Every day for the last year, since launching the Podcast, I get somewhere between three and eight emails from people who regret getting into real estate.
“Had I known,” they say, talking about the Negative Reputation of “real estate agents,” I never would have become one.
My personal response, “I love Negative Reputation industries.”
Do you know why? Because truth reigns supreme. To differentiate, literally, all you must do is tell the truth. Nothing else.
I’ve said it before. “TRUTH IS YOUR SUPERPOWER!”
Take the Guaranteed Sale Program – we all know it’s a gimmick taught by the TGP. They have no morals or ethics. Then they recruit others to have no morals or ethics, by training them to run around making promises they can’t deliver.
But then again, no one “buys the home for cash,” because it’s a gimmick. It’s bait-and-switch. No one ever qualifies. Besides that, as Inman reported, who wants to wholesale their home for as low as 70% of market value?
So just tell it like it is, the truth.
Here’s an email April Poley sent me – I’m super proud of her. (hoooorah!)
Email Subject line: I thought, “Oh what the hell” and told them
Hi Ryan,
I have to credit you for giving me some nerve. Last week I had a guy walk in my office looking for “the best agent our office has” and since I was the agent on floor duty at that moment, I was THAT agent. He wanted to sell his house so I told him I would stop by his home that evening to check it out.
That evening, I dropped by to get more info on the house and also to meet his wife. The first question his wife had for me was, “What is that plan I see advertised that your office will buy our house if it doesn’t sell?” Ryan, I believe you just obliterated this gimmick in a recent issue of Broken Industry.
My stomach instantly tied in a knot and I think I visibly winced like someone kicked me. I did not want to have to offer that plan, and I feared I would lose the listing if I didn’t offer it, but I opened my mouth and what came out was, “That’s a bait and switch type scam designed to make the phone ring. Last year the company at the national level only actually purchased 7 homes. I think it’s unethical to offer it, it basically requires you to wholesale your home to the company and it has lots of up front costs just to be accepted into the program. Bottom line, it’s a gimmick and when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”
Her response was priceless. She said, “Wow, thank you for being so honest! I want you as our agent for that reason alone!”
And that, folks, is how it’s done.
People are always asking me, “What’s the secret? How do I get clients?” (You know, the Low-information agent and those plagued by Mental Obesity). I tell them, “I don’t know the fucking secret.” (Ask the TGP).
“I just know how to tell the truth, in story-format so it entertains and protects.”
Speaking of being a Protector. Here’s the 2nd half of April’s email:
On a side note, a couple weeks ago, I was driving home from running a few errands and I happen to be wearing my Agent Marketing Syndicate t-shirt. I think it gave me a little super hero strength because as I drove around a corner I witnessed a man beating up a little puppy. He picked her up and overhanded her straight at the street. He was mean looking, bald, ripped, and tattooed. I pulled up my truck, jumped out, grabbed the puppy, told him I didn’t appreciate him treating his puppy like that and that I would be taking his puppy. I jumped back in the truck, called the police on him, and drove off with his puppy.
The police dispatcher told me I could be in trouble for “stealing” his dog. I told her that was fine, I would do it 100 times over so come arrest me. I then went on Facebook and posted about it on 5 or 6 different local classifieds groups and animal adoption pages. I had hundreds of likes and positive comments, as well as people saying they would be happy to pay bail if I did get arrested. In the end, the puppy was adopted out by the shelter, the puppy beater was never found, and I didn’t get arrested. I really need to be careful wearing that shirt. It makes me do heroic things. lol.
That’s the thing about us Protectors, it’s in our blood. We can’t turn it off.
We see evil, we want to fight it.
We see wrongs, we want to right them.
If someone is in need, we want to rush to help. (It’s just who we are.)
By the way, if you don’t have the Agent Marketing Syndicate® T-shirt, the one that April says makes her do heroic things, go here.
You can get one free, with a Broken Industry subscription. (The only publication in real estate that focuses on truth – as the differentiator. Oh, and it’s cheap. Super cheap. I made it cheap so everyone, who is ethical, could join the conversation.)
Write this down.
Truth is your superpower. Use it. Embrace it. Speak it.
Talk soon,
-RYAN
Ryan Fletcher
Author, Defeat Mega-Agents
Editor-in-Chief, Broken Industry (print magazine)
Founder and CEO, Agent Marketing Syndicate.com
Creator, Protector/Social Superhero Program – by application only. Wait list. 12-Month minimum commitment.
PS: Make sure to subscribe to the Podcast too. It’s free, of course! If you’re already a fan of the show and loyal listener, please, let me hear from you. Head over to iTunes, leave us a review. Then send me an email with your review, attached. Every 5th review is placed into a drawing to win a FREE Agent Marketing Syndicate® T-Shirt.
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