Jeff Geoghan | marketing,branding,the digital age
Jeff's thoughts and commentary on being out there
Keep Calm and Carry On: 5 Tips On Avoiding Techno-Stress
Have you seen that look? The “thousand yard stare”
that Real Estate agents get when they’ve endured yet another
techno-wonder-training class.Just this week I sat through a typical tech-for-real-estate class, with apps, plugins and shiny things of all sorts being thrown out to the audience. Great stuff all, to be sure, but almost immediately afterwards I began hearing the mutterings – “I’ll never figure this —– out”, or “who’s going to do all this for me?”
Agents are not doing this stuff. And it’s beginning to stress them out.
I’m here today to remind everyone of the recently-popular expression “Keep Calm and Carry On”. In my own one-on-one training I try to emphasize to agents that the important things are having a plan, following it and connecting with customers. Don’t let an irrational techno-fear of what you don’t know stop you from being consistent at something. Agents were fabulously successful before technology and “traditional” skills still work great – just ask Mike Ferry (look him up if you’ve never heard of him).
Techno-tools are there to help you be more productive and engage customers in new ways. They will never, however, replace purposeful prospecting and an outgoing personality.
I’m a big believer in leveraging techno-tools to build my brand and re-invent myself, and I do this every day for a huge company for crying out loud, but even I know that the real magic happens when I’m in front of someone and the lights are on me. ME. Not my Facebook account or Twitter stream. For all of you agents out there who really want to adopt shiny new techno-things and figure them out, go for it! Just don’t let it all stress you out. My tips are simply these:
1) Look for particular techno-ideas to fix specific obstacles you see in your business (contact management, video presentations, etc).
2) Be militant about learning how to use just a couple of products or systems well. Pretty much ignore everything else until you “get” what you have in front of you.
3) Try to view any techno-tool in its
bigger context – WHY would this thing help you sell another home in
your current setup? Don’t fall for techno-rabbit-trails…4) Focus on the core systems in the industry already with free tools, like the latest free offerings from Realtor.com and Trulia, for example. These things are built by insiders who get it, and will likely lead to more bang for your attention buck.
5) Don’t go to a tech class or presentation unless you are really ready to take ONE THING away and really do it. At least one thing. If you won’t even commit to that, stay home and make phone calls instead.
Hopefully this helps focus your thinking on the proper role of techno-shiny-things in your Real Estate business. And get back to prospecting, will you already! Stop reading this…
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