Signature Selling
by Jim Remley, Speaker, Author, Consultant
Have you ever experienced a work of art? Perhaps it was a painting that took your breath away, or a piece of literature that stirred your emotions. Just as likely it may have been a mesmerizing photographic, or even a piece of captivating music. Now think carefully, once you were done soaking the experience in what was your next step?
Like me your first impulse might be to tell a friend or a loved one about your discovery. But before you run for the door or reach for the phone you probably will take just a minute to find the artists signature. Why? Because who created a work of art, is an essential part of the art itself, in fact, most of us are in awe of a powerful artist, we love to study, dissect, and discuss how these inspired creators are able to tap into their inner talent.
So are you an artist in the field of real estate? Are you willing to sign each of your transactions with your name? It’s an important question. A signature is a powerful testament to your overall performance. It says that you take ownership, and pride in your accomplishments and that you are willing to allow others to admire and even critique your work.
Five Ways to “Sign” Your Work:
- Take Pride in Every Transaction. By taking pride in a transaction you take on ownership of the work. Ask yourself - If my business were to be measured by my performance in only this transaction would I be proud of my work?
- Remove Excuses. By justifying failure with excuses any agent can fade into mediocrity and become one of the masses. Superstars rise above the hoard by only accepting excellence as their finished product.
- Let the Work Stand for Itself. Just like many master artists even the best agent’s work may go unappreciated. Superstars realize it’s not always about the recognition of excellence by others but the fulfillment of their own true talent and potential.
- Ask for Input. Great agents often begin their career with nothing more than a burning desire to succeed. To realize their full potential then, top producers often rely on a mentor to help them hone their skills, find their talents, and guide their steps. By asking for input superstars grow into the agent they wish to become.
- Display Your Talent. Once their master work has been completed and the transaction closed even the most elite agents find great satisfaction and profit in displaying their success. How? By asking for testimonials from their satisfied clients, and for referrals to others who may wish to experience first hand their unique gifts.
Strong agents are uniquely talented individuals who bring something to their craft that others can admire, and experience for themselves. They are then in a sense an artist , an artist who inspires their customers, and clients to continuously refer their friends and neighbors to their work. A signature then goes beyond your pride of workmanship but also includes a statement about the style of the work itself.
Consider the works of a Rembrandt, Hemingway, or Mozart. Each offered tremendous value and quality to their craft, but in addition each represented something uniquely different in their art—a signature style that made them standout and rise above the countless other artists of their time. Do you have a signature style? A uniqueness that set’s you apart from the rest of the real estate community in your own market area.
When looking at the top agents in your city, town, or state you will no doubt discover that many of them are known to specialize in a unique niche of the market. They often play to their traditional strengths by recognizing their own natural talents which they leverage by specializing in what they are passionate about in real estate. In much the same way a master pianist may choose to play country, rock, or classical music, a top producer who is an internet specialist may leverage that talent by focusing on the commercial, residential, or income area of the real estate business. This powerful signature style is what supercharges many agents success, and differentiates them from the hoards of agents occupying the hyper -competitive real estate industry.
Five Ways to Find Your Signature Style:
- Identify Your Natural Talents. We are all born with innate abilities, and strengths some would call these our natural talents. These natural talents should be embraced as a key part of our signature style.
- Sharpen Your Skills. What skills could help you your business grow, and take your natural talent to the next level? Communication skills, computer skills, crisis management skills? Find which skills could lead your business to a higher level of fulfillment.
- Find a Path of Progress. Identify your end game, where it is you want to be in the next twelve months and determine what steps need to happen in order to make this dream a reality. Finding this path of progress is essential to goal setting and building a signature style that actually creates results.
- Choose a Niche.Your market niche should be something that absolutely gets you fired up about selling real estate. It should excite you, animate you, and leave you ready to jump out of bed every morning to tackle the day.
- Become the Best. Measured only against your own true potential ask yourself what it will take to become your absolute best and then commit to a plan of action to raise your standard to this level. So will you become the next Picasso, Rembrandt, or Bach within the real estate industry? As a real estate artist you have the ability to make it happen if you make the choice to move up to signature selling.
Copyright Jim Remley. All rights reserved. Jim Remley is a speaker, author, and consultant. A frequent contributor to RealyTimes.com, he is also an active real estate broker in Southern Oregon where he owns a network of nine offices. Jim won the Rookie Instructor of the Year award in 2001 from Realty-U, the largest network of real estate educators in the nation. Recently he won the 2002 and 2003 Pacesetter Award. Along with his book, Make Millions Selling Real Estate, he has developed an extensive catalog of products and a personal coaching system. For more about Jim, visit ProPerformer.com.