Respect yourself, if you don't respect yourself, ain't nobody gonna give a good kahoot! Listen to Respect Yourself by the Staple singers while you are reading this blog. Click on the video below to hear the song then come back up here to read this post and make your next listing appointment the best one ever.
When you go on a listing appointment; what is your attitude like before you get there and before you walk in that door? Are you nervous? Are you intimidated? Do you have any fears? What type of aura is around you? What type of energy is filling your body and signaling out to the seller at the moment he/she opens the door? Or are you cocky, thinking you are all that? Do you exude a false confidence that will turn that seller right off as soon as he/she sees you?
The work starts as you prepare for your listing presentation. The energy you put into your presentation is going to be felt by the seller so put your presentation together with confidence. The work starts when you get up in the morning before the appointment and look in the mirror. This is the day to tell yourself, " I am the best fit for this seller, he will respect me as I respect myself. I know that I am worth my fee and I will not back down like a coward for I am strong and steady. I attract the best listings to my listing portfolio."
When you are on your way to their home play a CD with songs that empower you or words from seminars that will empower you to stay strong. Then arrive early, like 10 minutes earlier than your appointment. Read your affirmations, say a prayer, take a few deep cleansing breathes and then close your eyes and visualize the entire encounter from the seller opening the door to the signing of the listing agreement and all that lies in between. This mind's eye exercise is very powerful and effective.
Once the sellers feel our energy and our sincerity there is no way they would not list with us. We have made resolve within ourselves that it is perfectly fine and healthy to walk away from a potential listing that does not suit us or is not going to better our lives. We agree in advance to ourselves to walk out should the seller not be agreeable to our Real Estate Fee.
You can do this as well. Set in your mind what you fee is and do not deviate from it. When you know ahead of time what answer you are going to give to the questions that will or might be asked, it is simple to follow through with your own agreement to yourself. Do not arrive at the door with an attitude of how bad the market is so you will be lucky to get the listing and therefore you will accept whatever bone the seller decides to throw to you. That attitude is one that encourages the other person to walk all over you and use you for their doormat.
Do not look desperate or that you are broke even if you are! When the other person feels that you are begging they lose respect for you and you lose it for yourself. Make sure you are confident yet kind. Remember kindness never was weakness. This post is just about getting others to respect you and the next step is for you to respect your own self. Now, your confidence must be real. So if you are not self-confident, do some affirmations about it and tell yourself you are confident, that you can do this and that are worth what your fee is.
Take it from me, I have learned these lessons the hard way as you can read about in my post, Walk On By. You do not need the listing if the seller does not respect you enough to pay you the fee that you have decided that you are worth. If the seller chooses to list with someone that charges less, he probably was not a good fit for you anyways. We have sellers who did not list with us in order to pay a lesser amount in commissions only to call us back 6 months later offering us even more than what our fee is.
We have come to a point in our business that we work only with sellers who recognize our value and respect our higher fees. Many times we get above what our percentage is because of what we bring to the table. You can develop this too. Do you want to be a slave to your business or do you want to own your business? You must respect yourself enough to put a dollar value on your time. If you end up working for $10 per hour on a listing, is that really worth the time and effort? If you are happy with that then that is great for you. However, I believe you are worth much more than that.
Nestor is worth about $350- $500 per hour and I am worth about $250 to $350 per hour as we have calculated. I challenge you to figure out your worth and then require the respect you deserve for that decision! You have value! You add value! Now, let's go to work with a new respect for yourself and in turn others will respect you!
Please do not post any comments about specific commissions or percentages, we do not want to attract the Anti trust police.
Contact Nestor and Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtors®, International Properties and Investments, Inc. Licensed Realtors® in Florida at 561-753-0135 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach and the rest of Palm Beach County Florida.We are accepting referrals.
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47 Comments on Respect Yourself!
Very good post Katerina. It is certainly all about our "mindset". My mindset is that every seller that contacts me is contacting me to list their house. I start acting like their broker from the moment we start talking. I hire myself. The only thing left is for me to decide whether or not it is a listing I want.
Funny, don't listen to much music in the house...unless I'm looking for a You Tube but I play cd's in the car to get my blood running. Good tips for respecting self Katerina!
Bryant- You got it right! You must already act like the broker, you are the one interviewing, not the other way around! That is definitely the way to go and to respect yourself enough not to put yourself in an inferior position , that is why you, my friend, always come out on top of your game! Katerina
You are right on target. We must have positive energy when we walk in that door. If we don't have it we don't have the listing. I'm a shy person by nature and nerves used to get the better of me. Now I know what my strengths are and I don't get nervous. Sure there is pressure to get the listing but I don't let it consume me. My motto is I'll do my best but if I don't get it I move on.
Sally- I am surprised by that comment, because you seem to have so many selections of songs to listen to in your posts on your blog! Thank you for being here and I will get back to your email tonight. I have to get some listings put in the MLS and look for some houses for some buyers today. I will catch up. Katerina
Katerina, You are absolutely right, you need to resolve to walk away if the potential client doesn't respect your skills and what you have to offer. If they object to your fee, they are saying "I don't respect you."
