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Listen "Why Radical Honesty Is The Key To More Clients • Pamela Marcus"
Episode Synopsis
Pamela Marcus talks about her transition from advertising to real estate and discusses her experience with clients. Pamela also talks about "Pam's rules" which is to always be honest and tell the clients the truth about the property. Last, Pamela discusses how advertising taught her discipline and customer service - two very valuable assets in real estate business.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Pamela Marcus can be reached at [email protected] and 917-628-8240.
This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00We all know you're supposed to be honest with your clients. But how can you actually use honesty to attract more clients? Or we're going to talk to a top producer today who does exactly that. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren't converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I'm your guide and host through the show. And in just a moment, we're going to be speaking with top 1% Producer Pam Marcus. But before we get to Pam, just a couple of quick reminders. Please tell a friend about this episode. Think of one other realtor that could benefit from maybe they're struggling this year. Let's face it. 2023 is a tough year markets picking up a little bit right now. But it's still pretty slow out there. And a lot of realtors are depressed, depressed, dejected, and sending them a link to this episode might actually help them snap out of it and have a great 2023. So do them a favor and it also does us a favor. So please introduce them to the show, you can drive them right over to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Or just have them pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real and hit that subscribe button we would appreciate it Okay guys, enough of me. Let's get to the main event my conversation with Pam Marcus.
Today on the show we have Marcus with the PAM Marcus team compass in New York City. Let me tell you more about him. Now Pam graduated NYU School of Business and also attended Wharton at University of Pennsylvania. And so she has this incredible pedigree but let's let's keep going through her history because it's so interesting. She spent three years in bank marketing at Bankers Trust before segwaying into advertising as an account exec at Marine Midland Bank and then spent 12 years at grey advertising and 10 at Bates advert 10 years of Bates advertising convincing the public to eat brands like m&ms, Snickers, Campbell's soup, and raisin bran cereal. And then she spent seven years in the travel business expanding a niche travel company called lawyers travel into other professional firms. And at the time, Pam didn't even know how to use a computer or write a plane ticket. But the target figured if she knew advertising business, she would know how to take care of their travel needs. She also spent one year in her own consulting business helping hotels fine tune their marketing, and then three years at a startup called barbarac, which is they make ergonomically designed tools for women. And then eventually at the ripe young age of 60. She started her real estate career and I am so excited to welcome Pam Marcus to our show. Before that, I'd like everybody to follow her on Instagram. So please. And by the way, the link to her Instagram account is in our show notes. But you can find her at Pam Marcus real estate on Instagram and everywhere else on social media. Pam, welcome to the show.
Pamela Marcus 4:28Thank you so much DJ. It's really a pleasure to be here. And I'm flattered that you asked me to do this.
D.J. Paris 4:34Well, I am flattered that you accepted to do this because I am just so impressed with anyone that starts a career of any sort at at you know the age that you did it with in your case with real estate but your background I am so fascinated with because I'm curious to learn more specifically about how that background helped you when you started and how it continues to help today. So My first question is about, you know, gosh, you had this really incredible career, non real estate related advertising, different marketing sort of jobs in different industries, and then at 60 decided to go into real estate. So why real estate at at age 60?
Pamela Marcus 5:19Well, I was a number of reasons. The last place I was, which were the ergonomically designed tools for women, when we weren't paid for six weeks, I said, this is silly, it's time to leave. So if I'm not going to get paid, I might as well do something else. Just stay home and have fun. And what happened was, I tried to figure out what I wanted to do, because staying home and doing nothing was not going to suit me, I would drive myself and everybody else crazy. And I realized that I had done a couple of real estate investments for myself, I had done very well and that I love people. I love young people, and I love teaching and helping people. And I love shopping. So I said, you know, I think real estate could be a good fit. Am I went to school and I networked into Corcoran at the time, I knew some people. Sure. And that's how I got into real estate. And it was an the very first client I took care of happened to be the daughter of dear friends of mine. They were of the ripe age to buy an apartment and they were my first clients.
D.J. Paris 6:30Wow. And and how did you? So one quick question, because before we get to that story, because I'm curious, when you when you did start, you know, your background was was not real estate. So everyone, I'm assuming in your sphere of influence, including your friend who, whose daughter, of course, became your first client. I am curious how you made that transition known right to people in your sphere, so that they could start thinking about you as a realtor, as opposed to the marketing that, you know, somebody down on Madison Avenue being in more of the ad space, which is probably how they thought about you.
