You're so much more than "just a real estate agent" - how to feel confident during client appointments

You're getting ready for a client appointment and that feeling of doom hits you. They're great people and you'd love to have them as clients, but you know your potential client is interviewing multiple real estate agents. Before you know it, those horrible self-decimating thoughts start creeping in. They tell you things like "why would they choose me, I haven't had as many deals as other agents," "I'm sure they have better choices than me," "I haven't been in the business as long as others," "my presentation isn't even very good," "it's sloppy," "I'm sloppy," and the list goes on and on.

Let me be the first one to tell you...STOP IT!!! Those thoughts are coming from your "lizard brain" and it's much more powerful than you think. This part of the brain is primal and is in place to detect danger (you know, like if a bear is chasing you in the forest). This primal system of the brain can be triggered when we start to venture outside of our comfort zones, which starts to lead to negative self-talk. If you aren't aware of it and don't catch it in time, it can hold you back much more than you know. This not only can affect your real estate career but also your life in general.

So how can you start to work past your lizard brain? Well, that's not as easy as it would seem. It's going to take conscious awareness and your willingness to push past those negative thoughts. Author Seth Godin refers to the perspective of jumping off the high dive as children in his book "The Icarius Deception." When you view it from the ground and see other children happily jumping off, it seems easy. However, as you climb the ladder to the high dive, the reality of the height and risk starts to sink in. There is potential danger and thus, activates the lizard brain. The negative thoughts and fear begin working against you in order to protect you from the perceived danger. You press past the fear and finally jump! SPLASH!!! You did it! Now that you overcame the fear and negative thoughts, you climb right back up without missing a beat to do it again. This is the same process as your client meeting, just in an adult world and without the water. 

When we become aware of our thoughts more and start to instead feed our minds with positive thoughts instead, it'll become easier with each situation. This isn't going to happen overnight, so be patient. Also, every time that you step out of your comfort zone, you're going to get some pushback. Try not to be hard on yourself and give yourself grace, it's nature, and we all face it daily. We just need to first be aware of it.

Okay, control the lizard brain...check! Next, let's take a look at what you're feeding your mind and how to set you apart from the pack. Yes, I'm aware that there are tons of agents. However, every single one of us brings different attributes to the table for our clients. Learn how to identify those attributes (I could seriously do a class on that in itself! (Update - Oh yeah I do now, it's included in my RESONATE program! ;)) Once you've identified them, use them to your advantage as your (self) selling points. 

Let's take Tom for example. Tom worked in a financial background before becoming a real estate agent. He's managed a team, handled spreadsheets, and can do accounting with his eyes closed. These are personal attributes that many other agents don't have. The chances of the other agents that he's competing against offering these traits are fairly low so Tom should play up these attributes as much as possible. He could do pricing reports or comparison charts as one of his services. He could offer vendor management guides of some nature or maybe offer some form of equity audit. Services like these make him unique from other real estate agents while adding value for his clients.

We all have traits of our own that we can emphasize just like I used in the example of Tom. Uniqueness is a gift! Especially in this business! Remember when you were designing your first set of business cards and you got to do it YOUR own way? Don't forget how that felt after you're in the business and surrounded by other agents. Don't lose yourself trying to be the reality tv-type agent or anyone else for that matter. You're uniquely you and the clients that are meant for you will love you for that. They will also refer others to you because of how you stand out, not because you are just like everyone else. Embrace it, you can't go wrong by being authentically you. 

Shine On ~ Your Real Estate Coach,
Amanda