Where's the wizard?
He's not behind the curtain. He actually left the building.
Our industry has a leadership void at best — an identity crisis at worst. Not surprisingly, in the absence of leadership, strange things happen. People begin to fill narrative gaps with their own stories and rationalizations.
This - the filling of the leadership void - is happening everywhere in our industry. At the agent level, those who are happily unaware and waiting to be led will be left behind. Agents who are hyper-informed and care deeply are - concerned.
Here’s the biggest difference between the two.
The hyper-informed agents are crystal clear that there isn’t an individual, brokerage, or national association coming to save our respective reputations. They’re also clear that consumers need us to be exceptional at our work.
We’re not in Kansas anymore.
It’s on you.
It’s on me.
It’s on us to fill the void.
Rahm Emanuel famously issued what has come to be known as Rahm's Rule:
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”
Most focus on the first piece of Mr. Emanuel’s statement - the crisis.
What about the opportunity to do things differently?
That’s what we have—an opportunity to do things better.
It’s on you.
It’s on me.
It’s on us.
How do we do it differently? How do we rise above the chorus of chaos? All we have to do is answer one question exceptionally well.
How do you help people?
Now answer that again - but don’t mention real estate.
Tell that story. That’s where you’ll find success in the storm that will be real estate in 2024.
Why?
Because you, being a realtor, is meaningless to people trying to manage their busy lives. If you rely on that (brace yourself), no one cares. The next most popular answer (saying you care about people) is a convenient cop-out—a way of not staking a claim about how you help another human.
Is it a safe way to market? You bet - because nobody will pay attention to it.
They’ll think, “Awe - that’s nice - now I have to go find a realtor who solves my problem.” Most agents will market some version of “I’m all things to all people” rather than risk being noticeably different.
It’s like hearing an Oscar winner say, “I’d like to thank the academy,” vs. telling the story of how they embodied the character that won them the damn thing.
Refusing to answer the question leaves yet another leadership void for consumers to fill.
This new era of real estate will be an amazing era of opportunity for agents who can answer three questions;
Who are you?
What do you do?
Why should it matter to other people?
We can’t help others write their stories if we refuse to tell our own. So, stake a claim on how you help people. Don’t let this crisis go to waste, hoping a real estate wizard will tell you what to do next.
The future of real estate is in our hands - and that’s not good. It’s great. As Oz said,
“You've always had the power, my dear; you just had to learn it yourself.”
Right on the money! I shared this with my team today from a great book recommendation from you: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
”Making a purchase (ie deciding to hire us) is a huge step, especially if our products or services are expensive. What customers are looking for, then, is a clear path we’ve laid out that takes away any confusion they might have about how to do business with us.”
When you show potential clients who you are, how you help them and make it easy to work with you, they respond! Thanks for leading the way!