You could be doing almost everything right for real estate agent success, yet not quite getting there.
You could be:
- Prospecting for new listings.
- Capturing buyer leads from your website.
- Networking, making cold calls, and knocking on doors.
- Staying in touch with past clients and those in your sphere.
- Carefully following your market trends.
- Writing market reports with regularity.
- Learning all there is to know about your geographic area.
- Educating yourself about how best to serve your niche market.
- Hosting a well-organized, informative website.
- Blogging regularly.
- Working long hours.
And yet, if you’re overlooking one important real estate agent success component, you could still be struggling.
What is that component? An image of confidence and prosperity.
Successful agents expect to succeed, and it shows. It also draws other to them.
We humans are all drawn to people who project confidence and success, along with a friendly, sharing attitude. It makes us feel more comfortable in believing that their information and advice is sound.
No – I’m not talking about those who exhibit arrogance or a know-it-all attitude. Those people repel rather than attract.
We also want to be around people who are up-beat, not down-mouthed. We don’t want to be around people who tell us what we can’t do or how tough life is. Real estate clients don’t want to be around agents who talk about a bad market, the difficulty of getting a loan, problems with appraisers, or their troubles at home. (Yes, some DO do that.)
You convey image of confidence and prosperity in many ways. It comes from:
- Your words.
- The clothes you wear.
- The condition of your car.
- Your posture.
- The look on your face.
- The tone in your voice.
Real estate agent success must begin with knowledge, because you can’t project confidence without it.
When you know your market, know your forms, know the rules that must be followed, know how to solve problems, know where to turn when you don’t have all the answers, and know how to guide your clients through a successful closing, you’ll have the confidence that you want to project.
Can new agents have the confidence necessary for real estate agent success?
Yes. New agents who dig in and learn what they need to know can absolutely have that confidence. Naturally, a new agent doesn’t have the knowledge that comes only through experience, but that’s OK. As long as there’s a broker or an experienced agent to turn to with questions, a new agent can still feel confident.
And don’t’ forget – it’s perfectly fine to say “I don’t know” as long as you know where to turn to get the answers, and do so promptly.
Confidence alone won’t quite do the job, so add an impression of prosperity.
Far too many agents are sabotaging their own chance at real estate agent success.
They may be doing the things listed at the top of this post, but doing them with an attitude of lack, rather than prosperity. They begin to project need, and that only makes it worse. Nobody wants to do business with an agent just because they know that agent needs the money.
In fact, the opposite is probably true.
If you’ve fallen into that downward spiral, or if you’d like to help a colleague who has, here’s how to turn it around:
- Change your focus.
- Change the words you use.
- Change the way you present yourself
Switch your focus to success.
Instead of thinking about the listings you didn’t get or the buyers who wandered off into the twilight, put your mind on your successes.
If you haven’t been in real estate long enough to have a good list of successes, think about other successes. They could be personal or professional. Give yourself credit for them.
Let yourself feel those successes. Let yourself feel gratitude for them, as well.
Speak positive words.
Your words, whether spoken, in an email, in a blog post, or in your prospecting letters, should project 
confidence and optimism.
You have no doubt heard agents sitting around complaining about sales that fell through, buyers who couldn’t make up their minds, sellers who were over-demanding or who refused to do what sellers need to do to help sell their houses.
If you’ve spent enough hours in the office you’ve also heard about children and spouses who made the agent unhappy. You’ve heard about physical ailments, cars in need of repair, and even aphids in the petunias.
And then there’s gossip. Wherever you find people, you find that toxic conversation.
Don’t let yourself do that! When someone else starts, find a reason to walk away from the conversation or change the subject.
Replace it with talk about successful appointments, clients who are fun to be with, transactions that closed without a hitch, and good things about your family, your home, or your health.
When you’re talking with friends, avoid the discussions about how bad things are at work. Instead, talk about how good things are. You have a co-worker who is extremely helpful. You have new clients who promise to be a lot of fun. You’re hoping to land the listing on one of your favorite houses. Your new listing clients are cooperative and doing all the right things to help sell their house. The capture box on your site is bringing in plenty of new leads, as are the prospecting letters you’ve mailed.
Carry the positivity through when the conversation turns to personal topics.
Let your written words convey your optimism and enthusiasm.
- Write or purchase prospecting letters that convey useful information and show the reader that you know what you’re doing. Don’t brag, just demonstrate how you can help your readers reach their goals.
- Create blog posts that feature good things about your community and your clients. Post tips that help your readers succeed.
- Write upbeat emails. If you need to convey bad news, do it on the phone, with sympathy. If you must record it in an email in order to maintain a written file, do it as a confirmation.
Present yourself as a successful professional.
My first real estate instructor was fond of saying “Fake it until you make it.” He was talking about attitude, and also about how you present yourself. He cautioned against driving a “too expensive” car or wearing flashy jewelry, but reminded us all to dress professionally, drive a clean, well-maintained vehicle, and to arrive on time and well prepared for every appointment.
What does it mean to dress professionally?
It means your attire is appropriate for the environment, the type of property you’re showing, and what seems to be the traditional attire in your marketplace. I wrote a post about appropriate dress several years ago and started quite a discussion about what is appropriate – when and where. It has since gotten 18,998 views and 349 comments.
Once you’re dressed and ready to achieve real estate agent success…
Stand up straight, put a smile on your face and in your voice, and EXPECT SUCCESS.
Oh, and one more thing: Remember to have gratitude – for both your past and future successes.
Agent on the phone Image courtesy of podpad at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
toggle switch courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net
gossip Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
