Mary Edna is a producing agent and the Broker/ Owner of her company. Raleigh’s population is 328,880 and Wake County is 713,139. The average sales price in the area is $200,000 while her average sales price is $380,000. She has been in the real estate business since 1986 and seventy-five to eighty percent of Mary Edna’s business is repeat and referral.
Last year the Raleigh Association of Realtors awarded Mary Edna the Realtor of the Year Award.
ASSISTANTS/TEAM
Judy is Mary Edna’s assistant and a licensed agent. She acts as the transaction coordinator and handles all software and technology issues. She also handles everything in the transaction once Mary Edna opens it, thereby freeing her up to focus on income producing activities.
Mary Edna encourages her agents to look at their assistants as “profit centers” rather than “cost centers.” She encourages them to train assistants to generate leads that will offset their actual cost.
Mary Edna handles personal referrals, but will refer a sign call or Internet lead to one of the 20 agents in her office in exchange for a referral fee. Instead of passing those leads to a Buyer’s Agent, she prefers to pass them on to agents in her office.
SYSTEMS
Mary Edna utilizes Top Producer (www.topproducer.com) and currently has 475 people in her database. Additionally, she utilizes eNeighborhoods (wvvxv.eneighborhoods.com) to generate a monthly update on local market conditions for clients and prospects.
MARKETING
Mary Edna sends out eNeighborhoods as a monthly market activity update, Just Listed and Just Sold postcards, quarterly flyers tied into the seasons and hosts an annual “You are the Heart of our Business” party.
Once a year, during the holidays, Mary Edna orders Sees Candy from California (which is not available in North Carolina) for everyone who has ever bought or sold from her. She teases clients by saying, “. . .if you ever stop using me, you are off my candy list.” This light-hearted comment makes the point that loyalty and referrals are appreciated and expected.
KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS
Putting Clients First - Mary Edna’s strongest skill is putting the clients’ and customers’ best interests first before making the sale. She believes in providing quality service and keeping in communication with the clients and customers as well as treating all parties
the way she would want to be treated. Further, she feels that she has good attention to detail and an ability to make others feel comfortable in sharing their real estate needs and concerns.
Using the Power of Questions - This is an area that Mary Edna considers important in dealing with any client or customer. “If you ask enough questions, you can anticipate what objections might arise.’
Doing What is Necessary - “Successful people do what unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do.”
