Now that sales volume has also declined, agents are looking for ways to distinguish themselves from their Lexus-driving peers.Not surprisingly, a growing industry of marketing wizards, Web site designers and personal coaches has sprung up to help them.
Suzee Miller, "author, broker, speaker" and founder of Feng Shui Paradigms, teaches agents to "feng shui" their listings and sell the unsellable. Coach Mike Ferry offers a "One-on-One Coaching Program" to agents eager to scale new real estate heights.
These programs don't come cheap -- to join Ferry's (which includes "40 high-intensity Coaching Calls," "Superstar Retreats," access to the Ferry library of media products, business tracking tools and daily e-mails from Mike, among other services -- but not actual private coaching with Ferry himself) the cost is $12,000 a year.
Locally, San Francisco agent Alexander Clark offers an electronic newsletter, with concise listings of all new properties on the market and all properties sold in the past week, to other agents so they can use the assembled data to "add value" to their client communications. And umpteen Web sites charge agents high fees and/or commissions in return for "hot leads" from random Internet surfers who fill out a form saying they are looking for an agent.