When Money Speaks, The Truth Is Silent.

02 Dec When Money Speaks, The Truth Is Silent.

When Money Speaks, The Truth Is Silent.

A Russian proverb, brought to mind when reading an email "Sell it Like Serhant - How To Build Your Personal Brand".

Let me say straight away, I have huge respect for Ryan Serhant.

There are so many things that he does right and very few wrong.

It was the BLACK FRIDAY SALE and I had the opportunity to "enroll by 11/28 for only $397 - a saving of $600 off the regular price."

I downloaded more information and there it was, straight after "Dear Chris -

As a real estate agent, you have one job; Generate Leads."

That might be true in an industry dominated by transactional hucksters and charlatans but, if I'm honest, it is a strategy that hasn't served this industry well.

It has served a few incredibly well and Ryan Serhant is living testimony to that.

An incredibly successful New York, Los Angeles and Miami real estate brokerage, in the short space of 13 years, is quite some achievement. It's been achieved by hard work, enthusiasm and a willingness to do things differently.

But if realtors persist in referring to prospective clients as "leads", as though they were some lower-life form that will eventually cough up the cash. that's not the basis for an enduring relationship. It certainly makes creating a personal brand harder than it should be.

"You have very little morally persuasive power with people who can feel  your underlying contempt"  - Martin Luther King Jnr.

There are a few other examples.

Part of the course focuses on expanding the agent's "sphere of influence". Essentially, hitting on people at the Gym, at the coffee shop, the concierge, the barista, everyone and everywhere. So that when they come to sell, they think of you. And when their friends do likewise, you're the go-to realtor.

Here's where I have a problem with that ideology.

Making "friendships", building the "sphere of influence" might seem a sensible idea from the agents perspective.  But how about it from the other side. How about coming to understand that Ryan Serhant was interested in you because of what you could do for him? The underlying intent, to make money from you.

Doesn't leave a particularly pleasant taste in the mouth, but hey, it's nothing personal. It's simply business.

There's the me-too version of Keller Williams 8 x 8 process.  In this case, 3 x 5, that of making a scheduled number of calls on a specific number of platforms to your sphere of influence.  Just to touch base. Just so they don't forget who you are. Kinda suggests that the media content isn't that inspiring if it requires a regular call to remind them of you.

How about content so inspiring and remarkable that your audience anticipates hearing from you and shares your message with their friends?

The course says much about what its author has done and how by doing what he has done, you too can achieve success.  Follow this blueprint, along with every other realtor and you too can inherit the earth.

But it says little about his character.

Can we trust what he says?

Well, the jury's out.

"Offer ends Sunday, November 28, at Midnight EST"  says the pitch.

Accompanied by a series of emails that remind me there are only a few days left. Then hours left, in which to sign up.

But wait!

"Black Friday Sale Extended to Monday - Don't Miss Out!"

I did.

And then again, an email lands in my inbox on Wednesday 1st December.

"You have two choices right now, and it's time to decide. Are you in, or are you out.  Enroll now for only $397"

"What's the second choice?  Well, you could do nothing. You might think of that as not making a choice, but not making a choice is still a choice."

The source of that much-used quote is Jeffrey R. Holland, a leading member of The Church of the Latter Day Saints. 

Well, you might also think of that as rejecting the offer.

A decision based, not on doing nothing, but on congruence.

Was the content congruent throughout?

Offer ends then. Offer ends soon. Offer is extended. Offer is extended again.

Notwithstanding that the "Regular Price of $997" should be perceived as of value.

Especially since it was priced on his site originally at $1697.

That's huge bang for your bucks.

"55 chapters, 5+ Hours of video content, PLUS a 72- page brand strategy workbook. And, a 30-day pass to the members-only online group where there are monthly live Q&A with Ryan Serhant."

That's great value in anyone's language.

Apparently, "over 10,000 agents in 109 countries have already enrolled in our courses". Perhaps not just this course because why would you heavily discount something so valuable?

I'm asking myself, if there's a discount of  over $600 and the offer has been extended twice and reduced twice, might it not become even less expensive over time?

Let's overlay that thought on Ryan's own real estate business.

Does it have a Black Friday Sale? Are the fees negotiated down?

I'm guessing not because that would associate his agency with every other discount agency.

Then why is an online course so heavily discounted and why does the message lack congruence?

Is it because it isn't valuable, or because online courses promise so much and often don't deliver?

Here's the truth about Personal Branding.

It is about Core Identity.

It is about building a consistent content machine.

And it is about shouting a message from the rooftops.

But what you won't uncover from a template course is what that message should be.  Your identity, yes. But your message, that's key.

All too often, realtors talk about their goals, their success, their team, their competence and their ambition.

That works for the Ryan Serhant's, Gary Keller's and Grant Cardone's of this business.

Chasing fame and fortune because that's how they judge success.

But the world doesn't just comprise of those hustlers.

There's a spectrum of ability, of desire, of intent.

Personal Brand isn't about becoming a micro-celebrity in your community. Of being known to the widest group of people. It's about finding affinity with the right people. It's certainly not about taking advantage of others to further one's own ends. That's why estate agency suffers such a negative reputation.

That's alien to many realtors, of course, who wish to connect to anybody with a warm pulse.  But if you're looking for better clients, not more clients, finding affinity starts with repelling those that you don't want to work with.

So, No, the course wasn't right for me.

I felt the email pitch started strong and finished with a whimper.

But that's not to say there isn't plenty to be learnt for any realtor.

Particularly, copy Ryan's media company, Serhant Studios.

Serhant Studios is an in-house marketing arm and production company for the real estate and television endeavors.

The media arm has helped grow his business into the most followed real estate brand in the world and it includes a first-of-its-kind real estate media network, Listed.

It's not necessary to invest so heavily in owning your own media, but Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, Podcasts and e-books are a simple, low-cost place to begin. Don't rely on the platforms where you have no control (Instagram, Facebook etc), but use them to send viewers/listeners to platforms that you do own and control (Blog,Video, Podcast, Newsletter). Then tell them the story that only you can tell.

Build an audience that wants to hear from you. Have a clear and consistent message and shout it from the rooftops until the people that are looking for you, find you.

Money results from doing a job well. If it's the driving force for the work, there's a very good chance that it won't bring fulfillment.

"Earn £100 k per year with our self-employed model" is an expression that has seen a lot of PR exposure this year here in the UK.   Designed to attract agents so poor that all they will have, in time, might be money.

Far better to attract with values and beliefs that bring together a bullet-proof group of agents who are known, not for what they do, but for who they are.

That's Personal Brand.

That's The Truth.

Thanks, as always, for reading this far.

I've been involved with this Personal Brand 'thing' for over three years now and the more I come to understand about it, the simpler it gets. If you'd like some free advice, I'm always here.

chris@andsothestorybegan.co.uk

www.andsothestorybegan.co.uk