Your professional reputation matters, and not just a little bit.
It's often the difference between being hired and passed over for one of the 6000 other local agents.
It can also be the difference between a deal getting done today and never getting out of the gate because of the other agent's past experience with you.
So how can you build your professional reputation as a real estate agent? Most of it is pure common sense, but in a time when common sense seems to be MIA for many, let's spell out 10 EASY things you can do to enhance your professional reputation.
1. Communicate. It's a fundamental, costs nothing but your time and goes a long way to building good working relationships with consumers and agents. An agent sends an offer or a counter offer? How hard is it to hit "Reply" and type "Got it! Thanks!"?
2. Know your local contract. And contracts change, so keep up with the adjustments. Know what does and doesn't stay with a home, the major contingencies, etc. Don't holler at me because you THOUGHT the refrigerator was supposed to stay, but the contract didn't convey the frig.
3. Be accurate with your listings. Make sure the details are correct or in this day of automated searches, your home for sale just became invisible.
4. Let your clients speak for you. Ask for reviews (Google, Z, Yelp, Angie's List, whatever works for you).
5. Stay current on your market's trends. Buyer's edge? Seller's edge? Typical price for subdivision X? How's new construction impacting the market? Distressed properties?
6. Paired with #5, know a screamin' hot deal when you see one and act accordingly, and if need be, guide your clients to act accordingly. Sometimes there is NO time to think about it. Get there, get the offer written and get it accepted before anyone else notices.
7. Learn to take great listing pictures, or hire someone that can. Yes, you get judged by the public and your fellow agents and my only regret is that more sellers don't take a close look at how their home is being presented to the public.
8. Be civil or zip it and choose your battles wisely. Take a stroll through most large real estate Facebook groups and you could quickly fill a book of "no referrals from me, EVER!" because of the inability to play well in the sandbox.
9. Avoid the big head. "Don't you know who I am?" "I did 100 deals last year!", etc. or making demands from the other agent are probably NOT going to sit well.
10. Help other agents. I can't count the number of times that another agent has called off one of our subdivision IDX posts and thought we were the HOA or the builder or the listing agent (despite all the statements in the post that explain WHO we are). Point them in the right direction. Tomorrow you may be the one that needs help.
Obviously there's plenty more you can do, but again, it's mostly common sense. The distilled version? Don't be a jerk and do your job well and good things will happen.
Bill of Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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