Go, Team (Posted March 7, 2016)

Recently, I had the chance to meet two different real estate agents who have different approaches to their business.  Both of them are very successful, so their approaches to their business obviously work very well for them, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, I believe, the biggest reason they’re as successful as they are is due to what they have in common.  Let me explain.

Agent A works independently.  She doesn’t have assistants, associate agents, or other people who report directly to her, and she gets a lot more done in a single day than many lesser agents accomplish in a week.  Agent B has amassed a large team with ranks of assistants, agents, and other support staff to keep this machine she has built running at optimal speed and efficiency.  Agent A has gone head to head with big-team agents in competing for big-ticket listings, and she’s come out on top.   Agent B, along with her team, has created a referral-generating system that is a sight to behold – and their hit rate with those referrals is incredibly high.  At the end of the year, it’s very likely that their individual paychecks are quite similar in size. 

So, what’s this . . . thing that they share that makes them successful?  The answer may be so obvious you just might throw something at your computer screen or reflexively kick a small dog.  For the safety of your technology and all living creatures around you, I’ll wait until you put down anything you might be holding in your hand and clear the room of all pets.  Are we good? 

They give PERSONAL attention to each and every client.  In the case of Agent A, that is one of the biggest reasons she’s been able to go head to head with big-team agents and win the prestigious listings: she makes it very clear to the client that SHE’S IT – they won’t be speaking with an assistant or a flunky who will have to take a message and get back to them once they’ve been able to get in touch with her.  In the case of Agent B, while she has an army of people generating a lot of business and working on details in the background, she’s the person with whom the client ALWAYS has contact.  Because of that, a big part of her referral-generating system comes from her VERY SATISFIED past clients – the same can be said for Agent A. 

Another agent I know – we’ll call her “C” – has told me numerous times that real estate is a numbers game.  She’s gone so far as to tell me that she’s figured out almost the exact number of times she needs to hear “no” before she gets to a “yes” – and she looks forward to each “no” as it tells her how much closer she is to a “yes”.  Many – perhaps too many – real estate agents view their business as ONLY a numbers game, so they build teams and processes to push as many people through as possible.  When deals don’t work out, it’s okay for them because they just keep filling the pipeline with more people and more deals.  My friend “C”, while she plays the numbers game, is very much like Agents A & B.  She gives personal attention to assure the deal goes through as seamlessly as possible and her clients are happy at the end of it all – and because they’re happy, they LOVE referring their friends.  After all’s said and done, working with referrals is a lot easier than having to find new customers constantly to fill an inefficient pipeline.  You might say it’s as easy as A, B, C.