Pamela Marcus 7:06I kind of I if I remember correctly, I did a mailer that basically played off of my background. You know, when I think it was sort of a plane ticket, we're flying on to the next place. And I was a Manhattanite. I knew all these people. And I guess one tip I would always say is, people remember if they like you, they don't always remember why.
D.J. Paris 7:32Or they don't always remember what you do, either. They just like,
Pamela Marcus 7:35they just know they like you. So whether if they like you, they assume they like what you're what you're doing. And you know, this very first sale is kind of an interesting sale. Because I did it. And they wanted to buy an apartment that I told them not to buy. It was a land lease, and we don't like land leases in New York unless you're a Brit. And I said, I don't think you should buy it. But they bought it. Well, about six months ago, I had to sell it. And I always have a rule that might the test I applied to something you buy as well do I think I will be able to sell it in five years without a lot of problems? Well, and can I do I think if the market is good, we can make a profit. Unfortunately, when I sold that this was the first sale I ever made that they lost money on the transaction. And I said to the wife, I said, Amanda, is Greg mad at me? She looked at me and she said, Absolutely not. He remembers you told them not to buy it. And and you know, they bought a very expensive apartment and they love it. And you know, but I think the thing is you if you ask me why I succeeded? It's being totally honest. Yeah. And I guess that's always been my nature. But at my age, I'm afraid if I wasn't honest, I wouldn't remember what I said.
D.J. Paris 9:11So, advertising exec, who's honest, oh my gosh. Sorry, I just that was an easy joke.
Pamela Marcus 9:19But it you know, honesty is it's everything. They may not want to hear it. But you have to tell them what you think.
D.J. Paris 9:28Do you know I've done over 450 episodes of the show and hundreds of people I've interviewed and I am sure this you're not the only person with this particular philosophy that I'm going to sort of circle back to because I found it to be particularly interesting, but it's the first time someone's verbalized that on our show. So I want to just make a point to step on it a little bit to make sure that it's not lost and all the other wonderful things you said but you said two things that were really interesting. One was about When you're always going to tell somebody the truth with the, with the idea of in five years, would I be able to resell this property for you, and actually have it be, you know, hassle free and ideally a profit. And that, to me is is fascinating. And it's a great credo. And then, of course, you know,
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Pamela Marcus can be reached at [email protected] and 917-628-8240.
This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00We all know you're supposed to be honest with your clients. But how can you actually use honesty to attract more clients? Or we're going to talk to a top producer today who does exactly that. Stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren't converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod. And now on to our show.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Parris. I'm your guide and host through the show. And in just a moment, we're going to be speaking with top 1% Producer Pam Marcus. But before we get to Pam, just a couple of quick reminders. Please tell a friend about this episode. Think of one other realtor that could benefit from maybe they're struggling this year. Let's face it. 2023 is a tough year markets picking up a little bit right now. But it's still pretty slow out there. And a lot of realtors are depressed, depressed, dejected, and sending them a link to this episode might actually help them snap out of it and have a great 2023. So do them a favor and it also does us a favor. So please introduce them to the show, you can drive them right over to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Or just have them pull up any podcast app search for keeping it real and hit that subscribe button we would appreciate it Okay guys, enough of me. Let's get to the main event my conversation with Pam Marcus.
Today on the show we have Marcus with the PAM Marcus team compass in New York City. Let me tell you more about him. Now Pam graduated NYU School of Business and also attended Wharton at University of Pennsylvania. And so she has this incredible pedigree but let's let's keep going through her history because it's so interesting. She spent three years in bank marketing at Bankers Trust before segwaying into advertising as an account exec at Marine Midland Bank and then spent 12 years at grey advertising and 10 at Bates advert 10 years of Bates advertising convincing the public to eat brands like m&ms, Snickers, Campbell's soup, and raisin bran cereal. And then she spent seven years in the travel business expanding a niche travel company called lawyers travel into other professional firms. And at the time, Pam didn't even know how to use a computer or write a plane ticket. But the target figured if she knew advertising business, she would know how to take care of their travel needs. She also spent one year in her own consulting business helping hotels fine tune their marketing, and then three years at a startup called barbarac, which is they make ergonomically designed tools for women. And then eventually at the ripe young age of 60. She started her real estate career and I am so excited to welcome Pam Marcus to our show. Before that, I'd like everybody to follow her on Instagram. So please. And by the way, the link to her Instagram account is in our show notes. But you can find her at Pam Marcus real estate on Instagram and everywhere else on social media. Pam, welcome to the show.
