Many of my friends and colleagues are realtors. Some of them do better than others. Most of them are scraping by. Less than 1% are CRUSHING IT!
So what are these one-percenters doing differently than everyone else?
They’re not smarter or more knowledgeable. They have access to the same inventory everyone else does.
They have the same amount of hours in the day. And I would say they face many of the same challenges.
So what makes them so successful?
I think it’s HOW they see themselves, and WHAT they do about it.
They have a very clear understanding of the distinction between a hobby, a job, a career, and a vocation, in the context of real estate.
And they live and breathe all things real estate. They are obsessed with their craft.
Watch this video by Elizabeth Gilbert .
In case you’ve never heard of her, she’s the author of the book made into the movie “Eat Pray Love“, also “Big Magic“, and a few others.
I LOVE her explanation on the difference between a hobby, job, career, and vocation.
I think the one-percenter realtors look at their real estate business as a career they love. A career that may have started as a vocation.
They made a decision to turn pro.
Steven Pressfield’s “Turning Pro” –A must read!
They have a daily process to their routine. Not a routine of their daily process.
They understand that helping people buy and sell real estate IS NOT what they do!
Rather a byproduct, and the inevitable result of being really good at one thing –Marketing.
They know their NUMBER ONE JOB is to figure out who’s thinking about buying or selling their home in the next 12 months in a particular area of town.
And all their efforts are focused in getting those invisible prospects to raise their hand and reveal themselves.
They know the game is not to get on people’s faces and push listings.
Nor to create personal branding campaigns to make themselves look more qualified than the competition, or to pimp up their image to seem more worthy in their prospects eyes.
In other words their marketing is not about getting famous.
They know people’s decision to buy or sell is not under their control, so they don’t worry or stress about it.
WHAT IS under their control is figuring out WHEN people plan to buy or sell.
For sellers –they control the data of how much real estate has been sold in the area where they live, price ranges, and the SPEED at which homes have been turning.
And they SHARE this data FOR FREE with these future listing clients.
They do this consistently and in high frequency.
For buyers –same thing.
They control the data on pricing, availability, property type, all of it on specific areas. Because they understand that buyers focus on location rather than speed.
Speed is more of a seller’s core focus.
They also share this data with them consistently and in high frequency.
These realtors get it!
You know what else they get?
They understand and have mastered the true psychology of referrals .
They don’t take their friends and professional relationships for granted. And they don’t burden them with the responsibility of remembering that they are realtors.
So every month, and sometimes biweekly they remind their friends and colleagues what they do by sending them interesting, entertaining, and valuable content.
They nudge (grab the audible) them so that when their friend’s friends and colleagues in casual conversation mention they’re in the market to buy or sell a home, automatically they can make the referral on the spot.
These realtors don’t see themselves as agents; but advisors, problem solvers, marketers and creators of real estate purchase, sales, and financing (Yes! They are also well versed in current financing strategies and know how to ask the right questions to potential buyers) options for people in their community.
They publish articles tailored to a single target audience of future buyers and sellers.
They showcase a new restaurant, or yoga place that just opened around the corner, by writing a quick article on their blog featuring the owner and the back story behind the business.
These one-percenters don’t waste their precious time on social media.
For them Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are means to an end.
They know very well that in Facebook for example, if you’re not purchasing attention YOU ARE THE PRODUCT!
So they buy micro-targeted ads for buyers and sellers.
But they don’t send this traffic to a home page, where the first thing you see is an IDX widget.
They send the traffic from social to uniquely designed landing pages that offer reports, guides, and articles that share specific solutions to problems or things buyers and sellers want to know.
These guys love what they do, and every day they get better at it!
They don’t focus on closings, they focus on openings.
Opening new channels of communication and networks with the people the mean to serve.
So that if and when they’re ready, there’s only one logical choice to go with.
I better stop here…
Bottom line, no wonder they’re killing it!
You would be too. If you approached it the same way. I believe that in my heart.
Cheers!
Claudio Alegre
