The other day my 23-year-old son called me and asked me to recommend a good chiropractor to look at from behind (don’t worry, this article is really about real estate agents).
You know that I personally know several chiropractors. In my office building there are two that I like, and that I know very well, and in recent years I have been served by 3 or 4 more people in the local area.
However, when my son asked me who I would recommend, I realized that I did not know a chiropractor who I would recommend.
I was surprised by my reaction to the question. I remember hanging up the phone asking myself, “How is it possible that you know that many chiropractors use and like them and yet cannot recommend you to any of them?”
If he had called me and asked me that question 10 years earlier, I would have had no problem giving him a referral. I would have given him the name of a specific chiropractor without thinking or hesitation.
So what was the difference between the chiropractor I saw ten years ago and the ones I know now? Why didn’t I refer any of them to my son? It took me a few minutes and then it occurred to me.
I did not refer my son to anyone because when I thought of them I did not consider any of them an expert.
I certainly didn’t have the thought “I should give him Dr. So-and-So’s name because ______”. When I thought of who to recommend to him, I was blank. I couldn’t think of a single reason for referring to one or the other. They all looked the same to me. There was not one that I considered better for him than the others.
The chiropractor I saw 10 years ago was an expert. He was medical director of the Professional Water-Ski tour. He was the medical director of Wrangler Pro Rodeo. He was the official chiropractor for the Norwegian Winter Olympic team. He was the chiropractor for a couple of professional sports teams. He had written all kinds of articles and had them framed in his waiting room. He had testimonial after testimonial from world champions of cowboys, water skiers and alpine skiers on his walls describing how he resolved their pain and helped them win.
If I was still living there, I would have told my son that he should definitely go see this chiropractor because he is an expert. I would have said, “He’s the chiropractor for a professional sports team. He went to Norway and worked with Olympians. It’s good because______”
But instead I ended up telling my son that I really couldn’t give him a reason to see any of them. Then I asked him if he had checked the phone book or looked on the net.
What does this have to do with you as a real estate agent?
I’m pretty sure the same thing is happening in the minds of your clients and prospects. They think that you are no different than almost all other agents.
Is your marketing showing them that you are the expert?
Can you fill in the blank and say that I should call So-and-so because___________? And “knowing, liking and trusting you” will not be a sufficient reason to refer to you.
Have you told them what the “why” are?
Have you shown them that?
Have you shown, tested and explained the dramatic difference between you and all the other agents?
Do you even know how to explain and prove that difference?
In my workshops I will ask the agents to write down what makes them different from all the other agents in the city, and invariably none of them can give an answer. Most agents think that they are more or less the same as any other agent competing against them.
Look at your marketing and ask yourself “Who else can say that?” If other realtors can say the same, you are wasting money.
If you don’t know the specific benefit that you have, that no one else has, and why it matters, how the heck will your prospects be? How will your prospects know why they should use your services instead of the other 10,000 agents in town?
And that’s why none of the chiropractors I know got a referral. None of them have distinguished themselves and given me reason to believe that they are an expert … and that is also why you don’t get as many referrals as you want either.
In another article I will discuss the cognitive bias of “authority” and a way you can use it to become “the expert” that people will refer to.
