When I started my career in real estate nearly 20 years ago, I could not fathom that I would one day write a post titled “7 Important Lessons To Be Successful In Real Estate”.
To be honest, my entry into the industry was not blessed with a smoothly laden path. Having sales experience is one thing, but that experience loses its emphasis if you do not possess an intimate knowledge of what you are selling. Coming from Mumbai, selling residential homes is a very foreign concept (as most people reside in high-rise apartments).
My first day was pretty eventful!
On my first day on the job, my General Manager called me into his office after a company-wide meeting to proverbially “show me the ropes”. This session was akin to an extended meet and greet, whereby at the end, he handed me a set of keys and asked me to manage one of our display homes.
Alarm bells, both literally and figuratively, went off once I arrived at the display home. Keep in mind that I had no guidance, let alone formal training or education on the display home’s features and etiquette. Such that, in hindsight, it was not unsurprising that my first act was setting off the home’s security alarm system – at least, my initial foray in the housing market was alarming!
Shortly after I resolved the security alarm issue, a prospective buyer approached me in the display home and asked me a technical question regarding the home specifications. After recovering from the initial ‘deer in headlights moment’, my prior sales experience kicked in. I was to provide him a humorous, albeit inaccurate answer; fortunately for me, the joke was funny enough to cover my shortcomings. That in essence summed up my first day on the job.
Nowadays, large and mid-tier building companies provide their sales professionals with extensive, live training sessions, as well as their own 7 important lessons to be successful in real estate. This wasn’t the case back in the early days of my career – very much emblematic of a ‘sink or swim’ mentality. While I did eventually learn not only to tread water, but to survive in it, it took a lot mentally and physically to get myself through those initial weeks.
My start was rough… yet had a small silver lining
I contemplated quitting at least every other day and found many valid reasons for why I should be doing other things – please bear in mind that it is not in my nature or design to give up very easily. Further, while I outlined the initial training was lacking (I eventually did receive course-led training at the Housing Industry Association), the initial weeks of being mocked by other sales representatives for my lack of experience served as my training – in hindsight, this helped me but it wasn’t well received back then.
Despite all of this, I had secured three home sales in my first month, and then followed up with 9 home sales the month after. To provide full context, this picture does not continue onwards to exponential growth – I did sell fewer homes in subsequent months – the point to take away is that you can still perform despite being uncomfortable in your position.
That, in itself, is important to comprehend – the initial days are intended to be uncomfortable. Selling a home to someone is not an easy feat, otherwise everyone would be doing it and my stories would lack purpose. If you are new to the industry, I’ve summarised 7 important lessons to be successful in real estate:
1. Treasure Your Idle Time
When I first started, typical office hours for an established sales representative were between 11:30am to 3:30pm. While some of you may find this surprising, please bear in mind that the rest of the day was spent meeting clients and tending to display homes. Given the lack of formal training, new sales representatives sought to imitate this work schedule, however as they did not possess the client base, their effective day ran between 11:30am to 3:30pm.
In my case, I used to drop-off my wife and son in the mornings and then proceed to head into the office around 8:00am. While the rest of the business was operational, the sales team office was a ghost-town. This worked in my favour, as I could use the idle time to learn the business, learn the product, and develop strategies for approaching clients in this space.
2. Learn From Anyone and Everyone
As I started earlier than the typical sales representative, I was able to spend time with other areas of the business – drafts-people, finance team members, project estimators, and construction people of the like. While I’m sure I was an initial pest to them, I soon developed great working relationships, and in some cases friendships with these team members, who were more than willing to educate me on their daily activities.
Always remember that the easiest way to learn from someone is to ask them what they do – no one is afraid or unwilling to talk about themselves. This quasi-training held me in good stead for better understanding the business.
Remember the story above, about the man asking me a technical question on the house specifications? Well, shortly after he left the display home, I contacted a colleague who explained his request. While it was a very simple answer, the greater lesson for me was that I would need to work harder to learn the product from that day itself.
3. Always be the first one in and last one out
While I used to get into the office early, I made it a point to leave the office later than other sales representatives. I thought it fitting to work “draftee” hours, meaning working similar hours to employees in the rest of the organisation, for the simple fact of maximising my learning opportunities. I always reminded myself that I knew less than the typical sales representative, yet I still had resources at my disposal that I could utilize.
