Two budding agents go to the same school. They read the same books, study as hard as each other, and graduate with the same level of education. Shortly after, they’re both offered the same position at the same local real estate agency.
However, 10 years down the line, one of them is in a middle management role and the other is running his own highly successful property business.
Why? With the same start in life, what has stopped the first agent from making the most of his career and achieving the same level of success?
Education and grades aren’t always the most important aspects of real estate. If you want to be truly successful, it all comes down to one key point – mindset. Having the right approach to what you do can be the sole difference between success and failure.
Don’t worry, though – mindset doesn’t have to be something you’re born with, or even something you’re necessarily taught at school. It’s something that you develop. Let’s take a look at some of the common traits shared by successful real estate agents in a little more detail.
6 Mindset Traits that Influence Real Estate Success
1) You Stay in Control of Your Emotions
With so many moving parts, as well as so much financially at stake, it’s understandable that emotions can run high for most real estate agents.
However, whether it’s a negative interaction with a client or a let-down when a buyer drops out of an agreement, a good real estate agent won’t let it get the better of them. They’ll stay in control of their emotions, accept that there are things they can’t change, and move forward quickly.
2) You have a Positive, Trusting and Contagious Energy
If there’s one key to building a profitable desk in real estate, it’s this – the ability to create, develop and nurture client trust. It’s hard to build, but incredibly easy to break. So, as an agent, you deal with your clients in an empathetic manner, listening to their concerns, objections and motivations.
Coupled with confidence and a friendly approach, you’ll create a magnetic energy that’s contagious to clients.
3) You Manage Expectations
Wherever possible, prepare your clients for potential eventualities before they happen. It’s not always easy news to give but making them aware of any changes and new possibilities will help to build trust and respect.
So, if you think there’s a chance that a buyer will drop out of a sale, suggest to your client that they start pursuing other offers. Shrug off negativity and move forward as planned. It will be trickier in the short-term, but in the long-run a client will always trust an agent who’s realistic more than one who sells pipedreams that fail to materialise.
4) Prospect, Prospect, Prospect
This is the make or break of any real estate desk, but it’s easy to forget. Simply put, if you aren’t putting leads into the top of your funnel, you’re not going to see any revenue coming out of the bottom.
The best way to prospect? Get on the phone and put your people skills to work. Make phone calls, send out promotional flyers and reports of recent successes and get your name and contact details in front of your target audience. It takes hard work, grit and determination, but it’ll help you build a reputation as a real estate agent who understands their local market.
5) Be Easy to Reach
Don’t worry – this doesn’t mean rolling over at 2am on a Friday morning to speak with a client. However, it does mean giving those clients a way to reach you 24/7. The best way to do this? Find out which method of contact they prefer to use. If they aren’t keen on phone calls, trade it off for an instant messenger like WhatsApp.
If phone calls are their preferred means of communication, that doesn’t mean you have to speak with them 15 times a day. However, it does mean that you always have to get back to them, whether that’s immediately or an update at the end of the day.
6) Make Time for Yourself
Taking the above points on board and putting them into action will lay a great foundation for you, but you also need to accept an uncomfortable truth – if you don’t set aside time for yourself, you will run yourself into the ground.
It might not be now, or even next week, but if you don’t set aside time each week to relax, unwind and do what you want to do, the value you can offer to your clients will start to decrease. This might be every night after 7 or on a Sunday afternoon, but schedule me-time in and let your clients know.
7) Tell Prospects What You Want
Sometimes, the difference between a great agent and an average one all comes down to guts. After pitching a new prospect, find the courage to tell them what you want. Close on them politely but assertively with something like “Will you give me permission to start speaking with people about your property?”. You’ll be surprised how much better this works than a simple “let me know”.