Since the first offer was made on the first ‘two-bedroom cave with solid fuel cooking and views to die for’, there has been a perception that you have to be a particular type of person to be a successful real estate agent. But all salespeople are not the same and what works for one may not work for another. And that is OK, say Julie Davis and Neil Williams of Agent Dynamics – it’s simply a case of playing to your individual strengths.
The agent’s roles and functions are wide and various, comprising hot and cold prospecting methods, client nurture, marketing, follow up, negotiation and so on. We invest our hard-earned cash attending seminars to learn the ‘427 Simple Steps to Listing Success’; we listen to audio, watch videos and read books and magazines just like this one in an effort to upskill and get the edge.
WE’RE ALL INDIVIDUALS; WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT
Don’t get me wrong – we always need to be developing our skills, and good training and self-improvement is invaluable; but if we focus on the prospecting methods that we enjoy the most it stands to reason that we will be happier and more productive.
Let’s face it, not all agents enjoy doorknocking; in fact most hate it. At a recent seminar, in a room of 71 highly successful agents, only two said that they actually enjoyed it. Most said that they only did it when the boss sent them out to do it and they had experienced little or no success. However, the two agents who did doorknock said that it was a major part of their prospecting and they were getting great results.
Ask some salespeople about cold calling and you get a similar response: ‘it doesn’t work for me’. Farming is the same. Why do some agents know their farm area backwards? They can quote you days on market, sale prices, market share, withdrawn sales and so on as though they’ve swallowed their iPad, while others don’t even bother with farming. And why is it that one agent can attend a networking function and get five appraisals while others will fall asleep after five minutes?
THE ALL-IMPORTANT ‘FLOW’
When we are in flow we are doing the tasks that we enjoy, and we are out of flow when doing those that we don’t. Early in our careers we are taught that we must master all the different prospecting methods to be successful. The result is that we often prospect using methods that will bring either very little or no success at all. This wastes time, effort and resources, and will sometimes result in team members leaving for another agency more suited to their style.
We know that most of the agents who are meeting their expected level of success are all working in their flow. They are leveraging the prospecting elements that they enjoy the most and are obtaining further leverage by employing others to do the tasks that they don’t enjoy. How much sense does that make?
If we look at some of the top agents around the country, we see that they often stick to what they enjoy most and often utilise only one or two of the myriad prospecting methods available to them.
Each of these top agents has different innate skills and through time and experience they have identified their natural strengths to maximise the return on their time and effort.
The real estate profession is famous for its high turnover of sales staff. So many potentially great agents have left the industry because principals and sales managers failed to identify where they should best channel their natural skill set. Those who identify and recognise where individual team members are best suited in order to channel their innate prospecting and listing skills will be well rewarded. They will develop a team of naturally talented individuals all working in flow and leveraging their strengths.
Who wouldn’t like a team who is more productive, more successful and a whole lot happier?
For a further explanation on the all-important flow in a team, watch Julie and Neil’s coaching session on team performance.