One thing to remember as you progress through your career is that the cancer of complacency spreads quickly through your work habits with little warning. During my early years, there were instances where I educated experienced sales professionals on certain aspects of the product, just through my connections with other members in the organisation. This is a worthwhile endeavour, even if it means that you are seen as an equal contributor to the sales process.
Demonstrating punctuality is also integral to running a display home. I always reminded myself that the display home is one of the first viewings of your product to a potential customer, and that arriving late (even if it may be a few minutes) has the potential to leave a bad taste with said customer. While today there are online, virtual 3-D home opens and showings, the display home remains a key client catchment area and is still a representation of the company (not to mention one of its most significant investments).
Further, while technology has improved, customers’ needs have remained fairly constant. They still require great customer service, which will not be satisfied through tardiness.
4. Presentation Is Key
In my spare time, I enjoy watching US real estate TV shows (e.g. Million Dollar Listing). The flash and pomp associated with these multi-million dollar sales in the LA hills are a little different to my career experiences in Western Australia, however it highlights one commonality across the entire profession. As a sales representative, you must present yourself to a high standard; I am not suggesting that all sales representatives go out and buy Tom Ford or Armani suits/outfits, but the attire should, at a minimum, be reflective of the quality finishes within the product (being the residential home).
Why is this important? As a sales representative, you must blend into the environment in which you’re in. For example, you wouldn’t mind meeting your travel agent (if people still use travel agents!) in a Hawaiian shirt, but you may be taken aback in meeting your lawyer in the same attire. Put simply, a prospective customer may not feel comfortable dealing with someone who does not make a good impression, and presentation is a huge component of that first impression.
5. Listen To The Client
This is perhaps one of the most common yet frustrating issues I noticed with young sales representatives. I would love the opportunity to berate the individual who told sales representatives that the success of their job was directly linked to them being able to talk over their clients. This demonstrates a lack of professionalism, but more importantly, it lacks empathy with the customer.
You should always remind yourself that buying a home may be the single greatest decision a customer may make during their lifetime, and proceeding to talk at them does not make that decision any easier.
One of the biggest ‘benefits’ I had when starting my real estate career is that I was not well-versed in the product. I needed to step back and listen to the clients wants and needs, and address them appropriately (through consultation with other sales representatives and through my own research). As I became better skilled in the job, my listening skills remained my foundation, and I was able to better isolate the wants from the needs, and in turn, better service my clients.
6. The sale should not be your main focus
Having been a buyer and seller during my career, I feel blessed with seeing both sides of the conversation table – for instance, buying my first home gave me my first insight into the do’s and dont’s of selling that home. The single worst thing to be a part of from a buyer’s perspective, is to have the impression that the agent’s sole focus is on selling to you. You will not be able to turn a prospective client offside quicker than by implementing this strategy.
Instead, by creating rapport and building a relationship (which I will discuss methods to do so in subsequent posts), the outcome of selling the home becomes an organic decision. The client feels most comfortable when discussing their requirements, rather than be forced into a commitment by the agent.
7. Stay humble during the process
There is a reason that I left this last in my list of 7 important lessons to be successful in real estate. It is one of the most important and the one that is often overlooked.
With regard to all points outlined above, the simple fact is that, regardless how quickly you advance in your first few years, you do not know everything. As I write this post, I am still learning; but what is more telling, is that I am still hungry to learn.
The sales representative’s achilles heel is his or her own hubris. By tempering your expectations and operating on the basis that there may be another answer or solution, you remain a diligent and approachable sales representative that can be trusted by your clients.
Overall, my first two years in the industry were exhausting. But I’m glad I stuck around because those early days served as a foundation for my future career success.
Let me know if the comment section below if you agree/disagree with my 7 important lessons to be successful in real estate. Also if you’re interested in how I happened upon real estate as a career, you might enjoy this post.
The content outlined above was written, edited and published by the Lost Realtor. The author has over 20 years or real estate sales and investing experience in the Australian property market. He has held senior positions in Australian building companies, including being the General Manager of the residential sales division of Collier Homes. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building and Construction Law.