The media isn’t doing real estate agents any favors these days, are they? Once a potential client has seen enough headlines, they firmly believe that the market is crashing and it’s tough to move someone out of that belief once they’ve made up their mind. Fear not, dear reader! This won’t be our reality forever, or theirs, and we have some effective strategies to help you navigate the current storm. Remember, a calm sea has never made a skillful sailor, so let’s adjust our sails to the conditions and get to work!

👂 Hear Them Out and Genuinely Listen to Their Point of View
When someone you are chatting with tells you completely wrong information, they are saying it because they believe it, and none of us ever want to hear that what we firmly believe to be true is wrong, or crazy, even. Fight the urge to correct them and ask questions as to how they know that to be true, where they heard it from, and genuinely listen to their point of view. Once you’ve heard them out, ask them if they would be willing to learn about your point of view as a licensed professional who works every day in the current market and has their boots on the ground.

📉 Fight Feelings with Facts
Most of our potential clients aren’t economic or real estate market experts. They likely don’t even read the entire articles that are attached to the sensational headlines they consume every day. Wild headlines sell views, attention, and clicks and that is what the media is going to continue to pump out. As a modern agent, you’re fighting for the same attention but instead of just stating, “The market is NOT crashing!” in a video or post, back that statement up with a chart or graph from a reputable source. This simple yet effective strategy will help set you apart from your peers and tee you up to be a local market expert that people want to learn from. Back up everything you can with documentation to bolster your reputation. 

👩‍⚕️Be the Actual Expert You Say You Are
Carve out time in your schedule each week, each day if you can, to study both the national and local markets. Thirty minutes a day would be ideal here. This will allow you to confidently share facts and their sources with anyone you are speaking to which will, in turn, boost their confidence in you as the market and real estate expert that you present yourself to be. 

👩‍🏫 Stay in Front of Your Audience With a Steady Stream of Up to Date Information
We are all marketers now and if your messaging has been solely your amazing transaction numbers and happy clients, you need to make the shift to education and expert knowledge. When people are fearful about the decisions they are making, someone who is steadily educating them about current market conditions, sharing historic data to put things into perspective, and advising them on what to expect next is going to have an advantage over someone who just celebrates their newest listing or latest closing. An educated client is a calm client who can confidently make decisions. Begin educating your entire community to nurture them into your very own calm clients!

📊 Share the Good, Bad, and the Ugly
Sometimes there isn’t good news to share, and that’s ok! Don’t hide from it, face it head-on and share what it means, put it into perspective over the long term, and educate your audience on when those conditions are predicted to lift. 

💪 Don’t Resist the Market, Lean Into it and Get to Work
This market is asking more of us and there isn’t anything we can do as individuals to change the market, so do not waste your precious energy resisting the current conditions. The market is always going to do this, that’s it’s nature, so let’s get to the acceptance phase and get to work. Make a plan for what you need to do and stick to your plan. Soon enough, the market will shift again and we will adjust again together!

You’re doing great, just keep going. Continuity is the secret to success.