Pamela Marcus 4:28Thank you so much DJ. It's really a pleasure to be here. And I'm flattered that you asked me to do this.
D.J. Paris 4:34Well, I am flattered that you accepted to do this because I am just so impressed with anyone that starts a career of any sort at at you know the age that you did it with in your case with real estate but your background I am so fascinated with because I'm curious to learn more specifically about how that background helped you when you started and how it continues to help today. So My first question is about, you know, gosh, you had this really incredible career, non real estate related advertising, different marketing sort of jobs in different industries, and then at 60 decided to go into real estate. So why real estate at at age 60?
Pamela Marcus 5:19Well, I was a number of reasons. The last place I was, which were the ergonomically designed tools for women, when we weren't paid for six weeks, I said, this is silly, it's time to leave. So if I'm not going to get paid, I might as well do something else. Just stay home and have fun. And what happened was, I tried to figure out what I wanted to do, because staying home and doing nothing was not going to suit me, I would drive myself and everybody else crazy. And I realized that I had done a couple of real estate investments for myself, I had done very well and that I love people. I love young people, and I love teaching and helping people. And I love shopping. So I said, you know, I think real estate could be a good fit. Am I went to school and I networked into Corcoran at the time, I knew some people. Sure. And that's how I got into real estate. And it was an the very first client I took care of happened to be the daughter of dear friends of mine. They were of the ripe age to buy an apartment and they were my first clients.
D.J. Paris 6:30Wow. And and how did you? So one quick question, because before we get to that story, because I'm curious, when you when you did start, you know, your background was was not real estate. So everyone, I'm assuming in your sphere of influence, including your friend who, whose daughter, of course, became your first client. I am curious how you made that transition known right to people in your sphere, so that they could start thinking about you as a realtor, as opposed to the marketing that, you know, somebody down on Madison Avenue being in more of the ad space, which is probably how they thought about you.
Pamela Marcus 7:06I kind of I if I remember correctly, I did a mailer that basically played off of my background. You know, when I think it was sort of a plane ticket, we're flying on to the next place. And I was a Manhattanite. I knew all these people. And I guess one tip I would always say is, people remember if they like you, they don't always remember why.
D.J. Paris 7:32Or they don't always remember what you do, either. They just like,
Pamela Marcus 7:35they just know they like you. So whether if they like you, they assume they like what you're what you're doing. And you know, this very first sale is kind of an interesting sale. Because I did it. And they wanted to buy an apartment that I told them not to buy. It was a land lease, and we don't like land leases in New York unless you're a Brit. And I said, I don't think you should buy it. But they bought it. Well, about six months ago, I had to sell it. And I always have a rule that might the test I applied to something you buy as well do I think I will be able to sell it in five years without a lot of problems? Well, and can I do I think if the market is good, we can make a profit. Unfortunately, when I sold that this was the first sale I ever made that they lost money on the transaction. And I said to the wife, I said, Amanda, is Greg mad at me? She looked at me and she said, Absolutely not. He remembers you told them not to buy it. And and you know, they bought a very expensive apartment and they love it. And you know, but I think the thing is you if you ask me why I succeeded? It's being totally honest. Yeah. And I guess that's always been my nature. But at my age, I'm afraid if I wasn't honest, I wouldn't remember what I said.
D.J. Paris 9:11So, advertising exec, who's honest, oh my gosh. Sorry, I just that was an easy joke.
Pamela Marcus 9:19But it you know, honesty is it's everything. They may not want to hear it. But you have to tell them what you think.
D.J. Paris 9:28Do you know I've done over 450 episodes of the show and hundreds of people I've interviewed and I am sure this you're not the only person with this particular philosophy that I'm going to sort of circle back to because I found it to be particularly interesting, but it's the first time someone's verbalized that on our show. So I want to just make a point to step on it a little bit to make sure that it's not lost and all the other wonderful things you said but you said two things that were really interesting. One was about When you're always going to tell somebody the truth with the, with the idea of in five years, would I be able to resell this property for you, and actually have it be, you know, hassle free and ideally a profit. And that, to me is is fascinating. And it's a great credo. And then, of course, you know,
In God we trust