferry's personal care, and yet, she does not do any more business than anyone else in the area. And guess what she organized a holiday pumkin give away.
And to be honest unless we are all doing something we should not do, our broker ( and the managers) pretty much leave it to us to work the way we see fit.

In the LA basin there are a host of companies. Most are fairly focused geographically. Can you be yet even a bit more specific?

I personally know about a half a dozen companies in the area. But each services a cluster of communities.

Well, each agent is in a way unique, and not all personality traits work optimally with a certain type of approach to do business... What works wonderfully for one agent may turn out to be another agent's demise. The bottom line is that all starts with the individual, not with some technique or other, in my opinion.

Beverly Hills area...

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by she is under Ferry's personal care, but I've met people who are in the 1-on-1 system who are only using 20% of the things he teaches and are doing 20-30 deals a yr. I've also met people who are using 20% of the material and are doing 50-75 deals a year. It's different for everybody. There's no magic pill, just because you use any system, whether it be Mike Ferry, Brian Buffini, Craig Proctor, ect, doesn't mean you will do everything they teach, and it doesn't mean you will be a success story overnight.

Yep, Done Deal, those are the two most important factors: first of all, is the person *actually* applying the techniques being taught? And secondly, are they applying them properly, in the sense of, do they possess the attitudes, personality traits, tact, etc. needed for properly putting those techniques to work?
Results obtained vary accordingly...

staggart --- so "Beverly Hills" sounds no bells at all?
... or is it you just fancied to know where I was from?

Ray ---

Sorry. Hadn't seen the response. I've gone through my cards. I don't have anyone there.

Fair enough... Thank you for trying, though.