Skills vs Popularity: Why Skills Are More Important Than Social Media Followers
You work hard, and you have the skills and know-how to do a great job. Then you are passed over for another agent because their social media is flashier than yours and they have more followers? What’s an agent to do?
As real estate agent, being passed over by a potential client for another is disappointing enough, but to be passed over because another agent had more Instagram followers? Ouch!
TIP: For tips on posting on social media, check out “Keeping The Social in Social Media”
Agents are always trying to differentiate themselves, and it can be frustrating trying to keep up with everyone else without succumbing to the idea of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” When homeowners are dazzled by agents with the flashy brochures, the glamor of their social media, or their popularity on TikTok, how do you bring these clients around to see why they need to hire on skill, not popularity?
TIP: Check out this great article by Weetas, “The Basic Skills That Must Be Found in a Real Estate Agent.”
Selling a house is not just about attracting buyers, so even if someone has a massive following on social media, that’s only a small fraction of the whole deal. We need to be discussing the back end of the transaction — how skilled we are at getting the property from contract to close. This is the whole reason why real estate agents need the license in the first place! Anyone can attract buyers, but taking care of the legalities and the other tasks that are needed to transfer ownership can’t be done by just anyone.
The Steak Analogy
My son recently got a promotion at his job, so we went out to at this really nice restaurant. For the first time, he ordered steak, but not just any steak — a Wagyu steak, which is a really expensive cut of meat. I also bought some Wagyu steaks to make at home, but I’ll bet that when I cook it, despite the exclusive cut and the high price tag, it still isn’t going to come out as good as if I ate it in a professional steak house restaurant that’s perfected it because they’ve cooked it a million times.
On the front end, both the restaurant and I did the same thing, we bought the cuts of steak. On the back end, however, I could ruin this $300 piece of meat because I’m not a professional. I don’t spice it the same way, I don’t have the heat at the right temperature, and so on.
An agent can have great social media, signs, and flyers, but that doesn’t mean they have the skills to expertly handle the back end of the transaction. When you talk to the homeowners, focus on the skills needed from contract to closing and not on just finding a buyer.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hunna Hunna, what you should be asking yourself isn’t ‘How many Instagram followers I have’ or ‘Who has the prettiest brochures’ but think about this: do you feel that I’m skilled enough to get the results you want from the sale of your home?”
Qualifying Questions
We know that we can’t always win over every homeowner, but because our goal is to serve, not sell, we should at least coach all homeowners how to find a real estate agent that will truly work for them.
Power Agents®, in the Power Program Classroom, if you have tried everything in your power but you are going to have to walk away without the listing, then we have a list of questions that we can give to potential clients to help them qualify agents as they interview them to find the best fit if it’s not going to be you.
“Mr. Hunna Hunna, I really believe that you need to find an agent, I understand that you want to interview a couple others, so I’m going to give you something called the Agent Qualifier. This is a series of questions that I have found that help homeowners decide who the right agent is for them to hire. One question you should be asking, after things like ‘How many homes have you listed and sold?’ should be ‘Are you a Power Agent®?’
You know how, in accounting, there are accountants, and then there are CPA’s? A CPA has more training and is better qualified, so if it didn’t cost you any extra money, would you rather have an accountant or a CPA? You would want to hire the CPA, obviously, because of the level of quality and skill. Being a Power Agent® is essentially the CPA of real estate, and only 1% of the agents in the country can call themselves a Power Agent®.
They go through ongoing training for skill development with a focus on serving and coaching, because that’s the whole culture there. Now, if you ask the next agent, ‘Are you a Power Agent® and they say no, I wouldn’t even ask him the other 20 questions on the form.”
One of the things that will now work in your favor is this: If another agent shows up to deliver their song and dance, and the homeowner says, “Hold on a second, before you even say anything, I have a list of 21 questions that I want to ask you.” That is going to throw the other agent off their game because most other agents have a pre-planned script they follow, but now the homeowner has taken control of the conversation because of your coaching and the questions you gave them.
When these homeowners ask the right questions about skills rather than just being wowed by promotional materials and social media popularity, they will see that you are their best choice.
What’s Next?
Are you ready to start taking things to the Next Level®? If you don’t already know what you need to do to get to your next level, we can help!
Power Agents®, you’ll find the Agent Qualifier in the Listing Appointment tab in the Classroom.
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