A few years ago, I wrote Become Tomrorow’s Mega-Agent Today. In it, I provided guidance to those thinking about entering real estate–and those wondering if they should be in real estate! Here are the nine commonalities I see in all successful real estate agents. Do you have these qualities and traits?
Although there are as many approaches to the real estate business as there are people, there are certain qualities that are common to successful real estate professionals:
1. High personal initiative. Do what you know needs to be done even if no one else is doing it? (You will, or have seen, many unsuccessful people in your office doing the wrong things….)
2. Tenacity. Studies show most salespeople give up after the second ‘no’. Yet, most customers only say ‘yes’ after they’ve said ‘no’ 5 times! Never give up. What are times in your life when you’ve been very tenacious?
3. Risk taker. Doing it before you have all the answers–taking risks–is a big part of starting your career successfully.
Name a few times in your life that you jumped in before you had all the answers.
4. Accountability to yourself. Plan your week and work your plan. No one else will do it for you in the real estate business. Who have you been accountable to in the past? Have you ever been coached? How do you feel about accountability?
5. Reliability to others. The consumer rates “trustworthiness” as the most important attribute they need in a real estate agent. Keep your promises. What do people say about your reliability? How often have you let people down because of your own needs?
6. Willingness to learn. In this warp-speed changing business, being a life-long learner is critical to success in a real estate career. How do you learn? When was the last time you learned something and tried something new that was really challenging to you?
7. Enthusiasm. Would you buy anything from anyone who wasn’t convinced himself that the product or service was important to you? And could convey his excitement and enthusiasm? Listen to your own voice mails. Do you convey enthusiasm and confidence?
8. Handling rejection. Absolute faith in your own convictions and your own self-worth helps you weather those thousands of ‘nos’ and keep going to get a ‘yes’. How many ‘nos’ are you willing to get to get to a ‘yes’? How long can you put off success?
9. Creativity. Doing it like we’ve always done it just won’t work in this changing environment. Try it differently. If you’ve found yourself saying ‘I tried that before. It didn’t work’–you are running away from new solutions. Jump in instead.
Your Conclusions
What other traits and qualities do you think are important to succeed in today’s market? I’m not talking here about skills. They can be learned. But, our character and our behavioral profile are pretty well established by the time we’re five years old.
What did taking the evaluation tell you about yourself?
