Are you in real estate sales and marketing? You should be

Are sales and marketing the same thing? And as a real estate agent, are you in sales?

If you answered no, then you need to wake up and start studying sales and marketing. Yes, real estate agents are in sales.

By definition, sales are the exchange of a commodity for money.

That is exactly what we do. We exchange our services or sell our product for money. This is your clue that you should be reading books on salesmanship, influencing people, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and being a leader.

Believe it or not, we are also in marketing.

This intersection is where I got the inspiration for doing these videos. I believe that the majority of real estate agents do not realize they are in marketing. This is why there is such a high failure rate. You have to learn how to market your product, your services and yourself.

Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services. This includes marketing research as well as advertising.

Sales are your ultimate objective in your marketing.

Something else you might not know: a sale is not just a dollar amount. It can be production as well.

In sales, we are reminding people that we exist. We are reminding people about us. We are in the public eye through media, social media, volunteering and just being present in the community.

Marketing is a combination of activities that influence a target market or a target group of customers to purchase a specific product or service.

Marketing influences a person to buy from you, and that then becomes a sale.

So again, we are not really marketing ourselves — we are marketing our service and our product. We are selling ourselves and reminding people we are out there.

Melinda Goodwin is luxury real estate adviser with Engel & Volkers St. George, Utah. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Email Melinda Goodwin.