In the real estate world, relationships are everything. And on today’s episode of the Real Estate Sales Podcast, Jimmy is joined by Alicia Cop, Sales Associate at SOMEWHERE, to talk about what she does to build authentic relationships that sustain growth. 

The real estate industry has shifted.

• Alicia’s area of St. Louis has about a 12% increase in inventory and a 27% increase in failure rate (contracts not making it to closing.)
• Buyers are experiencing buyer fatigue because they’ve been beaten up over the last year by both the real estate market and life amid a pandemic.

Avoid the cotton candy diet:

• Kids would gladly eat cotton candy for supper instead of a meal. But even if they eat cotton candy all night long, they won’t feel full. 
• Real estate agents are the same way with lead conversion, digital media, and other aspects of their business: spending time on strategies that don’t make their business full.
• The real source of nutrients for your business: relationships.

What made Alicia so aware of the importance of relationships?

• As a young agent, Alicia went against solid competition for a client’s business and was surprised when she landed the job. 
• She asked the client years later why she went with her. The client responded, “Out of all the agents, you were the only one who remembered my son’s name.”
• This impacted Alicia and ingrained in her the importance of forging meaningful relationships beyond the transaction.

What are some of the things she does during the transaction process to help with stress?

• It’s all about listening to pain points. When conversing with a new client, the first thing she does is determine their primary concerns with their entire real estate process.
• Once she determines that primary concern, Alicia solves the problem. That could mean hiring a house cleaner, booking a hotel room, or a myriad of other solutions. It’s about performing unexpected (but helpful) acts.

Use social media to grow relationships.

• Alicia has focused on growing her Instagram in the last year, but she also uses YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 
• It’s easy to make social media a resume. But it’s even better if you use social media as a way to check in with your sphere of influence to know if anything significant has occurred in their lives.

Throughout the pandemic, Alicia noticed a huge decline in mental health.

• She didn’t want people to think she had everything figured out because showing vulnerability makes people more likely to feel comfortable being vulnerable around you.
• Her more personal posts have the highest engagement, more so than her transactional content.
• Don’t have draining small talk, have a personal conversation.
• The takeaway: Authenticity and vulnerability foster meaningful connections.

What’s one thing Alicia wishes she had done differently? Focus on building relationships instead of marketing who she is. At some point, whether they tell you or not, you’ll tick off your client. Building a relationship creates a platform that helps manage that relationship. Find Alicia on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Connect with Jimmy Burgess on LinkedIn and Facebook and his YouTube channel.  If you like what you heard today, we’d love it if you’d share a rating or review and then subscribe to the podcast and tell others about it as well. You can find The Real Estate Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts,Google Podcasts, Spotify,Audible, and our website, The Real Estate Sales Podcast.