The perfect real estate agent, while often replicated, is never duplicated. If for nothing else, the attributes that make up today’s best agents are more subjective than anything else.
What makes a perfect real estate agent is no more cut and dried than political orientations or one’s inclination toward a favorite food; these things are inherently subjective.
Truth be told, today’s best agents represent both ends of the spectrum, and everywhere in between. Perhaps that’s why so many people are drawn to the industry; it allows you to experience success in more ways than one — and on your own terms.
Droves of real estate agents have realized unparalleled success through their own methods; so who am I to say what makes a perfect real estate agent?
However, I am convinced that today’s best real estate agents share several universal qualities, in addition to the rest of their arsenal.
These qualities, which I will outline below, are entirely capable of making a good real estate agent a great one. Let’s take a look at the qualities I consider to be invaluable to today’s best real estate agents:
The latest technologies cannot be ignored
The advent of technology has benefited professionals in nearly every industry. If for nothing else, technology is essentially a vehicle to make our lives easier in every respect. New technologies have made it easier to conduct business on more than one level.
Take social media for example; it’s enabled agents to remain in contact with thousands of clients through the click of a button. It’s no wonder that social media platforms have become synonymous with just about every successful business endeavor in recent history.
No other outlet has the potential to reach more people with less effort. Curating the right content in a thought-provoking manner can engage more people than you ever thought possible, and all it takes is a few minutes a day.
There is nothing else, at least that I am aware of, that can rival the return on investment (ROI) from a properly run social media campaign. For the cost of minutes a day, you can be put in front of the entire world.
Real estate is, and always will be, a people business. The relationships you foster and cater to as a real estate agent have the ability to come back tenfold, given the nature of the industry. A technology that keeps you in front of your respective clients is invaluable.
If you aren’t convinced this is a salient point, consider the alternative: not using the latest technological trends. It’s safe to assume that the agents neglecting to adopt new trends will already be at a significant disadvantage: competitors will have the immediate advantage.
Persistence pays off
For the most part, agents are tasked with facilitating real estate transactions that might as well be in a foreign language to the average buyer and seller; they are essentially hired to help buyers and sellers navigate a complex process from beginning to end.
It is important to note, however, that the end of a transaction is not necessarily the same for agents as it is for buyers and sellers.
In fact, you could argue that real estate agents have to remain ever more vigilant in their efforts to become the best once they complete a deal.
At the very least, their recent success will be short-lived if they can’t figure out where their next deal is coming from. When buyers and sellers kick up their feet after a lengthy process, agents must double their efforts to see to it that their pipeline is full and their list of contacts is larger than it was at the start of the previous transaction.
Remember, real estate is a people business, and every deal you expedite presents more opportunities to grow your network. Every transaction has several moving pieces, each of which will most likely correspond to an additional contact.
Provided you closed the deal on good terms with everyone involved, there is no reason to suspect you couldn’t work with the same people on a future deal.
The best agents will not cut ties with contacts once a deal is complete, but rather strengthen them. Make an effort to remain in contact with those you built a working rapport with; take them out for coffee after a deal or even grab some lunch.
Just because the deal is over doesn’t mean the relationships you built have to follow suit.
Success favors the proactive
Fortune rarely favors the timid, and real estate agents are no exception to the rule. The best real estate agents exhibit a propensity toward action.
Those who have demonstrated that they are capable of being proactive, as opposed to reactive, have found themselves on the winning side of things more often than not.
You will need to take action into your own hands; idly waiting by is not an option in an industry where the speed of implementation might be the only thing that separates a good agent from a great one.
If real estate is truly a people business, you must do everything in your power to establish meaningful relationships.
“Do everything you can do, do it consistently for a period of time, and naturally, your sphere of influence will grow,” said Mo Dadkhah of the Main Street Real Estate Group.
Than Merrill is the founder and CEO of FortuneBuilders and CT Homes. Connect with Than on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter @ThanMerrill.
