The first thing that you need to understand about all of these rejections, is that they are coming from people that do not know you, or give a shit about you and what you have to offer them.
Rejection.
From countless doors slammed in your face, to the angry expireds hanging up on you, rejection is one of the most prominent parts of your day-to-day life as a realtor.
And you know what the worst part about it is?
So many of you allow yourself to be defined by that rejection.
You actually allow that rejection to prevent you from making a real go of this real estate thing.
You abandon all of the hope, and motivation, and drive that you came into this career with because of these rejections.
That doesn’t just infuriate me; it breaks my heart for you. Seriously, I can’t explain how fired-up and sad I get every time I hear of an agent losing their passion because of rejection.
But at the end of the day, I am a doer.
I like action. Fuck that, I LOVE action. I crave it!
So rather than sit here and pity you, I am going to do something today to actually help you with this big bad rejection thing.
No I’m not going to tell you how to overcome the fear of rejection - your life coach, therapist, family, can spew that shit to you.
What I’m going to do in this article, is teach you how to prevent these rejections all together.
It’s going to require some work on your part (all things worth having do), but I know from previous experience that the tactics in this article work if you are willing to invest the energy or money to make them happen.
Building A Real Connection
The first thing that you need to understand about all of these rejections, is that they are coming from people that do not know you or give a shit about you and what you have to offer them.
They see you as just another salesperson.
Another billboard.
Another commercial.
You’re another someone that wants something from them. You’re almost like a predator to them. This is especially true with sellers.
So rather than coming right out as a stranger on the offensive (forcing them to be on the defensive), I would rather that you start your interactions with the purpose of building a real connection; a relationship.
This means you will have to invest the time to actually get to know one another. Here’s how that is done...
Getting To Know Your Ideal Clients
Before you can tactfully require your target market to get to know you, you need to get to know them.
Think of this like being on a first date. If you sit there and drone on and on about yourself the whole time, you’re going to come off like an arrogant, self-absorbed, asshole and you probably won’t get a second date. Plus, if you don’t invest the energy to get to know them you won’t know if they are even worth pursuing a relationship with, right?
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So instead what you need to do is get to know your target, or “ideal clients” on a deep level.
I want you to ask yourself the following question which will transform your entire real estate career from here on out…
“Who are your dream clients?”
I’m being totally serious here. I want you to think very seriously about who your ideal clients are. If you could wake up in the morning and help anyone buy or sell real estate, who would that person be?
Now I want you to create a real profile of that person. Within that profile I want you to include as many details about the demographics of that person as possible. Ask yourself questions like:
How old are they (35-45)?
What are their biggest problems?
Do they have children, and if so how old are they (infant, teens, adult)?
How much money do they make?
If you need help coming up with these questions, feel free to reach out to me! That’s what I am here for silly goose ; )
Once you have answered all of these questions, I want you to create an actual physical and digital profile of them as though they are answering the questions themselves and attach a picture of what you imagine them to look like. Pretend you arethem creating a profile about themselves.
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Now that you have a better understanding of your ideal client, you will be better equipped to position your message in order to help them get to know you.
Allowing Them To Know You
I’ve said it many times before, but this is an appropriate time to say it again. People buy from people; not businesses.
So stop constantly trying to shove the fact that you are a real estate professional down their throats and allow them to get to know you the person!
This is can be done completely digitally with your independent real estate website and social media.
Your Real Estate Website’s About Me Page
The “About Me” page of real estate website is one of the most commonly misunderstood and under-utilized tools at a real estate agent’s disposal.
More often than not, you guys use this page as an opportunity to touch on your educational background, the jobs you’ve had in the past, blah blah blah.
Guess what?
Nobody gives a shit!
Stop using this page as a run-on version of your resume or LinkedIn profile and turn it into an opportunity for people to feel a real connection to you as a person first, then a professional.
