Pick your Customers/Tenants/Buyers

OK - Back in classes so, oddly, I have time to blog!

Today on my mind: PICK YOUR CUSTOMERS!

We're in the middle of a moderately interesting strategy class, but one point that relates quite well to Real Estate is that you cannot be all things to all people in business. Sometimes, you don't want someone's money. Sounds bizarre, but read on!

You can be:

Everything some of the time,

Some things all of the time,

But never all things all of the time.

*This quote was said quite eloquantly in class by my friend, Harley.

This is the concept of pick your customers, don't necessarilky let them pick you. By all means, allow customers (tenants, buyers, etc...) access to your services, but it is neither profitable nor good strategy to just accept all business. Define your product offering around your skills and what you or your organization is great at. You also have to LIKE doing it. If you are a smooth talking elitist with great taste in decorating, you should be renting or selling property to customers that desire your skills and the value you can create for them - ie: upscale properties to yuppies. Don't try to get into low-rent areas or cottages, or buying up land just because it looks attractive. 

This would be a bad choice of customer. Pick the segment of the market you want to be in and offer the product to those customers. Do not feel afraid to turn away those customers that fall outside the parameters you have defined for your company. This would be like buying a baseball bat and trying it out in a football field; you can try and hit as many home runs as you want, but all you'll get is tackled to the ground by some really confused linebackers.

What else? I'll be switching to a video blog (vlog) format soon, with a few youtube posts, followed by a registered channel if there appears to be enough support over the next few months. For the 3.6 people that actually read this - I haven't forgotten about it and would love it if you could tell all your friends. I'm trying to create a community/centre of excellence, not trying to get rich. I've already done that :)

AIML