Did you see the movie City Slickers? If so, do you remember the scene where Curly asks Mitch if he knows the secret of life? Here is the dialogue:
Curly: Do you know what the secret to life is? (Curly holds up one finger)
Curly: This
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean shit.
Mitch: But what is the one thing?
Curly: That's what you have to find out
The ONE thing in life may be different for each person but when it comes to real estate sales, it's always the same. Sadly, in real estate, many agents are left to figure this ONE thing out for themselves.
Do you know what the one thing is that will make you wildly successful in real estate?
I'm here to tell you. The ONE thing to know as a real estate agent is: W.I.I.F.M.
As a real estate agent, all you need to remember is the acronym WIIFM... What Is In It For Me? That's it. That's what people want to know. They want to know you can help them get what they want, need or desire. All they want to know is what is in it for them.
All you have to do is become THE source of valuable information on all things real estate in your local market area. Provide the information people want and need in order to make sound decisions, and YOU will be the natural choice when it comes time to buy or sell real estate.
Don't promote yourself. Promote your knowledge. That is what will get people's attention. That is what will help people. That is what is going to get you business.
Knowledge is power in real estate. Do you have any idea how much self-confidence you will have talking to people when you know... I mean really know... your market area? It doesn't matter whether you've never sold a house before, or if you've sold 10,000 houses. Not one person ever asked me how many homes I sold. Not my first client. Not my last client, or anyone in between. They only cared about what I could do for them.
If people know you are the market expert and can help them get what they want, they will want to work with you. That is how to promote yourself as a real estate agent.
The avenues for getting this "valuable information" out to the people are numerous:
Blogging
Networking (so many ways to do this)
Direct Mail
Social Media
Door Knocking (careful with this one)
Give seminars
... and many more
We can talk about disseminating information another time. In the meantime, become knowledgeable on all things real estate in your market area. It's a game changer.
Your for success,
Carol
Such and excellent and well written post, love your way of thinking.
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Thanks Roger!
Carol Williams And the W.I.I.F.M. is what makes the true professionals stand out from just being 'Order-takers' and becoming Professional Sales People.
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
It's amazing how easy it is to stand out from the competition, armed with knowledge. :-)
Good morning Carol. I never thought about this the way you described it, but you are right.
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Thanks for reading, Sheila. I'm glad you enjoy it.
Good morning Carol Williams ,
So glad Kathy Streib featured this post in her "ah-ha" moments for the week! Well said..you are right knowledge is power in real estate. Become the trusted resource and you will have more business than you can handle!
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Yes... I found that to be true. Sharing what you know is the best way to become a trusted resource.
I can see why Kathy chose your post to be part of her weekly summary! Great stuff!
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Thanks, Kristin. Glad you found the post interesting. Freely sharing knowledge is very powerful.
This is very important when a stager (or agent) is trying to express the reasons behind the suggestions for improvement to sellers. If you can get them to understand the benefit to THEM, they do what you suggest.
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
So true, Sharon. And the seller needs to look at it from the buyers point-of-view... it's a trickle down thing, isn't it? Thanks for reading and commenting.
Spoken like the true Profit of knowledge in Central Washington Carol Williams!
Happy Valentines day!
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Profit or Prophet, Paul? The idea is to accomplish both. LOL
Carol, this is stupendous! It should have been featured. I would have loved to have seen a photo of those two characters from one of my favorite movies.
Another great line from it, "Go find your smile". That one I've shared with my husband through the years....
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Thanks for reading, Gayle! Lots of good lessons in that movie!
Carol popping on over from Kathy Streib favorites post! Years ago - way back in 1995 I took a 3 or 4 day seminar from joe stump and brian buffini. I recall being asked to write out WIIFM on a card and face it towards the instructors. I never forgot it! It's all about them!
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Great visual, Anna! A whole room of WIIFM's!
Don't promote yourself. Promote your knowledge. Exactly. I needed this reminder today. Thanks.
Carol Williams - indeed a great lesson.
I remember listening to Floyd Wickman's CDs in early 2000 - where I heard for the first time WIIFM!
Are we listening to our clients?
Great message, Carol, and indeed, people need our knowledge, so that's what we should be sharing.
Carol
This is excellent, and I'm back reading it again as I just had a situation with a new prospect that reminded me of how important it is.
It really speaks to the heart of what we do, and what buyers and sellers want. And don't we really act the same when we need or want a product or service?
Jeff
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Hi jeff,
I'm so glad you found it interesting enough to re-read. That movie had a lot of great lines and lessons. Have a great week.
What a fantastic post, and so absolutely true. The bottom line, whether you have a good relationship or not, they don't really care about you, they care about them and what you can do for them. EXCELLENT!
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Hi Mimi,
Thanks so much for reading. You're so right about the "bottom line".
Carol, I re-blogged this today after hanging onto it for just the right moment. I really loved re-reading it as Jeff Dowler CRS says in his comment. First of all, I LOVED City Slickers....many times I've said to my husband "go find your smile". He is kind of living this movie right now--seriously! We bought a 5AC ranch, we now have a mule and a horse, we're out in the middle of nowhere (even further out than on our Fishhawk Lake property) and that one thing that he craved was a "piece of land" he could call his own. '
Now, for me, my one thing--at least in the biz--is Fishhawk Lake and I figured out my niche early on. It makes life so much simpler.
Speaking of simple...we are now debt-free, another ONE THING that my husband was seeking to accomplish.
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Carol Williams
Wenatchee, WA
Hi Gayle Rich-Boxman Fishhawk Lake Realtor (503)755-2905
Thanks so much for the re-blog. I am so glad you are focusing on your ONE thing. Life sounds good for you! ""Go find your smile". What a great line! Have a great week.
Well Carol, anoher great post. I headed over here from your suggestion on your other post today about knowing my market. Wonderful information.
Sounds like a Floyd saying: WIIFM. Thanks for pointing over to this post.
Thanks Carol! Question: Why is do you not recommend Door Knocking? "Door Knocking (careful with this one)"
I think I may need to rewatch City Slickers now that I'm of the age where people talk about procedures and such! That's a great tie in to real estate, and easy to remember the acronym.
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