3 minutes reading time (686 words)

“Nobody Gets 100%, Chris.”

Thursday, 16 March 2023

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"Nobody gets 100%, Chris."

A response from a good friend and client to my suggestion that if #estateagents aren't getting that k.p.i, they are in need of Personal Branding.

Rejection by potential clients is a dispiriting thing.

You can wrap it however you will. Whether you're telling yourself the valuation wasn't high enough, or the fee wasn't low enough.

There's something else at play.

Let's not hesitate.

The potential client didn't trust you.

They listened to your less-than-persuasive pitch. Along with similar from other agencies and, before they made a decision, they made a comparison.

Problem was, they weren't qualified to make that comparison with the information available to them. Worse, the very fact that your agency was being compared meant that, to all intent and purpose, you were still a stranger.

"Don't talk to anyone until they know you're a someone." - Ryan Fletcher.

It's an adage from the hugely insightful Ryan Fletcher that I live by - Never talk to anyone until they know you're a someone.

When you build a Personal Brand, in the right way, everyone will instinctively know, WHO you are, what you value and whether there is affinity.

You attract those that belong in your sphere and, as importantly, repel those that do not.

Clients that beat a path to you door.

Clients that will consider no other agent - it has to be you.

Why?

Because when they know who you are, there is trust and loyalty.

In an industry where trust has all but disappeared, replaced with micro-celebrity and self-opiniated 'expertise' status, providing clients with full transparency and a degree of vulnerability, sets you apart.

Character matters over competence in this world.

There's plenty of hugely qualified, respected and competent realtors out there.

With nothing to differentiate any of them - apart from Personal Brand. Which they choose to ignore.

Consider this:

Sixty eight estate agents were publicly named and fined by HMRC for their non-compliance with AML regulations in 2022.

Credit Suisse guilty of money laundering charges, handed £1.7 million fine.

Santander fined £108 million for AML failures.

KPMG fined a record £14.4 million for misleading the watchdog during spot checks of its audits of collapsed construction firm, Carillion.

HBOS, Reading branch, involved in major fraud that resulted in the bank manager & accomplices being jailed for a combined 47 years.

Competence - every where you look, but no sign of Character.

For every respected business person claiming 'expertise', there is a Jeffrey Epstein lurking in the shadows waiting for the opportunity.

That's not to say that Personal Brand and Persona can't be manipulated, but transparency leaves a trail of congruence.

You can still fool some of the people, some of the time, but if you look hard enough, the clues are there.

For those that reject Personal Brand in favour of building Respect, I have a few questions:

What have you got to hide?

Why is transparency so hard for you to embrace?

Why would you not want better clients?

Why would you not wish to choose which clients you accept and reject?

When you operate in a negative reputation sector, why would you reject 'Different from' in favour of 'Better than.?'

I'm coming to the conclusion that real estate is happiest selling confusion.

It allows the less-than-scrupulous agents and the bean-counters to make a reasonable living by appealing to those that are easily-satisfied and have no desire to learn about the process.

The way it has always been done.

The beauty of Personal Brand, though, is that it disassociates from the common.

Let the real estate industry reputation go to Hell in a Handcart if it chooses.

Personal Brand makes any agent Bullet-Proof.

A circle of clients that trust and who spread the word.

Providing a 100% conversion rate. Because they know you are a somebody.

Nobody Gets 100%, Chris - I do.

It's not rocket-science:)