What do people say and think about you? Not just your clients, but your co-workers, your friends, other agents and vendors? Real estate is an incredibly relational business, and what people think about you matters.
Many an agent has hoped to have split business and personal images, but I’m here to tell you that it is virtually impossible to pull this off in our field.
So paying a little attention to your reputation throughout your career can only help. Here are some ideas for getting a little buzz going about you and your business.
Decide what you’re about as a person
One of the bigger issues we tend to have as agents is that we love to spread ourselves thin and to try to be all things to all people. The problem with this is that we aren’t actually able to be passionate and invested in everything — there’s simply not enough time and money.
So the best thing you can do is decide what things you really care about and dive into them.
Do you have a personal investment in cancer awareness? Local high school sports? Shelter animals? Whatever it is, make sure that it really lines up with something that is actually important to you and something that you’re already somewhat invested in.
In the end, this will pay off for you because you will be genuine, and you won’t burn out on your efforts. People will respond to your true passion and relate to you in this way.
Tell people about the things you do
Where I am in the Midwest, we’re raised to humbly do good deeds in secret. But, did you know that you can have a business purpose and do good in the world?
When Hurricane Harvey hit, Keller Williams sent trucks and a bunch of agents to Texas to help with hurricane relief, and so did many other real estate firms; and by all indications, they made a serious impact there.
But did they also tell the world about what their company was doing? Of course, because it’s important to them that people relate what they did with who they are as a company.
If people don’t know what you do as an agent to better the world, then they won’t have the opportunity to support you and the cause by referring you business and doing business with you.
So don’t be bashful — tell them!
Don’t settle for satisfaction
I recently read the excellent book Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless: How to Make Customers Love You, Keep Them Coming Back and Tell Everyone They Know, and it espouses the idea that if we simply settle for “satisfied,” we’ll end up with a bored, unengaged client base, rather than a passionate and truly loyal one.
If you are going to have great PR, then you have to be great at your job. You can’t do the minimum and hope that it will generate referrals and repeat business.
The very best agents are always improving — always asking themselves how to make the client experience even better and more amazing.
Are you looking for constant improvement and growth, or are you trying to do the least possible and get as much Netflix in as you can? Your overall image will suffer if you aren’t continually focusing on improvement.
Gather and promote testimonials
People don’t generally care what you say about yourself or your business, but they really care what other people say about you and your business.
Among the most powerful PR strategies available is to simply let other people say good things about you.
Do you want a message to get out about your care for the community? Ask someone in the community who has experienced this to share it about you. That’s something that will really get you noticed.
These are just a few of the ways you can get the word out about how amazing you are. Try them out, and really get people to sing your praises.
Matt Ashworth is the broker/owner of Ashworth Real Estate in the Twin Cities Metro area. Follow him on Facebook.