If you give in to this snub, then you don't rerspect yourself.
Totally agree. You can't ask from others what you don't believe yourself. I always enter an appt. with confidence. Love the disclaimer. As I was reading the last part of your post that was going through my mind.
Katerina- Another excellent post! If we do not respect ourselves it is true that others will not. While it is still early in my RE career I do not work with people that do not value the skills that I bring to the table. People that want to be negative around me I do not have time for. I respect myself too much.
I got into the sales industry in my early 20's. I guess getting into sales at such a young age saved me from feeling the fear and anxiety other's in this business experience. It all just comes so natural to me. I respect myself and I respect other's. At least until they give me a reason not to :)
As far as how much I'm worth? Well...The average Consumer can't afford me so I cut them some slack. LOL.
Katerina, Wonderful post and very true. People only treat you the way you allow yourself to be treated. I respect myself and others and they respond in kind. A sure way to attract success is to show your confidence and respect, it's a winning combination.
KATERINA: For someone that wasn't sure if they'd be able to come up with anything for this contest, I think that you may have miscalculated just a bit (LOL). I think that I might need to change the name of the contest to the Katerina Gasset Variety Show. Do you like that title? If not, you can rename the show. Thanks for being such a great supporter of this contest, Katerina.
Katerina - this was my year to learn to walk away. It does not matter to me now if I have 1 transaction or 100. It would only be with the clients I want to work with. For people whose real estate is the only income, this concept may be harder to implement.
I charged a lot of money for my hour in consulting. I bring all my marketing and business solution solving skills to real estate. Why should it be valued for less? It may not be the idea acceptable to all.
Katerina...you're absolutely right, success is a state of mind. Examining our attitude reveals a lot about our expectations which in turn create reality. Thanks for a very well written post.
and just in case folks do not read the comments on the top Bryant speaks:
My mindset is that every seller that contacts me is contacting me to list their house. I start acting like their broker from the moment we start talking. I hire myself. The only thing left is for me to decide whether or not it is a listing I want.
I could not have said it better myself! When we have this mindset we are in control of our business. We then know when to say no, and when to walk away. It no longer is a personal attack when there is not a fit. We take the power away from the prospect to make that decision for us. Thanks for adding to the conversation Bryant! Katerina
Some will, some won't , so what, NEXT! There is always another day, another listing! Very good of you to come this far. I was very shy for many years. Well, now that I am all grown up (hee hee) I am not as shy anymore. But I have learned to be assertive over the years and to take control of the outcome. Visualization really helps in getting the presentation to go smoothly. Katerina
Bill- Exactly! And when you give in to this you set yourself up for all types of other demands from the seller and soon you are the puppet instead of the marketer. Katerina
Marc- Confidence is an ingredient of self respect. Thanks for your comment. I did not want to take this to the level of being in the wrong for posts acceptable to AR. Although that is a subject I am very passionate about! Katerina
Bret- Thanks for your comment. IF everyone had that mentality we would be respected in this business and agents would not get their commissions negotiated at the closing table and being nickled and dimed to death by customers! Katerina
Dan- I love that comment, I love the list! You should write a post about that! It is great and works, Everyone should print that list and carry it with them! Katerina
Katerina-You give us so much to think about. What an amazing person you truly are. We do have to have value in ourselves before our clients will have value in us. That is true. I recently attended a seminar and the gentlemen said "desperate agents are like bad breath, you can smell them a mile away". That is true. With the first words that come out of your mouth if you don't breath that confidence (as you mentioned) the seller is going to smell it and run the other way.
He is either going to run from you or use it to compromise your worth, your value and your principles. This is why it is so important to have these set up already, knowing what you will say ahead of time is the best way. You are always so kind and complementary in your comments to me. Thank you. Katerina
Carole- Yes it is a winning combination! Thank you so much for your comment. You are confident and have self respect! Yet, are giving at the same time! Katerina
Adam- Thanks! The new title sounds great, I like it! I wanted to enter one more but I messed up my video. I videotaped a testimonial but then I finalized the DVD in the camera before putting it into my editing software, thus, not enough time to get it fixed, I don't even know how yet, before midnight tonight! Katerina
Faina- This is so important and for new agents it is harder but it is doable. For those with real estate as their own income, it is still important for them to learn to walk away and trust that the people you need in your life will appear. I am so glad that you do this now. I too, have a high hourly fee for consulting and coaching so why would I be worth any less when I bring those skills to the table in a real estate transaction and the marketing thereof. Katerina
Lola- I take that as a wonderful honor and compliment coming from such a proficient and wonderful of a writer such as you! Thank you for being here! And for your contribution. Katerina
I've "walked" away from more business this year, then any other year. To the point, where I'm starting to think I'm delusional;-) So I'm thinking...if you're worth $250-$350/hour....obviously you spend alot of time on this blog.....I subscribe to your blog.....I must owe you some serious cash!!! Do you take Visa?
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Very good post Katerina. It is certainly all about our "mindset". My mindset is that every seller that contacts me is contacting me to list their house. I start acting like their broker from the moment we start talking. I hire myself. The only thing left is for me to decide whether or not it is a listing I want.