Gatekeepers: The Door to the Wealthy
Last week, we examined how to utilize S.W.E.T. to break into the Luxury Real Estate market.
This week, we will be exploring the invaluable influence of gatekeepers, who they are, and why you should reach out to them, especially if you can’t directly contact wealthy individuals in your marketplace.
Gatekeepers
First and foremost, it’s important to know that wealthy individuals have gatekeepers. They will not want to talk to you until they know you. Share on XTypically, if I want to reach out and engage in a conversation with them, I have to go through their gatekeeper first. And there are many different types of gatekeepers that you need to know about.
Service Providers
Wealthy individuals have service providers. You can’t get the cell phone number of the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, but if you go to the boatyard, for example, and talk to staff that work at the boatyard, chances are they will have it.
Groups and Organizations
What groups and organizations do wealthy individuals typically belong to? Often, they are part of conservation groups, art groups, and charitable groups. You can interact with these organizations and get to meet them as well.
Networking
Gatekeepers that we want to specifically focus on are attorneys. In particular, attorneys who specialize in real estate because they need yearly valuations of their clients’ real estate. Since it’s a pain to get an appraisal every year, offer and ask the attorney if you could do it for them. When you do it for the attorney, you make the attorney look like a hero to their rich client.
They need these every year because they want to minimize or eliminate paying inheritance taxes and minimize their property taxes. They also put their properties and expensive homes into entities like trusts and sometimes corporations—and they need a valuation for the file every year. You can provide the valuations to CPAs who deal with wealthy individuals and you can talk to trust offices at banks. They all need these for their clients every year.
After several years of doing this, your name will be referred to the client and they will hear it often. Then, when it’s time to sell the house, which it often is because they put it into a trust to avoid estate taxes when they pass on, you’ve already positioned yourself as an established and trusted aide.
Final Thoughts
It’s vital to network and market to these different gatekeepers. From service providers, attorneys, investment advisors, and various groups and organizations, they are key gatekeepers to get you in the door if you can’t directly contact wealthy individuals in your marketplace.
Until next time, make it a great week.
