1. Why Secret Agents Starve And You Won’t.
If nobody knows you as a trustworthy, knowledgeable and remarkable real
estate agent, you don’t have a chance. You’ll starve.
Here’s Why.
The internal tracking of thousands of transactions + performing agent
testimonials + observation + thirty-two years of experience + professional
research, confirms; on average, over 70% homebuyers and sellers choose a
real estate agent they know and trust, or who was referred by a trusted
friend.
Let’s begin by reviewing these startling revelations from an official source.
After we review these survey results, we’ll dive into what the survey results
tell us about what we should and shouldn’t be doing, and how we can
catapult our business success from starving to well fed.
2009 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and
Sellers.
CHAPTER 7: HOME SELLING AND REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS (Pg. 91)
Referrals from friends and family continue to be among the most important
factors when home sellers choose a real estate agent. Home sellers look to
agents with a strong reputation, evidence of honesty and integrity, and
knowledge of the neighborhood. Given that most sellers find their agent
through a referral, two-thirds contacted only one agent to assist with their
home sale, and one-half who used an agent to sell their home used the same
agent to buy a new home.
Most sellers still choose agents who provide a broad range of services rather
than agents who offer a limited set of services. Buyers are overwhelmingly
satisfied with their agents, and 81 percent of buyers indicated that they
would recommend their agent or use the agent’s services in the future.
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

2. Exhibit 7-1 (Pg. 94) - Method Used To Find Real Estate Agent:
Exhibit 4 – 15 (Pg. 65) Most Important Factor In Choosing An Agent.
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

3. Exhibit 7-2 (Pg. 94) Number of Agents Contacted Before Selecting One To
Assist With Sale Of Home
What Can We Learn From Buyer and Seller Behavior.
Three things are brilliantly clear.
1. Over 70% choose an agent they know, or an agent referred to them.
2. 70% choose their agent based on reputation, trustworthiness, and
market knowledge.
3. 64% only talk to one agent. 84% don’t talk to more than two agents.
Let’s think about each point.
Over 70% of homebuyers and sellers, choose an agent they know, or an
agent referred to them.
Wow right? This is why having a larger network of past and present clients,
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

4. friends, and acquaintances is not optional; it’s mandatory. If we behave
wisely, the quality and size of our network will absolutely determine the
size and quality of our success.
Now that we know that 70% of the homebuyers and sellers choose someone
they know, we can behave in ways that will assure our success (FYI, this
book is filled to the brim with ideas and strategies that will do just this).
How we behave is directly related to the next point.
The people we know, they know more than one real agent. For example, my
market is a suburb of Houston, a master planned community called The
Woodlands. We have a civilian population of around ninety thousand
people, and a local real estate agent population of around one thousand.
That’s one real estate agent for every ten people. This doesn’t include the
somewhere around twenty-four thousand Houston Association Of
REALTORS® who would crawl across cut class to list or sale a property in
The Woodlands. No doubt, most civilians know more than one real estate
agent, agreed? It’s likely the same in your market, and others, people know
of more than one real estate agent.
Because we know homebuyers and sellers choose real estate agents they
know; and we know that besides us, they most likely know a few other real
estate agents, it would be super smart of us to understand how homebuyers
and sellers decide which real estate agent to choose. Let’s take a closer look
at what the NAR survey said.
70% choose their agent based on reputation, trustworthiness, and market
knowledge.
This makes total sense, right? The thing is, secret agents, agents who keep
a low profile, they’re invisible. If an agent is invisible, then there is simply
no way that the people they know, will know anything about their
reputation, if they’re trustworthy, whether they’re a mega-watt marketing
savant, or a village idiot. Does this make sense?
If your beginning to get a funny feeling, like maybe you’re a secret agent,
and people don’t know how great you are, don’t worry. We’ll cover how go
from secret agent to out loud positive, attractive, choosable and referable.
64% only talk to one agent. 20% talk to two agents.
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

5. Gulp! We’re not competing with a handful of agents, we’re competing with
hundreds, or maybe even thousands. Homebuyers and sellers have an army
to choose from. But guess what, they don’t choose to consider, or interview
an army, or even a few, when choosing who to call, two out of three only
choose only one lucky agent to talk to. That’s wild right?
When civilians have a real estate need, or they’re asked to recommend a
reliable real estate agent, out of all the agents they can choose from, they
choose to engage with only one or two. If we aren’t the first or second
agent they think of, we are completely and utterly screwed. This is why
secret agents are starving, stressed and struggling. They’re not getting
called on or recommend because secret agents are invisible, and therefore
not called on, or referred.
Now that we know how civilians behave, what can we do so that when
someone we know has a real estate need, shazam, the beautiful you
magically pops into their conscious thought? Actually, becoming the first or
second person they choose to call on isn’t magic at all. It’s really a
combination of science and art called Top Of Mind Awareness.
Here’s what and how Top Of Mind Awareness works.
May I ask five semi-personal questions? If you said yes, thanks. Read each
question below, when you’re finished with number one, answer out loud.
Then move to question two, and so on, till you’re through.
1. When I say, ”to-die for dessert”, what makes your mouth water, and
face smile? What dessert do you think of?
2. When I say, ”greatest rock-n-roll band of all time”, who do your ears
hear? Name the band or artist.
3. When I say, “favorite cocktail”, what drink do you think of? Let’s hear
you say it out loud, like you would to the bartender.
4. When I say, ”romantic vacation destination”, where do you think of?
Who’d you take? Speak the location and the name.
5. When I say, “top performing real estate agent”, other than yourself
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

