Estate agency personal brand looks like this.
"It's a people business."
You hear it all the time.
Though you wouldn't imagine it true, since agents do the bare minimum to convey that fact to potential vendors.
"It's a people business - this is why we're best."
"It's a people business - we promise to get you the very best offers."
"It's a people business - we think you need to drop the price."
Bragging, boasting & manipulating the very people with whom they wish to connect.
If it's a people business, then act as if you mean it!
Consider how and why any of us make friends.
Is it because we want to sell them something? Is it because we want something from them?
Of course not.
It's because we share similar values, beliefs and convictions.
We like how someone thinks.
What they say.
How they act.
We find them interesting.
We have affinity.
We get to know, like and trust these friends over time. And they, us.
It's a 'tribe' of like-minded individuals. There for each other.
And the tighter that tribe gets with each other, the harder it is for a stranger to become part.
But it still starts with two, or more, people having the courage to reveal something about themselves. To be vulnerable.
To risk rejection.
Contrast that with the salesperson.
Like the uninvited guest at a party, they have to ask all the questions. They have to lead you to places you'd rather not go. Probing and uncovering enough information to paint themselves a 'picture' of what it would take to get you to YES.
And while they are doing that, they reveal about themselves?
Absolutely nothing.
Other than they work for this agency. That they are expert. That they are passionate. That they are of course, serf-like,available 24/7. That they are probably desperate.
That they have this mask behind which to hide. And that's the safest place for them to be.
Developing your personal brand, conversely, allows potential vendors to glimpse the true nature of the agent behind the mask.
Every vendor is going to form an opinion of the agent. Based, not so much on what they say, but how they say it.
The tone of voice. The rhythm of speech. The facial expressions. The body language.
All social cues that allow a vendor to form an internal story of who this person is and should we like them?
Why not make it easy for them?
Tell them what they want to know, but haven't asked.
Tell them who you are. What you believe. What core values drive your business.
" Trust is a complicated thing - allowing others to see as much of ourselves as we have the courage to reveal. Allowing others to see behind the mask. The masks we all wear to overcome the fear." - Bruce Springsteen.
We all naturally gravitate towards people we find interesting, inspirational and entertaining.
Championing your competence isn't going to 'cut it'.
When every other agent is doing likewise.
Your personal brand is all that differentiates from those other agents.
And, if you don't use it, people will form their own opinion of you. One you might find at odds with who you really are. If you don't tell your story, others will.
It's the same in politics. Another sector with so little trust.
Quentin Letts, that brilliantly insightful political sketch writer had this to say of Theresa May's first speech as Prime Minister:
" She had a stately quality. She was accompanied by her entirely proper and sober husband. She moved and spoke at about half Boris Johnson's speed and she gave us the first of several selfless lectures about how life can be a struggle for the poor. It was no doubt a diplomatic and dutiful debut and it had the BBC purring, but, heavens, it was dull. Mrs. May's spotlessness was in some ways admirable, but it made her two dimensional as a politician. She lacked the pecking imperiousness of Margaret Thatcher, the guile of Tony Blair, the chippiness of Sir John Major, the Captain Haddock mateyness of Gordon Brown and David Cameron's chillaxed vanity.
Those are the sort of characteristics that make politicians interesting, not just to sketch writers, but to voters. Mrs. May, under attack, just curled up like woodlouse."
Is that the real Theresa May? Diplomatic, dutiful and dull?
Is that the real estate agent? Competent, dutiful and ever-so-slightly boring?
Vendors want the same thing from their estate agent/realtor that they want from their politicians.
Character. Rather than sheer competence.
Something that hooks the imagination.
Paints them a picture of what the journey might resemble.
Will it be sterile & precise? Or spirited and ambitious?
Or somewhere between?
There's a thousand adjectives that can be woven together to pain that picture.
But estate agents don't have the inclination. Or they don't have the time. More likely, they don't have the courage.
They're happy to hide their individuality behind the corporate mask.
There's a few, a very few though, that don't give a toss what others think of them.
Not so quietly building their personal brand. For all the world to see.
Attracting those vendors that think, like they think.
Creating friendships and indurate loyalty.
Whilst their 'competition' wears its desperation on its sleeve.
Personal Brand isn't a race to achieve the most followers, shares and likes on social media.
It's not about posting pictures of your kids. The awards you've won.
The homes you have for sale.
It's about defining who you are, your values and beliefs. And then attracting those who are a good fit.
It's the future of estate agency.
Or, estate agency might have no future.
It's the one thing that could swing the pendulum in your direction, rather than having to face a lifetime of endless competition and rejection.
Happy to help, of course, if you need some advice.
That advice is always free.
You can reach me at:
mob: (44) 07369251435
There's a download on the site if you need more information.
Thanks for reading.
chris.
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