So you’re at an open house. You schlep over to the corner, put up your signs, tie up some ballons.  You tidy up, set out your show sheets, and stand expectantly at the entrance waiting, hoping, PRAYING that someone will visit, staring at the door like a sad puppy waiting for his master to come home.

And the door opens!  Someone came in.  You’re excited!  You introduce yourself, make some small talk, and then you get the bad news:

“Oh, we’re not really in the market, we live down the street, and just wanted to see the house.  Is that okay?”

ARGHH!  The “nosy neighbors”!  The “looky loos”!  Wasting your time when what you really want are some choice buyers who will take one look at this magnificent Shangri-La and sign contracts by Wednesday.  So you keep that frozen smile on your face, encourage them to look around, and ignore them when someone else – someone who might be an actual BUYER – comes in. And then you focus all your attention on that prospective buyer, ignoring that annoying looky loo.

Here’s the problem: everyone moves eventually.  That looky loo isn’t in the market today, or next year, but is statistically quite likely to move in the next six or seven years.  Now, getting paid now is a lot better than getting paid in seven years, but getting paid in seven years is a LOT better than not getting paid at all.

Most real estate agents are obsessed with the short-term.  I mean, it’s tough to blame them – they have bills to pay, so they’re going to focus on those clients who might buy or sell in the immediate future. But if you’re building a career for the long-term, you need to remember that everyone moves eventually.  Everyone is a potential client, maybe not this year, not next year, but eventually.  If you’re going to be in the business in five years, or ten years, doesn’t it make sense to make some investment on cultivating a long-term client base that can become a reliable transactional base for your future business?  Not to mention how a well-developed sphere that you constantly cultivate can generate a consistent flow of referral business.

It doesn’t take much money or time: a regular email campaign, a drip mailing campaign, the occasional phone call.  But that time is well-spent if it helps you maintain a relationship with that client and increases the possibility that when they DO get into the real estate market, they hire you as their agent.

If you’re in the business for the long-term, then think long-term. If everyone moves eventually, then everyone – even the nosy neighbor – is a potential client at some point in your career.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be setting out what I call the “36-1/2 Rules for Client-Oriented Real Estate Agents,” a collection of short takes on the CORE concept that I’ve developed over the years of discussing and teaching the system.  We’ll count up to the 36th rule over the next few months, and then the 1/2 rule.  You can get the full list of rules by clicking on the “36-1/2 Rules for CORE Agents” category on the blog.