Are You the Best Agent You Know? Three Reasons You Want to be!

On Thursday, December 15th, we convened in the SWS Virtual Studio for the last time of the 2011 season for our final show entitled "Are You the Best Real Estate Agent You Know?"

Fun was had by all (well, I had fun anyway), as we discussed the reasons one might WANT to be the best agent they know and HOW to tell if you are, indeed, an exceptional real estate agent.

By exceptional, I should probably explain that I don't necessarily mean "top-producing," although you certainly may be. I don't mean that you have a gazillion For Sale signs around town (unless the majority of them have SALE PENDING riders on top of them). I don't mean that you have a well-oiled machine in place to efficiently "care for" your current clients so you can devote 80% of your time to prospecting for new ones.

No, by "exceptional real estate agent" I'm refering to someone who is competent at managing a complicated process (i.e. a real estate transaction) with its many moving pieces and parts and personalities and emotions, and who consistently EARNS rave reviews from his (or her) clients for his (or her) exceptional client service and satisfactory results.

(Whew, that was a mouthful).

So, to put it more succinctly: Competence + Compassion = Exceptional.

Anyway, during the show I described three reasons one might strive to be an Exceptional Real Estate Agent, aka, the Best Agent They Know.

Reason #1
Confidence. When you're great at what you do and you know you're great at what you do, that confidence will be apparent to others. You won't have to come up with a compelling elevator speech, create clever business cards or use magic trigger words or gestures to inspire people to trust you; the people you meet will be able to tell that you are capable of handling their (or their friends') real estate needs. No sales pitch required.

Reason #2
When you're a great real estate agent, your current clients will notice - and they won't be able to help themselves from singing your praises to everyone they know. Unfortunately, the bar in our industry is set rather low in the customer satisfaction department, so if YOUR clients are satisfied and they talk nicely about you behind your back, referrals will come. I promise.

Reason #3
The third reason you might want to strive to be an exceptional agent is a very practical one. More paydays. Exceptional real estate agents enjoy more visits to the closing table because they know how to get the job done. They know how to put and hold real estate transactions together! Their contracts don't fall apart when things get sticky because 1) they're keeping a close eye on things as opposed to chasing after new business and 2) they know what to do to solve those potentially deal-killing challenges that inevitably arise during the contract-to-closing period.

So... how does one become an Exceptional Real Estate Agent? Well, it's not a class or a certification or an event; it's a process. It's making the commitment to BE great at what you do and then DOING what you need to do to be great.

More next time...