20 Apr Everything To Anybody, All of The Time.
Everything To Anybody, All of the Time.
The fixation with 'lead generation' continues unabated.
Here's the problem with tech-generated 'leads' - they don't eliminate the values mismatch.
Of course they provide you with contact details of someone that might be interest in selling their home and that's about as far as it goes.
An 'opportunity' of selling a service to a complete stranger. Someone that by default has never heard of your agency. If they had, they would have picked up the phone and called.
They didn't and it's safe to assume they know nothing about your agency.
Since you know nothing about the lead, it's no more than a 'blind-date'.
If you manage to persuade the potential client to go on this 'date', this is how it plays out:
Small-talk to break the ice and then the ubiquitous questioning by the agent, designed to uncover reasons for the move etc.
The "value-added pitch". The trial close. Overcoming objections. Close. Once more for luck.
"We have other agents to see. We'll let you know."
They didn't - and so you rang to "keep in touch" and find out the result of your hour long pitch.
Bad news, I'm afraid. They preferred another agency, so now begins the process of torturing yourself with self-doubt and delusion. Another agency won the instruction because of an inflated valuation, or lower fee. That's what you tell yourself.
You need consoling because you're used to winning. Winning feels great. Winning regularly feels even greater. It's your brain rewarding you with a 'hit' of dopamine - the addictive chemical neurotransmitter that we feel when something pleasurable happens.
It's the brain saying "Do that again."
Problem is, though, that when the body gets used to the dopamine, it requires a stronger 'hit' next time. And the time after that.
So when we get rejection, we get withdrawl symptoms and look for any old excuse.
More often it's the valuation or the fee that the agents tell themselves.
Here's the truth - there was a values mismatch. The two sides didn't gel.
If you had bothered to find out more about the potential client before you pitch up and more importantly told them what you look for in any client, things would have turned out differently. Even Tinder does a better job.
That values mismatch?
A potential client that values dependability, teamwork, patience invites an agent that talks about aggressive marketing, tough negotiation and performance. Because that's who they are. The client had no idea.
Or another potential client that values spontaneity, risk and courage somehow agrees to invite, for an appraisal, an agent that explains systems and process, precision and network support. Because that's who they are. The client had no idea.
The energy, though, is mismatched. The unspoken goals of the agent and those of the seller aren't in-sync.
The seller's interest has turned from curious to apathy. They're not listening now to what the agent is saying. All they need now is to know your valuation. Not even the fee because they've already made up their mind. They're simply being polite, before you're shown the door.
Those clueless agents that trial close and "add value", as one trainer puts it, are digging themselves a deeper hole.
How much easier will it be if you're not that stranger knocking on the door of someone you don't know - someone, instead, that knows all about your values and beliefs. They already know and like what they have seen, heard and read. They're pretty much sold on you before you meet.
All you have to do is simply be your authentic self. No push. No sell. Relax - you've got this.
Getting those potential clients requires one thing - a Personal Brand.
Not the micro-celebrity, reputation, based brand. Turning up in your flash car, suited and booted or with the designer-dress look. That might win the instruction for some, as the seller is temporarily distracted, but it's not a done-deal before you arrive.
The potential client being aware of you, or even 'impressed' when you meet them, isn't the same as them feeling connected.
The potential client that isn't considering any other offer. You're the one that they want. It's always been you. That's connection. It's sadly missing in real estate.
Personal Brand does everything for you. It attracts the best-fit client where there is an energy match. Where there is a values match. Where, unlike for most estate agents, there is respect. It does one other thing very well - it repels those that aren't a best-fit.
Saving you time, money and effort that you can devote elsewhere.
Everything to anybody, all of the time. Leave that to the mediocre-middle agencies. Those chasing after anybody with a warm pulse. All the while trying to convince and convert. Happy to be compared and telling themselves that "every NO is one step closer to a YES."
The transactional agents. Those without a clearly defined Personal Brand. Those happy to be considered "one of the least trusted of professions." Those for whom quantity more than makes up for quality. Those that are drowning in a sea of debt and cloaked in a lifejacket of other people's money.
Personal Brand and Corporate Brand aren't mutually exclusive. It's not one or the other. It's weaving them into each other. Where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Nobody does it better - here's how to reach me when you're tired of playing small.
e:// chris@andsothestorybegan.co.uk
Mob: (44) 07369251435
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Chris.
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