At Inman Connect Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 1, 2024, the noise and misinformation will be banished, all your big questions will be answered, and new business opportunities will be revealed. Join us.
The biggest difference between an individual agent and a team is simply who completes each task. As agents, we should all prospect, list, show properties and negotiate agreements. If we focus solely on those four things and delegate everything else to systems or assistants, it creates leverage and allows us to spend our time on dollar-productive activities and the things in life we value more than money.
The industry as we know it has been going through some massive changes all at once. The class action lawsuits and subsequent settlements, increased interest rates, rising inflation, an inability to insure properties in some markets, and a multitude of other conditions have all had an impact on the ease of doing business today. While we can’t change market conditions, we can change what we focus on and how we message our clients, companies and teams.
Focus determines outcome, no matter the market
It has always been fascinating for me to watch two agents in the same market getting different results. One will state that there’s no inventory, while the other will focus on listings and gain market share. The market is the same for both, but it’s their focus that determines the outcome.
According to a Harvard University Study on “Moving in America,” a whopping 13 percent of the U.S. population (homeowners and renters) move every year. During the recent Great Recession, home sales from 2008-2012 decreased an average of 20 percent. However, the life events that cause people to move continue in challenging markets — and even in the worst of markets.
We refer to this as the “River of Real Estate.” The River of Real Estate continues to flow like the mighty Mississippi, regardless of market conditions. Knowing that people have life events that continue to happen changes how we should communicate with today’s consumer.
Using language infused with emotional intelligence (EI) in our messaging, along with understanding that people want to move but may feel stuck or frustrated and don’t see options, allows us opportunities to create business while others are focused on threats and questioning why their business is down.
Coach Cleve Gaddis, while presenting at a coaches’ training, noted that we must become “options dealers” and provide choices that allow consumers options to either move forward or not. Either way, consumers should feel well informed to make clear, educated decisions that are the best for their particular situation.
Here’s an example of EI messaging that works
“I can imagine how frustrating it has been knowing that you want to move and not being able to see a clear path forward. The good news is rates have recently dropped and with our new “Interest Rate Offset System,” there may be some new options you may want to consider. Can I drop by and share these options with you and see if it makes sense to move forward?”
We use what we call “threat elimination systems” to address the problems our clients have. We use them to overcome objections and help our clients get back on track in their homebuying or selling journey. We also use an objection skill set journal to not only track our clients’ objections but as a means of determining how to respond to them and what resources we have at our disposal to address those objections and become effective “options dealers.”
As a team leader, we have the opportunity to provide leadership and intentionally create a culture of productivity. It’s up to us to do a daily huddle, practice scripts and role play, and get in the boat with the members of the team. That means we prospect together as a team; the results will always be better than simply sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to change.
We can’t change the market, but we can change our level of activity and commitment.
