Times are still changing, and some people really need to get on board.
It used to be that being a professional was about being anonymous and keeping one’s personal and professional life absolutely, unequivocally separate.
It also used to be that if one wanted information about buying or selling a home, they had to appeal to a real estate agent for insider details.
Those days are gone, and old-schoolers need to jolt awake to what’s really happening. How people shop – for houses or agents – has changed drastically. Signage and anonymity don’t cut it.
Now, with the vast availability of information, it’s not about hiding anymore. It’s about transparency. Authenticity. Being yourself is what wins people over, not some tin-can sales pitch and flashy signage.
It’s scary to be all “out there” being yourself, but to be effective with marketing and to attract readers or clients, it needs to be done. People don’t care what you know until they know you care, you know?
Besides, buyers can get information anywhere.
They don’t need to come to agents to compare DIY selling to selling with an agent. They can research the sales prices and properties on their own, and read about the top 10 mistakes people make when selling. They don’t need agents to tell them that.
They can even find out about the owners of a home they want to buy.
The volume and intimacy of information available for anyone to read is staggering.
Millennials are a major segment of the home buying population and they’re avid researchers. They don’t need agents for research anymore.
This scares some agents.
If you’re not willing to change with the times and adapt, then it should scare you.
If you’re clinging to old-school thinking, believing that personality and transparency have no place in the realm of your business, you are clinging to extinct methods.
Millennials are on the hunt, not for the agent with the shiniest car or the biggest brokerage, but for a real person they want to work with. They are a thoughtful bunch who can smell a sales pitch three miles away and will have none of it.
They want transparency.
“If I could show you this, would you commit to that?” is a dead tactic. They won’t put up with carrots strung from sticks. There’s too much information out there for that. I love that about millennials. I feel similarly turned off by sales scripts and pressure tactics.
I love it when buyers take the initiative and inform themselves. In fact, I respect the daylights out of them. That’s why I blog! I hope to help people who are searching for information, help, insight and to avoid some of the pitfalls that come with buying and selling.
I admire thoughtfulness. And anyone who is researching the elements of the home they want to buy, or the various aspects of where they’re going to live, is definitely thoughtful. Those are the kinds of people I adore working with.
So, colleagues, friends, don’t be afraid of informed buyers.
Don’t be afraid of people who research, initiate self education, and who are highly aware of what they want.
If you’re going to fear anything, fear the dusty sales tactics taught by too many people. Fear relying on pressure, manipulation and all things shiny to win a client. Run from those things.
Raise your opinion of people a bit – they’re smarter than you think, and that’s a good thing.
Tina Plett is a retired real estate sales rep from Steinbach, Man. Visit her website.
