The following is adapted from The Ultimate Real Estate Machine
Real estate is a competitive industry where there are two separate forces trying to turn every one of us into a commodity. One force is competition, while the other is the consumer.
The first force, your competition, wants to marginalize your advantage, your distinction, your differentiation, and any preemption you have got. The second force, the consumer, wants the same thing. They are pushing forces like mad at us.
If we succumb, if we embrace it, if we accept it, then we basically wave the white flag of surrender. We must rise above them to become the trusted advisors our clients need.
You want to be seen from now on by every client you deal with as the definitive expert source, the most trusted advisor. You are somebody who has taken on the responsibility of their governance, of their decisions, of their best interest as their most trusted counsel—not as a purveyor of a commodity or as a generic real estate agent.
For you to successfully adopt and embrace the strategy to become the superior trusted advisor in your market, you must start with a bunch of different shifts in the way you refer to everything you deal with. You must shift your attitude toward the market that you serve and see your clients in a whole new way to become the trusted real estate advisor you hope to be.
See Yourself as a Trusted Advisor
The first change is to mentally see yourself as the trusted advisor. When you make that decision, you will never again allow one of your clients to ever purchase less home than they should, at a lower quality than they should, or less frequently than they should. Why? Because to allow them to do that is to breach your fiduciary responsibility as their trusted advisor.
If you know that doing things another way will produce far better results for them, it is your responsibility to speak up as soon as possible. Wearing the hat of their trusted, permanent, definitive advisor, you cannot let them do badly. Your job is to protect and guard them.
This all begins with a mental shift from seeing yourself as “real estate agent” to “trusted advisor.” It’s what author Todd Herman calls the “Alter Ego Effect.” As he describes it, you find “the hero already inside you” in order to overcome “the self-doubt, negativity, and insecurity that hold you back.” It’s not about creating a false mask, but rather bringing forth what’s already in you.
Fall in Love with Your Clients
Most people in business have fallen in love with the wrong thing. They’ve got the hottest product or service in the market and they are so enraptured with it. Everyone is rallying around the company, and they want to be the most successful, dominant force in the market.
That is admirable but wrong. Don’t fall in love with your company or your services; fall in love with your client. Everything you do—every recommendation you make, every communication you share, every touchpoint during their journey—will be done with them in mind.
This level of intentionality will give you an incredible advantage over everybody else because your goal isn’t just a sale. It’s to massively improve, expand, and protect the lives of your clients. So don’t fall in love with what you do—fall in love with who you do it for. Become an agent of change for the community that you serve. After all, value has a reciprocal effect:
The more value you provide, the more value that comes back to you.
We Don’t Sell Homes, We Transform Lives
In the words of Jay Abraham, the creator of the Strategy of Preeminence: we don’t sell homes, we transform lives. Take this mantra to heart if you’re struggling to care for the lives of the people you work with. Zoom out and truly consider what you’re helping them achieve.
As trusted advisors, we take people from a place of quiet desperation to a place of mass opportunity. We help put them into environments where they can thrive, and help those people who would never have had an asset to create one. With that asset, they can enjoy a greater lifestyle, an increased sense of security, or the promise of more financial opportunities.
People need someone to advocate, champion, and address their best interests. They need someone to help turn their dreams into realities. A linear path of communication that is devoid of compassion and empathy will fall flat. So, when you feel bogged down in the details or you get bad news, remember this truth: you are in the business of transforming lives.
That’s much bigger than one sale or one client interaction.
Making the Ultimate Shift
True success in real estate is not easy to achieve. It means going above and beyond what you think is required. It means seeing yourself as a trusted advisor, falling in love with your clients, and doing everything you can to help them to transform their lives. Like so many things in life that matter, the steps I’ve laid out in this article are simple… but they’re not easy.
It’s time to be seen by every client you deal with as the definitive expert source and their most trusted advisor.
You are taking on the responsibility of their governance, their decisions, and their best interest. You are not a purveyor of a commodity, nor a generic real estate agent.
Making this shift suggests that from this moment on, you acknowledge this responsibility, accept what it entails, and tackle the challenge with everything you’ve got.
Are you in? For more advice on becoming a trusted advisor to your clients, you can find The Ultimate Real Estate Machine on Amazon.
Jason Williford is a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, inventor, and consultant for high-producing real estate agents. He is a master in business strategy, strategic marketing, innovation, differentiation, agent production, selling systems, and referral generating systems, as well as training, recruiting, and mentoring real estate agents and inside sales agents. After years in the trenches of real estate, he set himself and his team apart with strategies and techniques that were learned in other industries and applied to real estate. His unique talents and knowledge fill industry voids for high-performing real estate agents and team leaders.
