Would Consulting An Expert Produce Superior Results For You?

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Preface: The year long retooling of my firm’s infrastructure is now well into its second year, mercifully nearing the finish line. To my great joy, I’ve rediscovered the Old School working definition of what an expert is. They not only know what they’re doing, they know why what they do works — producing, be still my heart, RESULTS. Or, in BawldSpeak, Skinned Cats. Expert recognition hint: Next time you’re talkin’ with somebody you suspect is an expert, pay attention to how many answers they supply to questions you never in a million years woulda known to ask. Then ask yourself in how many disciplines do you count yourself as an expert?

Ah, and there’s the rub.

When I first learned about the Lord’s game, baseball, the Dodgers and Giants had only been in California for a couple years. There was no Chavez Ravine — well, the ravine was there, but not much else. When a player was described as great, we all knew what it meant — he was, um, great. Now? Gimme a break. A shortstop up from the East Toilet Seat, Idaho AAA farm club makes a decent play on a sharply hit grounder two steps to his right and he’s the next Ozzie Smith — ‘What a great play that was!!’ Now, in baseball, as in all elite sports, the concept of greatness has no meaning whatsoever.

It’s like the Hall of Fame. Some of the players spoken of in the same sentence as the HOF are almost insulting to the Hall. It’s the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of the Really, Really Good. Again, the concept of true greatness has been watered down to the quality of prison gruel. Willie Mays was a great player. Is there a center fielder today you’d mention in the same breath as Willie?

The same goes with the concept of experts directly or indirectly related to real estate.

These days the concept of expert is shown no respect. If a guy’s in a room with 30 people and is three chapters ahead of the others in the marketing ‘book’, he can get away with calling himself an expert. Same with real estate, various internet tech disciplines, you name it. What makes it worse, and I’ve been a perfect example at times, is how we allow it. What’s worse than that is the incredible talent some have to convince themselves, then others, they’re experts in whatever.

BawldGuy Axiom: Recognizing a bona fide expert is akin to pornography — we might not be able to aptly define it, but we sure as hell know it when we see it — and when we don’t see it.

Many have said what success I’ve enjoyed as a real estate investment broker comes from long experience, stellar training, superior knowledge, the good fortune of world class mentoring, and the rest of the normal litany — surely not unique to my experience. Though obviously significant factors, without the catalyst of successful marketing, they’re like a good hitter sitting in the dugout cuz his manager didn’t pencil him in the lineup. All the expertise in the world doesn’t translate into a .350 batting average if you seldom find yourself in the batter’s box with a bat in your hands. Go figure.

We’ve taken the scenic root to arrive at this point:

Real experts in any discipline are rare by definition. Yet on the Planet 2.0 there are more experts than there are kisses under the mistletoe at the Playboy Mansion’s Christmas Eve party. Most of ’em are merely ahead of the rest of us in the book of whatever it is they do.

Let’s talk marketing — off or online.

Back in the day I became convinced a well written letter, narrowly targeted, would reliably produce many quality at bats. (I know — what an original thinker.) I was right. But not until I gave up my amateurish efforts and hired a true blue direct mail letter writing freakazoid marketing guy to produce the letters’ content. Sure, I gave the outline, but he wrote the damn things from Dear Josh and Megan to the P.S. at the end.

His letters immediately began sending me to the plate with alarming consistency. I took over from there, and proceeded to have a run of record earning years. I’d found my vehicle. The average 1,500-3,000 piece mailing (hardly ‘mass’ by most standards) produced low to mid 5-figure income. Three letters produced six figures apiece. All of my efforts produced less than one of his average missives. As a direct mail expert, I made a helluva real estate guy.

Just as the word ‘great’ has been rendered almost meaningless in baseball and sports in general by those whose misuse of the language should be made felonious, so has the working definition of ‘expert’. The shameful thing about it? You and I are more than somewhat responsible, cuz we’ve hired these faux experts, paying them very real money, perpetuating their expert status. You’d think they’d fade away, the consistent lack of results acting as their judge and jury. But due to the thousands if not millions of available prospects, combined with the 2.0 world making us all a part of the same ‘local’ community — the world of faux expertise continues unabated despite their consistent failure to produce anything approaching tangible results.

In real estate, whether in homes or investments, the practitioner must produce the desired result(s) or learn to work sans paychecks. If only that were so in marketing. I’d have a quarter million more dead presidents buried in my backyard.

So when you think your marketing efforts are making the grade, check your results — Skinned Cats on the wall — then look in the mirror and call yourself a marketing expert without laughing out loud. Go ahead, we’re all waiting. Real marketing experts produce quality at bats for their clients. That’s the only thing that accords them any worth. Their patter, sans the production of quality at bats, is eerily reminiscent of what Charlie Brown heard when his teacher was talking.

So I pose the title’s question once more.

Would consulting a real expert produce superior results to what you’re experiencing now? OR, have you convinced yourself you’re as good as any of ’em, so you might as well do it yourself? (Canned laughter inserted here.)