Welcome back to the InmanNext™ Laboratory where we’re trying to create the “agent of tomorrow.” If you missed the first two parts, be sure to start at the beginning so you know what we’re trying to accomplish.
Click here for Part 1 – What is the Ultimate Agent?
Click here for Part 2 – Creating the DNA
It’s time to start looking at the actual structure of this new style of real estate agent. Shortly after conception in humans, a baby’s heart and brain begin to form so let’s begin there.
The brain of our “agent of tomorrow” will be the headquarters for the howand what it will do and naturally the heart will be the why it does what it does. It’s been said by many that once you figure out your why in life, the how and what become obvious.
The brain will be a caustic balance of book smarts and street smarts. As many of our readers probably know, having a college degree is not a requirement to earn a real estate license in most states. It is also a fact that there are no hard and true facts that show that real estate success will be determined by a college degree. Factual knowledge probably will never hurt anyone but it is not a sole determinant of one’s success.
Street smarts are those things that are experientially developed and can certainly be something that can add to the success levels of any person; in the business world, personal relationships, travel, finance or basic survival. The experiences we have can certainly be a huge benefit to our chances for success. As someone once said, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”
It will really be a huge benefit if our newly created agent is a “salesperson at heart,” meaning they love the relationship aspect of real estate. They need to know that a house is just the widget of our business. Being successful in a real estate is about helping Buyers and Sellers accomplish their goals more than it is about the actual product involved.
Ron Willingham, founder of the Integrity Selling curriculum said, “Selling isn’t doing something to somebody. It is doing something for somebody.” The sooner an agent understands that selling is a good thing and not a bad word, it’s amazing what can happen.
If the brain is the how and what of this ultimate agent, then the backbone will represent who they are. Do they have solid core values? Will they stand up for what they believe in? Are trust, integrity and ethics just words they use or part of who they are? The “agent of tomorrow” needs to be willing to stand up for their beliefs and positions.
With certain transactions and clients we encounter in our careers, it seems like we carry the weight of the world with us. We should be certain to put a set of strong shoulders on this individual. Learning to properly manage our client’s fears and demands will prove to be a helpful trait.
You gotta have guts! Sadly, I am not talking about the flabby area above many of our belt-lines (and I am speaking for myself), I am talking about the internal fortitude to do what it takes in a transaction and in our daily business.
Agents with guts have a determination to make things happen and they don’t use the excuses like “it’s a tough market” to hold them back. They don’t get caught believing in the status quo because they know that even though the status quo is safe, that’s not where breakthroughs and success usually reside. And finally, they are “comfort zone breakers.” They don’t allow a belief boundary or imaginary wall hold them back from the levels of success they desire and deserve.
Lastly, our “agent of tomorrow” needs to have a soul. Now this last piece isn’t meant to be a religious statement and no anatomy book will show a photo or diagram of a human soul but I think we all know what I am talking about. It’s going to be that little extra place we’ll carve out inside this individual that always helps them “do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”
Our early development is now done and it will be fun to see how our “agent of tomorrow” starts to take shape. In our next post, we’ll break out the ultrasound machine to take a peek at some of the body parts that we’ll need to allow our creation to get to work.
Be sure to check back in for Part 4 – “The Foot Bone is Connected to the Leg Bone.”
