“Don’t adapt to the energy in the room, influence the energy in the room” – Anonymous
One of my favorite quotes! So, what drives influence — the capacity to affect people, or even an industry, and stay in business? Expertise. Focus. Mindset.
There is no manual for a successful real estate career. Ninety percent of those who start won’t be here in five years. Despite the tests, licensing, brokerage support, technology and training, it’s the experience of working and devoting yourself to your business in real estate that drives success, right?
No one trains you for every scenario in your career. It’s built on what you’ve learned, one success after another, that creates a thriving book of business and deep insight.
Industry insight is the deep wisdom that is collected along your career journey.
It influences every decision you make on behalf of a client and in your brand. It’s also learned from the shared wisdom (and even failure) from others, and once put into action, it’s what separates the great real estate careers from the mediocre.
At Inman Connect Now, we collect the best insight from experts across the country to take action on today.
How do you turn insight into influence?
Here are some tips:
1. Listen
By listening and understanding your client’s goals and needs, you can extrapolate information and expertise from your own experience or others’ to make sure they see the “big picture” from data, all the way down to the small details of buying or selling.
What is it that you feel short-sighted about? Presenting the best offers? Pricing strategies? Building a team? Deploying new technology?
Tip: If you feel like you need more answers to questions in real estate than you’re getting from colleagues, training, or brokerage, attending industry webinars and events can fill in the gaps — and give you ideas to implement.
2. Be clear on the value of your expertise
Knowing your value is not only about closed deals, but it’s also about hearts captured through amazing service and having the confidence to handle anything that comes your way.
That is influence. Not adaptation.
Tip: Although technology can automate more and more of the transaction, only humans and our relationships to one another can capture the nurturing, problem-solving, timing and negotiation that strengthens your edge among the plenty of choices of agents out there for prospects.
3. Always be learning
Real estate cycles come and go, shift and pivot, go up and come down. Looking upstream with experienced peers from across the country who have built on success cycle after cycle helps you discover and learn the best tactics for any market.
Tip: With access to other agents and brokers with vast experience, you learn by example. Real estate “war stories” from across the country sharpen your tools and insight. You know what happens when you get a community of professionals in a room, right?
4. Working on your business, not just in it
Thinking like a CEO is the name of the game. Beyond operations, there is R&D (research and development) delegation, P&L (profits and losses), marketing, prospecting, building to scale, managing your life and structuring your day. This is not a skill set learned in school.
Tip: Sharpen that toolbox at Inman Connect Now, work on your business for a day, not in it, and you’ll benefit from access to deep insight every month!
5. Stay connected
Your plan for collecting industry insight and knowledge must be consistent. How and when is up to you, but at Inman Connect Now and Inman Connect, our goal is to keep you connected, so you are making the most of your time with the best and brightest in real estate.
I think our real estate community is a great one to stay connected to, just for that reason. I hope you’ll join us on April 20 at Inman Connect Now, our digital event spring market kickoff! Gain and share valuable insights, and put them into action.
Choose your plan to stay connected to the industry: Go monthly, or bundle your events for the best investment of all. This month’s insights?
- Killing it in a seller’s market
- Market trends happening in 2021
- An insider’s guide to Clubhouse
- Boots on the ground: Tactics for working with low inventory
- Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s strategic
- And more
Begin the day with me on the LIVE Morning Show! See you there!