Proactive, Not Reactive
If you want to really carve out your own space in the real estate industry, it’s all about being proactive.
You can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen; you need to go out and do the activities that build your reputation, establish your market presence, and drum up business.
In other words, you need to start playing an outbound game, where you own the playing field and proactively do what you know needs to be done.
A little sporting analogy
Sport offers one of the best analogies here, because offensive and defensive play is something that can be observed in pretty much any sporting game.
Regardless of whether it’s tennis, AFL, soccer, basketball, or cricket, there’s a big difference between playing an outbound (offensive) game and playing an inbound (defensive) match.
When you play offensively, you are in control, setting the pace, driving towards the goal, and proactively using strategy to catch your opponent off guard.
Defensive play looks very different. It sees you covering your bases and hoping you’re not caught out, as the pace and strategy of the play happen to you.
We’ve all seen this in sport, and you can absolutely feel it when play shifts from offensive to defensive and vice versa.
There’s a sense of confidence to an outbound game, a can-do attitude where the team or player takes the fight to the opponent.
And yes, an outbound game is absolutely something you can replicate in real estate.
What an outbound real estate game looks like
In real estate, an outbound game is all about doing the right work at the right time and in the right place.
So, what does that involve? Well, it’s about reaching out and influencing people to become future clients.
It’s about networking, marketing, and illustrating who you are and what you do. It’s about leveraging results, showcasing your achievements, and indicating how you can assist future clients.
It’s not about sitting back and thinking your ‘open for business’ sign means the clients will come to you.
Oh no, it’s about taking your expertise out into the marketplace or in other words, taking the fight to the opposition, by owning the playing field with advertising, letterbox drops, and expertise.
It’s about being proactive when it comes to calling people back, keeping them updated and touching base with monotonous regularity.
It’s working ahead of the curve and making potential clients aware that you are an active and successful agent who sells homes in their area…every…single…day.
It’s amplifying and leveraging ‘For Sale’ and ‘Sold’ boards. It’s that burst of calls to inform your established clients of a recent result in their neighbourhood.
It’s the thousands of letterbox drops and endless social media campaigns. It’s the annual ‘anniversary’ call to update contacts, and understand who is on the market.
Game on…
To win in real estate, you need to play an ‘outbound’ game; an offensive game.
Those who choose to play ‘defence’, waiting for the play ‘to come to them,’ will lose every time.
And let’s be honest, to be good at this career is to be constantly undertaking that outbound work, day in, day out. It’s real estate 101.
We complete that outbound work in the knowledge there comes a point when the balance shifts. Suddenly, all that outbound work results in inbound business. Strangers and established clients call you directly, and unopposed.
That’s the goal, the Holy Grail, the championship moment. We all want that.
But here’s the kicker…only those who have the patience and discipline to do the ‘outbound’ work in the first instance will ever achieve the ‘inbound’.
That’s why we call it an ‘outbound’ game. Only once you’ve mastered it do you move from being ‘average,’ and just ‘one of the pack’ to earning the reputation of being the ‘go-to person’ in your marketplace
About the Author
Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency, Australia’s first multi-brand real estate network, ‘the only fully integrated solution for you and your people to create an unforgettable experience.’
For all enquiries and more information on how the Agents’Agency can help you take your career to the next level, click here to get in touch.
