Bonnie Cox Real Estate Musings: Fear of Change can Hurt Your Business

Most people don't like change.  It means having to re-adjust routine, change habits and throw your order of process into upheaval.  You are leaving your comfort zone.  Most people don't want to do this, so those people fail.  Even when that change could mean something GOOD people balk.

Real estate is no different.  You're used to a sellers market, bidding wars and offers that ascend from the list price.  Well gone are the days you could just punch a for sale sign in the yard and have several offers on the table in front of your customer in a week.

I keep hearing the old saying over and over again in my head:

If you keep doing what you're doing . . . you're going to keep getting what you're getting.

When my income, my open house activity and my listings hit a plateau and I wasn't at my goal, I knew I had to do something different.  I totally believed in what I was doing, I enjoyed it, but it became routine.  When that happens a complacency takes effect and it's picked up in your presentations, your follow ups, and even phone communication with your customers.

Somehow, you realize that you have gotten away from your purpose, but you are doing everything you know to do, and nothing new and exciting is happening.  This also happens when you TRY to do something different, but slide back into the same habits and routines because they are COMFORTABLE.  Even seasoned agents run into these roadblocks.

When I began working in real estate, I was excited.  It wasn't because I saw all this potential money in it, because it really wasn't about income.  The subject matter of that site was something I was passionate about because its focus was on helping people find that perfect home . . . something I really never had. 

I jumped right in with just my passion alone and not much substance (knowledge) and I was getting lost.  I had to stop and take a step back to see where I was going.  Sometimes when your nose is to the grindstone, you can't see the goal in the distance.

I was always used to working alone in everything.  Even with my marketing business five years ago, I did everything alone.  I tried partnering up with an old pro in my office.  That gave me a whole new perspective and fresh look at how things are done.

That's when I felt it.  And that's when I began re-animating!  I took the focus off myself and trying to accomplish 2001 sales in a 2009 market and instead focused on helping the very people that this  market victimized.  I began going about my business with a consultative point-of-view, not from a sales point of view.  Then I realized something!

I REALLY DID want to help people!  I had been there!  These people weren't looking for the same huge prices they used to be able to command.  They wanted someone to understand!  They wanted out from under and they wanted help.

I have seen agents who weren't used to working as hard, who got into the business during the bull market of real estate, freeze up.  Some have left the business.  Those who saw the underbelly of what was really going on stuck around.  The agents that really wanted to help people.

Now even though this is a rather extreme example of fear of change, but it was an eye-opener and a wake-up call.

Give a little something.  You don't want to just take money from people, there's no fulfillment in that.  You want people coming back because they believe you.  They trust you.  Make them feel good about hiring you, recommending you.  The more you give, the more you will get in return and the more fulfillment your real estate business will give you.