Some agents may be dummies, others part-timers, but make no mistake some of your competitors are well qualified and experienced professionals that are equipped to help the consumer with every facet of their home buying or selling needs.
If that doesn't give you pause, consider this: Customers today have access to more information than ever before and many of them are becoming very knowledgeable about the real estate transaction. This of course now requires you to be one step ahead and know more.
You’re no longer a sales agent.
You are a facilitator, an interpreter, a negotiator and above all a trusted advisor. So, get your act together and become the true real estate professional that the Web 2.0 consumer wants and needs. Here are a few suggestions to get you going:
Introspection
• Start with an objective evaluation of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Not just in terms of the mechanics of how you practice real estate but also in the so-called soft skills.
• Consider the feedback trusted friends, colleagues and mentors might offer alongside that from assessments such as DISC or Myers-Briggs.
Roadmap
• You won’t get there if you don’t know where “there” is. It’s important to write down your goals but equally important to plan how you are going to get there.
• Aviators have a phrase: Plan your Flight and Fly the Plan. The importance of planning and tracking your progress cannot be stressed enough. Periodically compare your progress against the original business plan.
Portfolio
• Prospective clients are increasingly being coached through the media and other venues to secure client references, check credentials, secure proof of certifications and professional ratings before deciding on an agent. Prioritize the credentials important for your business and schedule these in your business plan.
• You've always known client testimonials are good to have. Now consider them a necessity. If you've been shy about asking for them before, develop the language and processes to ask for testimonials and referrals during the relationship – not at the end.
Expert
• Whatever your personality, target key training programs to improve the respective skills that need improvement.
• Pick a niche - property type, geographical, age, etc. - and become the expert…the #1 person in that field/market.
Support
• There is no reason you have to walk the road alone or go where no agent has gone before.
• Shadow a top agent in your company, subscribe to an online mentoring service or get a personal coach. Help is readily available and comes in all shapes and price ranges.
One in a million, right?
Well don’t do what some estimate that one million agents do every year – participate in zero transactions. None - Zero - Zip - Nada. That’s awful. Don’t be that in that group.
Be one of the successful ones. Be one of the new Web 2.0 ones. Be one of the new trusted advisors.
This is an extract of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report (2008 edition) and an update of current market conditions at end of January by the author; industry visionary Stefan Swanepoel. Frogpond recommends that every serious agent that wishes to survive through this downturn should get this 170 page “must read” Report. For more information visitwww.ReTrends.com.
