Leads are helpful...sometimes

This past week, I was sitting with three of my clients. One of them had brought a friend to listen in on our coaching conversations. I asked the new friend, “What’s the biggest challenge you have in your business right now?”  

She replied, “My lead flow.”

I turned to my three clients and said, “Tell her about leads.” They looked at this agent and said, in unison, “Leads are for losers!”

This poor agent was mortified. I mean, it was hilarious, and I wish I had filmed it. It also began a really good conversation.

It’s not that leads can’t be helpful sometimes. If you are new to an area or the business, then leads can help you get started. If you are a seasoned agent building market share in an area you already work in, “marketing for leads” can help.

However...

Unless you can create an authentic trusting relationship with these people, it is probably a waste of time. The real power, profitability, and satisfaction in this business come from building high-quality relationships with people you care about.

Relationships don’t just show up as high-quality. Your relationships - and life - happen on a moment-by-moment basis. Often, we don’t pay attention to the moments that make a difference.

Here’s one small example. Sellers who have been on the market for many months have received two offers and rejected them both. They get a third offer, right around the same price as the other two. The sellers say to the agent, “We’re done.”

The agent hears, “We are finally ready to sell.”

I am not so sure. I said to the agent, “Maybe that’s what they meant. But you didn’t clarify.”

What were the sellers ‘done’ with?

• They could have been done with the agent.
• They could have been done with selling and moving - as in, we are giving up.
• Or...yes, they could have been done messing around with being on the market at the wrong price. But still, that does not mean they are willing to get to a price where the property will sell.

A real estate agent’s primary job is to provide clarity. Most agents (most salespeople) simply want to make a sale. It’s about being Transactional vs. Relational & Consultative.

Most of The Industry - or The Marketplace - favors transactional behavior - which is to say, things that don’t really matter. When I say matter, I mean significant. Not significant as in serious, or ‘drama’, but impactful. The Industry produces the following moods and experiences:

• Ego
• Competition
• Envy
• Fear
• Scarcity
• Anxiety

The Industry frightens you into a certain behavior. It feeds right into your self-worth.

If you have a high sales volume, then you are ‘somebody.’ If you don’t, you are...nobody, i.e., you don’t matter. So, at an industry conference or a sales training, agents who have a high sales volume get put up on stage to talk. 

What do they talk about?

Usually, they talk about how great they are, how special and amazing what they do is, and how you should do it too.

I am exaggerating. I am poking fun a little. But not really. 

Almost no one gets in front of the room and talks about empathy, authenticity, curiosity, and being a good steward.

The point of Being a Professional Worth Hiring™ is that you create a value system that makes you distinct. We said that The Industry has a moral and value system; the trap is that it will become yours too - unless you create your own. 

The force of the Marketplace is real. It’s hurricane-force winds blowing at you 24/7. You have to work deliberately to build a strong root system so you don’t get blown over.