Kill Your False Belief Patterns.

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ChrisArnold

Sunday, 12 July 2020

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Kill Your False Belief Patterns -

before they kill you!

False belief patterns are formed from our experiences, good and bad, about everything that happens around us.

They start out as the story that we tell ourselves and the more that story is told, the more believable it becomes.

In estate agency, agents are told a 'story' by their peers, by the training 'gurus', by the media and they persistently tell themselves that story.

To the extent that whenever they hear these beliefs repeated, they believe them true.

That's a dangerous place to live.

A very insular world where other opportunities that might allow us to grow, as human beings and certainly as an agent, are routinely dismissed.

Here's a dozen false beliefs that are commonplace:

#1 What has worked in the past will work again.

Irrespective of how well it may have worked, the world and everyone in it changes. There's no certainty that it will work this time. It's a false belief.

#2 What has worked for someone else, will also work for you.

Said differently, the basis of the millionaire-mindset real estate coaching program. Follow these systems and mindset and you too can achieve success. However, the first Law of Probability states that the results of one chance event have no effect on the results of subsequent chance events. Tell that to Keller Williams and their disciples that cling to that belief.

#3 In order to be a 'better' agent, you have to work on your weaknesses.

Here's the truth. It's hard to improve a weakness without comprising a strength. Nobody has it all. Vendors look for an agent at the top of their game - not for a well-rounded individual who appeals to a wide audience. Focus on your strengths. Have belief in where you are - not where others would have you be.

#4 Estate agents need as many instructions as they can handle.

Agents need better instructions, not more! Some instructions aren't worth the effort. So an agency that chases any vendor with a warm pulse is setting itself up to fail. Busy fools that they are. Let them harbor that belief.

#5 I'm not good enough.

Just because other agencies appear more successful, doesn't mean your agency isn't good enough. If you can win an instruction, negotiate the offers and complete the sale, you're good enough. Being promised 'better' doesn't often work because every other agency has been promised the very same thing.

#6 More reach, specifically with the portals, is the desired goal.

The more people that see your ad, the better the chance of it bringing results. Except that isn't the case. Agencies need the right people to see your ad. Not the most people. If a million people see your ad and 999,000 couldn't care less, that's not reach. That's foolish.

#7 Advertising is absolutely essential to getting attention.

Back in the 70's, that might have been the case. But consumers are so much more sophisticated fifty years on. They have at their disposal ad blockers, fast forward T.V remotes, spam filters and T.P.S to stop the interruption. What's more important than advertising is MESSAGE. Does your agency have something worth saying?

#8 Persistence wins the day - never take No for an answer.

Handle objections, trial close, stack the frame. There's a social cue when an agent hears the word No. It means that your offer/presentation wasn't good enough. Take a hint - go back and work on making it better. Don't add insult to injury by asking vendors to change their mind.

#9 Become the digital mayor of your town.

It's OK being the local celebrity, waving to those that recognize you from the videos, YouTube, Facebook Live and Instagram but don't buy what you're selling. Because they don't know you. To them, you're still just a recognizable estate agent - no better, no worse. It requires more than 'celebrity' - it requires relationship and my guess is that most agents are a long way from that in their community.

#10 More knowledge means greater respect.

Only if your competitors don't play the game. More knowledge means that the industry as a whole, not specifically you, gains respect. You could be the most knowledgeable agent, but if I don't like you, I'm not giving you my business.

#11 Available 24/7 is the modern way of estate agency - it's what vendors demand.

"Here's my mobile number, call me anytime night or day."This self-imposed serf-like status doesn't turn a good agent into a great agent. It doesn't turn the wrong agent into the right agent. It simply positions your agency as 'needy.'

#12 5 star reviews on agency comparison sites builds trust.

Does any vendor even pay attention to those sites anymore? If your agency is addicted to opinion, carry on. It's good to know that some people still believe in fairies.

Estate agency is a very mature market. There's precious little in the way of new ideas and everybody is seeking incremental improvements rather than step change.

Instead of attempting to fix what's broken, there is a desperate need for innovation to change the public perception of estate agency. To re-discover trust. To make the profession respected rather than scorned.

False beliefs patterns, such as these, damage not only the agency but, too, the vendor/landlord.

Vendors that don't know they have a problem will decide on an agency based on half-truths. Swayed by those agents more skilled in boasting and promising. Until finding out that what's being delivered, isn't exactly what they signed up to.

Those vendors are seeking something that isn't being delivered, right now, by any agency.

Trust.