So today I want to talk about the three pivotal things that I learned in my first year in real estate as an agent that really transformed the rest of my career. So if you stick with me here, I’m going to reveal the three things, the most important and pivotal things that I learned in my first year as a real estate agent. These things have set me up for success for the rest of my career. So let’s jump right in.
Get in front of sellers and convince them to list with you
The first one I learned early on that you have to list to survive and thrive in this business. Meaning you have to develop what I would argue is probably the most fundamental skill, the first and foremost skill in this business, which is how to get in front of sellers, how to convince them to list with you, and then how to effectively market and sell that listing to propel and perpetuate your business and practice.
So obviously that’s easier said than done, right? A lot of agents early on struggle to understand those different elements of the sales process. Where do they find prospects, right? Seller leads? How do they get in front of them? Contact them, set an appointment? How then, when they get an appointment, do they actually deliver a world-class listing presentation and walk away with a listing client? And then where do they do and how do they sell that home?
I’ll leave it at this: I didn’t have a lot of coaching and mentoring early on, so what I had to do was figure these things out on my own like many agents do. We’re often thrust into the world without business cards by our broker. Given rudimentary training and we have to figure this stuff on our own, right? Sink or swim.
What I would recommend is this: try to find a coach or a mentor. I mean, that’s what we do here at Sophisticated Agent, right? We have a lot of free resources and coaching as well that I’d take advantage of. We have a free “double your luxury listings” mini-course and other programs, but that’s not why I’m here today.
I’m here to tell you this: Learn from those that have done what you want to do.
Reduce the curve in the risk to become successful and ramp-up. Find ways to get in front of these sellers, right? Find ways to get creative in building an impactful and effective listing presentation, right? And then find ways to ask for the business in the close and connect and relate with the person sitting on the other side of the table. And then build a compelling marketing plan with the tools, resources, and the assets you have at your company brokerage to list, promote, and sell that property.
Again before we move on, another reason it’s important to list properties is that not only are you listing a property with the predictability of when it’s going to sell, but you’re generally producing one to three unrepresented buyer leads from that listing. While also marketing yourself and positioning yourself as the expert in the market as the one entrusted with the marketing and handling the sale of that home, right? All positive things that you don’t get by merely working with buyers on the other side of the transaction.
Create your own unique, personal brand
Now the second thing I learned was really pivotal. I learned how to be different.
I learned the importance of creating a unique personal brand. I learned how to swim against the current. When everybody was doing one thing, I did the opposite and I learned how to create a unique aesthetic and brand ethos around this that cut an edge in the market and spoke to my ideal client avatar, resonating with high-end luxury homeowners. And what did that do? It started to create inbound leads, inbound traffic, sellers calling me for a listing appointment, not having to chase listing prospects by calling expireds and FSBOs, door knocking, and doing all the other things that they tell us to do early on. I didn’t do a lot of that.
I had people contacting me, the kid who had never listed anything or sold anything, but because I created such a mystique and allure with this personal brand, because I then worked harder than anybody, and because I was doing things differently, I started to really elevate. I started to build a listing portfolio that at the end of my first year turned out to be over $30 million in high-end listings. $30 million in my first year. A kid with no sales.
I might add, not one of those sold my first year, but the second year many of them did. And I did just under $10 million in close transactions and almost $300,000 in income from doing $0 in sales the first year, but $30 million in the luxury listings. That right there is what created the foundation, the springboard for which the rest of my career would be built upon.
Pick your niche
The third thing that was really pivotal that I learned in my first year of business was to pick a niche, pick a segment, an area, a price point, a property type, and learn everything you can about it. And then work harder than anybody else going after it to really establish yourself.
So for me, I targeted the really high end of the market, right? The top 1% or 5% of listings by price. They took longer to sell. They were more unique. They were challenging. Different clientele, mindset, and consumer, but I learned it. I knew it. It became second nature and I started to really resonate and speak to that client, and they started to be attracted to me. They started to come to me and contact me to know what kind of results and experience they were going to get.
So again, the three things that were really pivotal that formed the foundation for success for the rest of my career in real estate.
Learn to list properties to survive and thrive.
Number two is to find a way to be different and create a unique personal brand ethos and aesthetic around that differentiated mystique in image in the marketplace.
Third, pick a niche, a segment, and learn everything you can about it and then go all in and work harder than anybody else until you establish yourself.
Hopefully, this is helpful. If it was, please leave a comment below, share this blog post with somebody that could benefit from it. And if you got value today and want to learn a little bit more about what we do here at Sophisticated Agent, we have a lot of free resources. You can schedule a strategy call to talk with me about some of the coaching programs and courses and platforms we have here at Sophisticated Agent. I would love to be of service and support you in your growth here as an agent.