Confidence

Going back many years, Saturday Night Live included a regular sketch called “Daily Affirmations.” It was a spoof of self-help television programs that aim to motivate people. The “host” was often heard to say, “”I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” For those in sales, such as real estate, motivational, uplifting messages can certainly be helpful as we tend to tie our self-worth to our production. But the real way to have confidence is to actually provide to your clients a concrete service you believe in.

Know what you are selling! How well can you market a property if you don’t know what the property has to offer, what schools the buyer’s children will attend, when the trash is picked up, or who built the neighborhood? What do you know specifically about the current market? If you know things like this very well, you can begin to understand why someone would pick the home. This is something concrete.

If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t fake it. Tell them you will find out — and do that within the day. Nothing reduces confidence more in yourself or by others if you provide incorrect answers, only to need to correct them later on. Your clients need to know that when you say something, it is true.

Work on a committee with your local Board of Realtors. Few things keep you tuned in to the market more than being with other agents from time to time. With so many agents working from their home or remote offices, we not only lose the human touch, but we miss out on information that would be helpful to our clients. Serving on the board of directors of my Board helped me to see things in a broader frame rather than my little world. One committee in particular, Professional Standards, has been a mainstay for me to keep abreast of what is expected of us by my peers and the public.

Check out your ranking amongst other area agents. You may find that you are in the Top 1% in some category. Do you sell more listings in a particular neighborhood? Sold more doubles than anyone else? Sold more condos than any other first year agent? There is probably some statistic that will not only verify your legitimacy to others, but help to build your confidence. When looking at the statistics, remember to compare apples with apples. If you are a solo agent, only compare yourself with other solo agents, not teams.

GB Landrigan