By Michael Kies

So today I want to share with you the biggest mistake that a real estate agent can make. I think we are all agreed that as real estate agents, by the very nature of our career, we must be great with people. You know that person who walks into a room, and not an akward moment will pass, or not a stray word will be said and everyone leaves feeling like they love each other, upon leaving.

When I told my mother in law that I was going to be a real estate agent, she scoffed. She could not understand how the introverted young man standing in front of her could ever sell a house, let alone cope with the rejection that comes with prospecting. (This served as a huge amount of motivation for me throughout my career – but that is besides the point)

One of the biggest mistakes agents make is to think that this is one of “gods gifts” you know the “gift of the gab” or a talent that you are born with. This sounds wishy washy, but hear me out here, THIS IS HUGE!

Ok, so a new agent starts out in real estate. They see other agents in their office or their area who have these, let’s call it “people skills”. This can be a huge knock to the old confidence, they might think: ‘But I am introverted” or “But I could never achieve what they achieve because they are extroverted and have this gift, to be able to sell houses”.

Furthermore they begin to question their decision to enter the wonderful world of real estate and doubt their ability. The more they doubt themselves, the less confident they are. The less confident they are the less likely they are to prospect, the less they prospect the higher the chance of failure.

So I am here to tell anyone who feels like this, that your personality type does not determine your success. YOU CAN LEARN THIS STUFF. And who says you need to be the loudest most outgoing person on appointments or prospecting? Guess what? Introverts sell houses too! They will more likely gravitate towards someone who has built rapport with them and can relate to them. So regardless of your personality (if you are an extravert you too can learn to build rapport with introverts) you can succeed in real estate.

I read somewhere that only 10% of agents are still practising as real estate agents 10 years after they start. Do you know why this is? I know to some extent we must be self motivated. But a lot of agents start in the industry with very little guidance, support and skill. They then believe within themselves that the successful people just have these “people skills” or the “gift of the gab”.

I bet my bottom dollar that, those top performers who have the people skills, and who have the “gift of the gab” when selling real estate, have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours learning how to do it. YOU ARE NOT BORN WITH THESE SKILLS, JUST AS A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALLER IS NOT BORN WITH THE SKILLS TO BE THE BEST SHOOTER IN THE WORLD.

When we go through our exams we learn the technical stuff, eg contracts, law, code of ethics etc and these are so important to success, but just as important are the other technical skills, such as rapport building, leading, building relationships, meaningful marketing, how to prospect properly and many more…

You know once I got serious about this and learned this stuff I sold 19 houses in one month after not having sold anything for 7 weeks. I was an introvert and now I stand on stages around the country sharing my story so that hopefully I can inspire those people who perhaps aren’t 100% confident to become confident and succeed. Sometimes this happens in just weeks, its amazing. I was working with a lady who spoke english as her second language and I just helped her with a few things with her listing presentation. Over the next four weeks she listed three properties. I want people to love real estate like I do, I am so passionate about this.

Sometimes it can be this simple. Just a change in direction from crazy busy, where you are at the whim of your emails, and phone calls, to a structured plan, can make a huge difference to your results, and really really quickly, as I have just shared with you. 0 sales for 7 weeks to 23 sales in 4 weeks.

If this resonated with you, or if you would like more information about learning how to do this, send me an email to michael@michaelkies.com.au and I will respond to you personally.