In order to do this, you are going to need to write the content of your page in a way that sparks an emotional response, fosters a sense of intrigue, and prompts visitors of your site to want to get to know you better.
You want them feeling as though they have a sense of who you are when they read this page.
I know what you’re thinking - Yikes! Sounds like a tall order Sarah!
It’s really not as hard as it sounds.
Here is how I write powerful and high-conversion About Me pages for real estate agents that make people fall in love with them.
First, I get to know their ideal clients so that I have a clear understanding of what parts of the agent’s personality, life, and business I need to incorporate to help them resonate.
Then I take a very strategic approach to answering the following questions within the content:
Who is the agent?
What makes them tick?
What do they believe in?
Why do they love what they do?
Why do they choose to live in and love their community?
What is the best part of their job?
What is their mission in this life and why?
Now, keep in mind that this is not the time for you to repeat all of those bullshit and ridiculously redundant adjectives like “experienced, trustworthy, and reliable” that every one of you uses to beef the content up.
The point here is for you to stand out, not sound like everyone else.
Your Social Media Presence
Social media is quite frankly the most misunderstood, misused, and underutilized tools at a real estate agent’s disposal and it baffles me every single day.
Social media platforms like SnapChat, Instagram, and Facebook are your opportunity to tell stories that make people connect with you and actually CARE about you.
That’s why they call them “stories”.
For decades billion-dollar brands have spent a fortune for television commercials that don’t have the same powerful impact your FREE social media presence can.
The fact that so many of you are afraid or disillusioned by social media terrifies me for you because what you don’t realize is that the top-producers nationwide DO understand social media and how to leverage it.
And you know what that means?
The next time the market softens and there are less clients to go around, those are the people that will end up with all of the clients and those of you without a fat bank account to keep you afloat are going to find yourselves job hunting.
Please stop ignoring social media or treating it like one long commercial. You need to be creating stories about your day-to-day life. Tell the stories of your clients’. Tell the stories of the homes you sell. Tell as many stories as you possibly can.
Every single day.
These stories will help people to get to know you as a person, not just as someone that keeps asking them for business.
They already get that you sell real estate. What they don’t get is why they should care or why they should be eager to do that with you.
Social media is your chance to show them (not tell them) why.
Positioning Yourself As A Digital Ambassador
Are you ready to get very, very, very, very busy?
It is time to reinvent yourself (again).
Today, I want you to begin your metamorphosis into the digital ambassador of your area.
I say "begin" because this is going to be an ongoing process that will not end until you retire. In fact, it is going to require you to put forth effort 7 days a week until you cash your final commission check.
But I pinky-swear-promise you it will be worth every single second you invest.
The way that you do this is to become the expert on everything there is to know and do in your area by creating content about it from your point of view.
For example, if you want to be the number one agent in Seattle, Washington, I want you to go to every business, school, police department, hospital, event, etc. that exists in Seattle and start talking about them. You can do this with blogs,vlogs, and social media.
There are two immediate benefits to becoming the digital ambassador of your area.
Every person you touch, talk to, interview, will likely share your post to their following as well.
The residents of the area, and those looking to move there, will recognize you as the expert on the area. Your name will actually become synonymous with the town and that is the goal of all real estate marketers.
This will require you to develop the habit of constantly pulling out your phone and creating content. If you have an assistant, they can help you.
f you can afford it, I would even suggest you hire someone like an aspiring photographer/videographer to follow you around documenting your every move. Make sure they are capturing every inspiring, motivational, educational moment and then use it to help you create a beautiful and powerful presence on your social media.
Creating Absurd Amounts Of Digital Content
ontent curation is everything people.
Seriously, I know you think I am biased because I am a writer, but what you need to understand is that content curation is transforming how everyone does business, including the biggest brands in the world.
Consumers crave content.
It is your job to deliver it to them.
The thing is, you need to be creating and leveraging content in a way that is in direct conflict of your instincts.
