Clients & Customers,  Entrepreneurs,  Prospects

The ONE thing Barbara Corcoran did that changed her trajectory in real estate

I heard an interesting story this morning and wanted to share it with you.

It’s about Barbara Corcoran and how she got her first break in real estate.

I loved not only her tenacity and grit but also how she really “got” what her dream client felt was important in an apartment in NYC.

It’s when she was first starting out as a secretary at a real estate agency. She had asked the owner if he would give her an apartment to list so she could get some experience.

So, of course, being green, he gave her the most difficult apartment to sell. It was a third-floor walk-up, not a great NYC neighborhood, and it was only a one-bedroom.

So Barbara did her homework and realized the best-selling apartments were the ones that had an additional separate living area or den.

She went to her boss and asked for permission to build a wall to separate the bedroom from the rest of the place. 

He said yes.

Then she put an ad in the paper (before the internet :-), saying it was a one-bedroom apartment with a separate den. 

Boom – it rented fast.

Wow.

Then the best part of the story was her insights into why this crappy place was quickly rented. She realized that adding the wall, adding that one change, also changed a potential renter’s perceived value of having a separate bedroom and a separate den.

Then she took that idea and ran with it for a whole apartment building. She rented out all the apartments in that building in 30 days.

It’s a terrific lesson… How changing one thing – adding a wall, changed the renters’ perceived value of the apartment. They valued having separate spaces, aka walls, more than walking up three flights of stairs in a not-so-hot area.

Do you know what your dream clients perceive as valuable when it comes to your services, products, courses, programs, etc.?

Getting at the heart of their wants, needs, and what they perceive as valuable to them is how you capitalize and grow your business to 7-figures.

Keep in mind, what is important to your dream client/customer is usually not what’s important to you.

This goes back to doing your research in Step 1 (of my 7-Step Soulful Marketing & Launch System) – Defining Your Dream Client/Customer.

You need to know what THEY perceive as valuable.

Since I started my business, people have wanted 3 core things: (There are many more. Check out the P.S. And here are the ones I discovered.)

  1. Time Management – Be more productive – get more done in a day. Realizing they need to outsource what a $15 or $20 an hour person could do and spending time on higher-value tasks.
  2. Balancing Progress vs. Perfection – Dan Kennedy taught me a huge lesson – good is always good enough to get it out the door. If you wait till it’s perfect, you will be waiting a long time before you launch anything.
  3. Cash Flow – When you’re in business for yourself, the name of the game is getting a balanced cash flow coming in and out each month. What are you doing to rectify this, and is this something you can teach, share and help others with?

What’s one thing you could change in your business right now that would either increase or change your dream client’s/customer’s perceived value of what you’re selling?

Some Ideas to Help You:

  • Adding a live coaching component to your course
  • Giving your client/customer a productivity day where you check in with them in the morning and throughout the day to check on their progress and see if they’ve accomplished their goals for the day
  • Focusing on ways to give your customer/client more steady cashflow
  • Creating a course or materials on how to be more productive
  • Sharing worksheets, swipe files, or proven information that’s helped create a more successful business 

Knowing your potential customer/s/client’s perceived value and creating something to address it will help you get ahead of the competition more quickly and ultimately create more sales.

Go forth and prosper. 🙂 

NOTE 1: Here’s a terrific Forbes Article on The Top 10 Biggest Challenges Entrepreneurs Face

NOTE 2: Another terrific idea to find out WHAT your dream client/customer perceives as valuable is to do a survey and ask them. 🙂

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