Revival of the Trade Group
Traditional networking groups - Chambers of Commerce, Lion's Clubs, local trade groups - are slowly losing relevance simply by maturation. In their heyday dating back to post-WWII 50's, these groups were the only game in town for developing business relationships. Their members are simply dying.
The fact is it took months and years to develop the relationships by going to lunch after lunch and network at annual state gatherings.
The marketing opportunity is these groups, already entrenched as societal icons, can leverage their "brand" by appealing to younger members who would be attracted to the "network". The paradox is their old physical networking mindset just cannot see how to do this in the age of social networking.
Simply put, social networking makes networking efficient. A massive network is easy to develop if their members execute on an initiative to participate in a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook. It's that simple and takes each network member one evening to prepare their profile. Once all the members personal details are accessible, it becomes more apparent to other members where business opportunities exist, as opposed to wading through all those lunches to finally make the right connection. Call this Trade Group 2.0.
Here's my simplistic Face-to-Face rule. I communicate with many people I haven't formally met every day through the social media. In order to perform any business together, I still believe in the handshake. But now, the handshake only needs to happen once... there's no need to wade through multiple lunches and golf games to seal the deal because the relationship is built on knowing who each other is through the lens of social media. It's an efficient use of time, the time I save goes to my family. That said, I obviously enjoy the camaraderie of face-to-face, but you won't see me after 10:00... it's just the way I am, I get tired.
Applying Trade Group 2.0 to an Established Organization
Last Friday, I spoke about the Social Media in front of the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) NorCal gathering in lovely Monterey using some of the slideshows I've posted at Slideshare. (Active Rain's Brad Andersohn was with me!). CRS has been losing members due to the economically challenged and aging Realtor base (their average member is 55 years old). Our proposed solution: CRS is a vast, established national network. Let's get them all on online social networks so they can develop their network more efficiently and attract younger members into the network. We're hoping they participate in our Real Estate Coach 2.0 program and sign up for our Social Media Marketing webinar series. Over three months, we'll coach CRS members step by step on how to participate in and make best use of the social media. CRS focuses extensively on member education and we're hoping our complementary offering will help with developing a recruitment initiative based on innovative training.
Pat,
Too funny.. I was just thinking about this same thing this past weekend after attending our monthly fraternity alumni luncheon and then trying to track down alumni members on LinkedIn and Facebook. (I'm new to these services myself and looking to add associates when I have time.)
As for CRS, it's my opinion from being a member that more focus has been on selling classes/products/advertising then insuring we network with other CRS agents. Current CRS online social networks seem to have been set up by individual members and not the council itself.
Hopefully you change that for a more centralized and organized online network. Nice post!
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Hi Paul,
I wanted to address your comments about CRS and social networks. Groups were created on Active Rain by members, but as director of member services, I created groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Social networks will be a focus of an upcoming article in The Residential Specialist. We will also be including social networks in our online directory in effort to help encourage more networking among members.
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Hi Colleen, very pleased to meet you! I didn't know about your initiative but it certainly fits in with the objectives of this article. I look forward to communicating with you.
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Hi Colleen,
Don't take my comment the wrong way and I probably should have worded that another way. When sending out referrals to another area, I always look for a CRS agent and have recieved referrals from other CRS agents. That will continue whether any online social group is set up.... or not. (An online social group just makes it easier.)
Honestly, I'm new to Facebook and LinkedIn -- old with Active Rain -- and spending more time on the first two tracking down alumni then looking for CRS members at this point. (That will change.)
And..Hawaii Real Estate Guy makes a great point that actually means more to me..
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Concerning consumers asking for CRS agents that is. IMO, more needs to go towards promoting the benefits of CRS to the consumer... we already get it and real estate agents will to when the consumer demands the CRS designation.
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Who has time for the old school networking? It is hard enough to make time with the new ways like facebook, Linkedin and all the other social media avenues available to us online.
I have been selling real estate for 15 years and not once have I had a buyer or seller ask if I had a CRS designation. Don't get take me wrong. I think it is great that agents want to further their education. That is a good thing! Just not sure if it actually helps you get more business. Maybe I am missing something???
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Agree... for consumers a CRS designation or being a Lion's Club member is insignificant. It's the networking itself that gets more business. For example, using Linkedin to network CRS members will also develop viral bridges to the social networks of each CRS member. The network works mysteriously, but someone in San Diego looking to buy a house in San Francisco may potentially connect with a CRS member based in SF through this extended network. And why not? It's easier to get a "read" on the CRS member through Linkedin than to search for an agent in Google.
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Great point Pat
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Have to agree as well. The extra certifications are meaningless to most consumers. But they do perhaps offer extra marketing opportunities. A good example would be the e-Pro certification. Lots of agents at one point had a list of other agents (with links) that also had the certification on their website.
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