What you need to do is create blog posts, vlogs, books, images, videos, podcasts, etc. thatare almost entirely in the best interest of your followers a.k.a prospects a.k.a clients.
I take this very seriously with my clients and I am very, very firm on the importance of this point.
80 percent of the content that you put out for the world to consume needs to be entirely about them and for the purpose of benefiting them. The other 20 percent can be promotional, but not a lick more than 20 percent.
The more content that you create, the more opportunity that you have to showcase yourself as an expert, friend, confidant, and eventually realtor.
In terms of actual amounts, this is the bare minimum amount of content you should be creating EVERY week:
1-2 blogs per week
1-2 long form videos
50 social media posts
I’m not kidding either when I tell you that this is the absolute bare minimum. The people that are really killing it in the real estate game, are doing a lot more than this. However, they are also creating the right types of content with the intention of delivering value, rather than berating people with the fact that they are a realtor and that people should hire them to buy or sell.
Converting Skeptics Into True Believers
Even after you do all of this, there are still going to be people that are hesitant to place their trust in you. That’s perfectly fine and normal.
All this means is that you need to implement a few more tools to get them to see the light.
They are still looking for proof that they would be wise to trust you with a major financial decision in their lives so it is your job to give that to them.
No, I’m not talking about more convincing from you.
I’m talking about convincing from their peers that you really are the best at what you do.
I’m talking about social proof.
Implementing Social Proof
Social proof can be achieved in a couple of different ways. The two most common being used today, are reviews and social media engagement.
You need to be leveraging testimonials and reviews that past clients have given you for all they are worth.
This means strategically featuring them in key locations on your website, as well as, on your social media platforms.
You can also increase your conversion rates with social proof on your social media accounts.
Have you ever noticed that you tend to click on posts or articles that have thousands of views, likes, and comments over the ones that only have a few?
That is because you are curious to read, hear, see, watch what everyone else already has.
It’s what we call the bandwagon effect.
That is an example of social proof at work.
You can certainly pay for engagement like that (to some extent), but you can also make it happen organically by creating truly valuable, evergreen content that people want to consume.
As your skeptics see more and more people liking and engaging with what you have to say, they too will be convinced that you aren’t just any average realtor. They will be convinced that you should be their realtor because they will now trust you.
With that trust, their instinct to reject you will dissipate and their eagerness to hire you will grow.
This is the moment when people start chasing you instead of the other way around. And as someone that has experienced that moment, that shift, let me tell you, it is invigorating.
Shut Up & Put Up
At the end of the day, it is one thing to talk the talk, but you need to be able to walk the walk.
As my clients know, it doesn’t matter how many people I attract to you with my writing and coaching, if you don’t do your part of the job, it is all a waste.
If you don’t follow-up and do all of the things that you say you’re going to, you will fail at this.
Don’t invest a ton of time and money into building a business and a brand if you don't have the ability and willingness it takes to operate and grow a business.
One of the main reasons I reject or fire clients, is because I don’t want to write for, or coach anyone that doesn’t truly want to do what it takes to dominate their market.
At some point, that means that you need to walk the walk.
And that is entirely on you.
Nobody can do that for you.
But if you truly believe that you have what it takes to to be the top agent in your area, to be the only agent anyone with half a brain could want as their agent, I can help you get there.
It just takes action and commitment on your part.
Commitment to do the work.
Commitment to succeed.
Commitment to yourself.
Commitment to take action. Starting right fucking now.
I can’t express how humbled and honored I am that you took all of this time out of your busy day to read my advice to you. I wrote this article because I am insatiably passionate about helping realtors succeed in this game. I want so much success for you and I know that this fear of rejection is one of the biggest obstacles in your way.
All I ask at this point, is that if you got anything out of this article, whether it be a laugh, a new perspective, or perhaps some inspiration for an action plan, that you subscribe to my mailing list and share this article on your social media so that more people have the opportunity to do the same.
Now stop listening to me and start taking action.
