(This is Part 2 of a three-part series. See Part 1: Understanding your strengths, weaknesses and Part 3: 13 tips for improving real estate performance.)
What personality characteristics predict real estate success? According to the research from Upward Motion, your personality traits have a strong influence on your potential for real estate success.
In last week’s column, we discussed how training, connections and behavioral style contribute to whether an agent will succeed in the real estate industry. Upward Motion designed a sales assessment called the Real Estate Simulator that allows agents and managers to compare their key personality traits to agents who earn at least $150,000 per year. Personality assessments provide valuable information about how an individual is likely to behave. While assessments do not always predict behavior accurately, they do predict inclinations and general patterns of expected behavior.
According to Kim Ades, president of Upward Motion, top producers share the following key personality traits that are pivotal to real estate success.
1. Are you an extravert?
Do you love social situations? Do you seek out the company of others? Are you outgoing and friendly? Do you prefer to be with others rather than being alone? If so, you are probably an extravert who draws energy from being with others. In contrast, introverts are quiet and more reserved. They feel drained when they have to constantly interact with people. Extraverts are well suited for sales because they love interacting with others and engaging them in the sales process.
2. How sociable are you?
Sociability is an aspect of extraversion. Highly sociable agents genuinely enjoy people. They are outgoing and actively seek out the company of others. Most top performers score high on sociability. Agents with low sociability usually prefer to work alone or one-on-one. Since they have more difficulty forming relationships, they are more likely to find the sales process to be challenging.
3. Are you assertive, aggressive, or compliant?
Many people confuse assertiveness with being aggressive. Assertive individuals express their feelings with confidence and clarity. They stand up for their rights and resist letting others take advantage of them. They express their viewpoint clearly without becoming hostile or angry. In contrast, the aggressive person is usually self-centered, inconsiderate, hostile, and arrogant. Compliant individuals lack assertiveness. They prefer to remain in the background and let others make decisions. They can appear weak and as a result, may have difficulty guiding the sales process. Top performers normally score high on assertiveness.
4. How conscientious are you?
Top performers are conscientious. They are self-disciplined, ambitious and persistent in pursuing their goals. Agents who lack conscientiousness tend to be less ambitious and less interested in following plans to achieve specific outcomes. They are also distracted more easily.
5. Are you achievement-oriented?
McClelland’s research documented the “need for achievement.” This is an internal drive for excellence independent of external forces. Top performers are goal-oriented and score high on the need for achievement. They strive to outpace their personal best and to outperform other competitors. Agents with low achievement orientation do not feel the drive to compete or to perform at top levels.
6. How dependable are you?
Dependability is one of the most critical factors needed for real estate success. When agents are dependable, you can count on them to do what they say they will do, show up on time for appointments, and to follow-up on what they promise. They utilize their time wisely and keep focused on the job at hand. When agents lack dependability, they lack effective time management skills, allow interruptions to disrupt important activities, and often fail to make good on what they promise.
7. Emotional resilience
To succeed in real estate, you must have a thick skin. When everything is falling apart, the agent who has emotional resilience stays calm and relaxed. Emotionally resilient agents do not allow difficult clients or crazy situations to get the best of them. When things go wrong, they keep moving forward rather than dwelling on the negative. Agents with low emotional resilience, however, often succumb to the stress of the business and ultimately end up leaving it.
Clearly, to succeed in real estate, you need to enjoy people, must be able to assert yourself when necessary, be dependable, and have the ability to bounce back from rejection. For example, an agent who scores low on dependability will be late for appointments, will not follow up in a timely fashion, and as a result, will not receive referrals on a regular basis. Someone who lacks resilience will be stopped by rejection. Someone who lacks assertiveness will have difficulty closing the sale. Ultimately, it is these personality traits that determine who becomes a top performer and who does not.
What other factors influence sales success? An upcoming column will reveal that information.
Bernice Ross is an owner of Realestatecoach.com and can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com.
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