6. who do you think of?
The answers to these questions are examples of Top Of Mind Awareness in
action; who or what occupies first recall position in a certain category is the
definition of Top Of Mind Awareness. Your category is “real estate agent”.
Within your network, when someone you know, has a real estate need, or
they’re asked to refer a trustworthy real estate agent, do you have first or
second place Top Of Mind Awareness? If you do, congratulations. But
before we throw a party, let’s always remember, your competitors are trying
to erase your Top Of Mind Awareness and replace it with themselves. Keep
up the good work and stay Top Of Mind. If you need to amplify your Top
Of Mind Awareness, no worries, we’re going to talk about how right now.
The 3 R’s of Top Of Mind Awareness.
Here’s the deal. I need to tell you this before we go any further. Creating
Top Of Mind Awareness is simple in concept and formula, but the
execution takes hard work, diligence and commitment. The good news is,
if you’ll do it, you’ll change everything for the big time better.
The 3 R’s Are: Relevance. Remarkable. Repetition
To grove righteous recall, you’ll need to rain your network with these 3 R’s.
Relevance: The most important thing to know about relevance is this. If
it’s about you; your awards, how epic your are, how many homes you’ve
sold, how you’re number one, and on and on, it’s not relevant. Nobody
cares about you, everyone cares about himself, herself, and the important
people in their lives.
Sit and think! Watch and observe! Listen long and hard! Understand what
people want, need, and desire. What questions need answering? What
things make people smile, and nod? What problems do people need solved?
What information do people value? What are they interested in? Once you
know the answer to some of these questions, focus on them.
Remarkable: You can’t walk, talk, chew gum, act, look, work, communicate
or engage in ordinary or expected ways. You can’t because average and
ordinary is forgettable. What’s memorable are remarkable things, which is
why you have to behave remarkably. I find most people struggle with the
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

7. concept of “being remarkable” and most people feel it’s difficult, or near
impossible to really be “remarkable” without being outlandish. Relax, you
don’t have to be outlandish or a super human woman.
Remarkable simply means worthy of remark. It’s easy to be worthy of
remark if you do this sincerely:
Show up.
Listen.
Deliver.
Be consistent.
Keep your promises.
Don’t brag.
Don’t push.
Follow-up.
Follow-through.
Pay attention.
Be generous.
Show up on time.
Have a sense of humor.
Don’t complain.
Don’t make excuses.
Accept responsibility.
Be patient.
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

8. Be passionate.
Be thoughtful.
Don’t blame.
Don’t shame.
Be positive.
Be empathetic.
Be thankful.
Etc.
See, being remarkable isn’t being outlandish, just show up, be a good
Person, be sincere, and most of all behave trustworthily.
Repetition: Consistent and remarkable contact, conversation, information,
entertainment, education, sharing and engagement is what I mean by
repetition. This book is full of old, and new school ideas that will work
wonders in the respectful repetition category, read on.
Here’s a handy list of old and new school mediums where you can rain your
repetition:
Advertising
Direct Mass Mail
Personal Mail
eMail
eNewsletter
Twitter.com
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

9. Facebook.com
LinkedIn.com
Video - Youtube.com
Blog
Blog comments
Email
Text
Chat
Twitter
Facebook
Phone
In Person
What Have We Discovered?
When homebuyers and sellers need real estate services, 84% only talk to one
or two agents at the most. Most civilians either know more than one real
estate and have access to hundreds, the one or two real estate agents they
call on are contacted because they are known, familiar and trusted, or they
were recommended by a trusted friend. When real estate services are
needed, if we’re not the first or second remembered or thought of real
estate agent, we’re sunk and before long, we’ll be starving.
To succeed we must create Top Of Mind Awareness in the memories of
everyone we know. We do this through relevant, remarkable and repetitious
contact, engagement and marketing impressions. This book is full or ideas,
strategies and actions that will do exactly what’s needed to succeed. Read
forward, make your plan and work your plan. If you do this, your success is
eminent, the faster you go, the faster you’ll get there. Go, go, go.
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

10. Ken Brand, Sales Manager
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors
The Woodlands TX / 832-797-1779
Facebook
Twitter
BrandCandid Blog
Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand

11. Ken
Brand
832-­‐797-­‐1779
Ken@KenBrand.com
BrandCandid.com
Facebook.com/KenBrand