What's All This About Selling with Soul?
Why do you want to be a real estate agent?
Is it because you’ve always fantasized about cold-calling strangers three hours a day? Blanketing neighborhoods with recipe cards, football schedules and calendars? Knocking on strangers’ doors and asking them if they know anyone who wants to buy or sell real estate?
We didn’t think so.
We’re thinking that you dream of a career in real estate because you enjoy the idea of helping real people achieve their goal of homeownership, or at least, helping them salvage what’s left of their equity… and their dignity … if they’re in a distressed situation (as many are these days). We think you might be excited by the opportunity to do something different every single day, to solve seemingly unsolvable problems, to use your creativity to overcome challenges and to yes, make a very good living doing something you enjoy… and that you’re good at.
But if you peruse typical real estate training material, more often than not what you’ll find there are detailed programs and systems to “effectively” pester strangers (and even your friends!) for business, with very little fanfare devoted to being worthy of the significant commissions you hope to be earning soon.
"...giving me a space that is consistent..peaceful...relaxing which allows my creative nature go to work..." Crystie M.
Which leads us to Selling with Soul.
A few years ago, I was blessed to become acquainted with Jennifer Allan Hagedorn and her Sell with Soul (SWS) philosophy. To quote from Jennifer’s Sell with Soul website:
- What if... you could easily attract business to you... instead of always asking for it?
- What if... you could succeed in real estate by simply being yourself... instead of someone you don't recognize?
- What if... you could hold your head high and say, "I'm a real estate agent and it's the coolest job in the whole world?"
Why does this appeal to me so much? Well, as the one in charge of training my agents, I look at training programs all the time. I see so many that encourage agents to call X number of people a day to ask for business. Accost Y number of strangers at the mall and give them a business card. Knock on Z number of doors until they get an appointment.
Sure, these tactics CAN work, but I’ll ask again - is THIS why you wanted to be a real estate agent?
If your answer is still “no,” then Selling with Soul offers a better way. A way to more effectively (not to mention more professionally) use your time doing activities that don’t conflict with your gut, don’t insult the intelligence (or the patience) of your prospective clients, and shows them the respect YOU'D expect from anyone you considered honoring with your business.
Quoting again (with revisions) from the Sell with Soul website:
What, exactly, does it mean to Prospect with Soul?
- To Prospect with Soul means that you want to bring business your way by using the brains God gave you instead of blindly following the crowd (most of whom are headed for failure).
- To Prospect with Soul means you consider the impact of your prospecting techniques on the intended audience and refuse to engage in activities that belittle, patronize or annoy the person being prospected to.
- To Prospect with Soul means you can make a good living selling real estate, yet sleep well at night, and bounce out of bed every morning delighted to get back to work.
- To Prospect with Soul mean you commit to being exceptional at what you do, and therefore know you are the best thing that could happen to your clients and prospects.
How does this sound to you? If you’re liking what you’re reading, it gets even better!
Recently, Jennifer named RWW the FIRST EVER SWS-Certified OFFICE! What does that mean to you? It means that our office culture is based on Sell with Soul (SWS) philosophies and principles, and is the attitude we impart on ALL our associates. It’s how we communicate, how we treat each other and forms the basis of what we expect from anyone who associates with RWW.
We also sponsor year-round training based on SWS programs; for example, as a group, we’re currently doing the PROSPECT with SOUL 7-Week Course to Discovering the Perfect Prospecting Strategies for YOU (click here for details) which includes weekly meetings to share ideas and keep each other on track.
So, does Selling with Soul at RWW sound like a good fit for you?
