Are you set up for success in 2016? Join 2,500 real estate industry leaders Aug. 4-7, 2015, at Inman Connect in San Francisco. Get Connected with the people and ideas that will inspire you and take your business to new heights. Register today and save $100 with code Readers.
No matter what the latest technology trend, real estate is still a business that relies on personal relationships to get things done. That’s why so many of the best and brightest take the time out of their busy schedules to meet and network with one another at conferences, like Inman Connect, Aug. 4-7 in San Francisco. (Note: Save $100 at Connect when you use code ‘Readers’ at checkout.)
There is no better way for agents and brokers to earn referrals than meeting like-minded professionals face to face, establishing lasting relationships that lead to business success.
But with the din of a large conference, how do you go about building these relationships? Follow the lead of Beverly Hills luxury mega-broker and TV star Mauricio Umansky.
Mauricio Umansky with Publisher Brad Inman.
As a presenter at Inman Connect New York, Umansky showed us all, through words and actions, how to get the most out of a conference like Connect.
Here are three things you can learn from Mauricio to help you land more referrals from conferences:
1. Be yourself, and be excellent.
Conferences like Connect are filled with the best and brightest in the industry who are there to meet people like you. That means the best advice is to be yourself — your most excellent self.
Umansky demonstrated this with his passionate and powerful talk from the stage at Connect, showcasing his passion, knowledge and affable personality to everyone in the room.
Whether you’re on stage or not, use Connect to talk with like-minded people, share your passion, showcase your knowledge and spend time investing in others, to build new, valuable relationships that will pay off down the line.
2. Talk to everyone.
Celebrities like Umansky could be forgiven for whisking in and out of a conference after a talk. Pressing demands, limited time and other priorities are always challenges to any successful person’s time.
But Umansky didn’t sneak out the back door after his talk. He worked the entire conference floor, talking to everyone. Going from booth to booth, meeting entrepreneurs. Stopping frequently for conversations and the occasional “selfie” with new agents who wanted a bit of advice.
But he wasn’t just doling out insight, he was gleaning it, too. Soaking up information and asking thoughtful questions throughout.
Take a tip from Mauricio — no matter how tempting it is to get back to your phone to answer email, resist the urge and talk to the people around you. It’s those conversations that create new opportunities. Your email will still be there later.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.
The different viewpoints, perspectives and experiences of people at conferences is what makes the conference experience so rich. Don’t just stick with the people you know; push yourself to talk to a stranger, sit down with a new group for lunch or show up at an event where you don’t know anyone.
The worst thing you can do at a conference is play it safe. Talk to a few close friends, stay in your hotel room after hours and stay buried in your phone. Do that, and you’ll have little to show for your investment.
But if you embrace diversity, take chances and get outside of your comfort zone, you’ll meet new personalities and build new relationships that can transform your business.
Whether you’re an agent just getting started, an entrepreneur looking for leads or a seasoned executive trying to keep up on the pulse of the latest technology, getting out of your comfort zone is where you’ll find the rich opportunities that conferences can create — if only you’d let them.
As Umansky told Publisher Brad Inman, “Your event is one-of-a-kind, Brad. It is a diverse crowd from everywhere that I could not meet anywhere else.”
Seek the value from that diversity to get the most out of your conference experience.
Use these tips to your benefit at Inman Connect
The name for Inman’s four-day conference this Aug. 4-7, “Connect,” is no accident. Over the past 18 years, the event, which is home to 2,500 top industry professionals, has been the birthplace of partnerships and deal-making that have created new companies, launched new brands, and led to a dizzying number of referrals for the agents and brokers who attend.
From the biggest names in the industry to the newly minted agents trying to up their game and make their mark, Inman Connect is the place where the best and brightest come to build their business.
Which is why Umansky will be back at Inman Connect San Francisco Aug. 4-7 — on the stage and in the hallways. You can’t miss him.
Along with 150 speakers on a wide range of important and interesting topics, Connect is a trifecta: Best practices, new connections and more referrals equal new business.
