There are a few key attributes that are clear indicators of your future or current success as a professional REALTOR®.

One of the TOP FIVE is being a rapid responder.

I once called a REALTOR® and got this voice mail, “This is Joe Sloe.  Please leave a message, and I’ll return your call within two business days.”

LOLOLOLOLOL!

I rolled my eyes and hung up, without leaving a message.  I’m sure that 95% of his potential clients did the same.

He might as well have said, “This is Joe Sloe.  I’m super important and I’ve got better things to do than return your phone call.  If I think it’s worth my while, perhaps I’ll call you back.” 

That phone message is terrible, but there’s something that is far worse:

Crickets.  The complete and total non-response.

And, I’m not talking about just phone calls.  The same applies to emails and text messages.

You might be saying to yourself,...

I just looked up “candid” in the dictionary:

candid – truthful and straightforward; frank, “His responses were remarkably candid”

I’ve had numerous past clients tell their friends this exact phrase about me, on several occasions, “He’s remarkably candid."

But here’s my question: Why is it “remarkable” to be candid?  Wouldn't life be so much easier if we were all candid with each other?

If you’ve ever gotten an email from me, you’ll notice a quote at the bottom, “Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value. – Albert Einstein”

I’ve always tried to run my life this way, which served me well during my Real Estate career.  I’m no Einstein—that’s for sure—but his message rings true to my core values.

As a REALTOR®, I always told my clients the straight up truth, without any regard to whether my response...

The inspiration for this post is an email I read this morning, paraphrasing slightly:

“How to put a rosy spin on a negative market”

What?  Why would you NOT want your clients to know the straight-up truth about the market?  I don’t get it.

How are your clients supposed to make informed and intelligent decisions, based on Bogus Spin (BS)?

Let’s stop here for a minute and verify what kind of REALTOR® you are:

1. My job is to assist my clients to achieve the best possible result, depending on their unique circumstance, without regard to my own personal gain, or;
2. My job is to tell my clients whatever I need to tell them, in order to squeeze out one more commission check for myself.

If you chose “b”, why are you reading this?  Go tell your clients how rosy the market is.  Good-bye.

If you chose “a”, here’s how and why you should always be straight-up truthful with everyone, no matter what:

If your client is a...

I hate “slicksters” and so does the public. 

If you want to be regarded as a trusted advisor, you can forget all about memorizing stupid scripts to overcome objections. 

Whenever a salesperson uses a script on me, I’m completely turned off and I resolve to never buy from that person.  What about you?

It’s no wonder that so many Real Estate agents are regarded as being deceitful, dishonest, and untrustworthy. 

You’re not a sleazy telemarketer.  Are you?

You decide.

I’m not saying you should just roll over, every time you get an objection.  Just handle it with an honest and sincere response.  And realize that sometimes people have legitimate objections that don’t require a “come-back”.

If you learn to present to potential clients in a way that shows them How Real Estate Really Works, you’ll not only eliminate almost all objections, but you will completely differentiate yourself from the...