This is the most crucial step. Whether it is with the client, sales team, management, whomever, the data gathered is meaningless unless dissected analyzed. Even more so if that data is negative or constructive, it is far more important to understand the why.

I love these types of questions. "Tell me more about that" is my favorite. When starting out, I was unpolished and found myself asking dead end questions, meaning they were either yes or no, or only one word answers. I had a client that kept wanting a big kitchen but didn't cook. I couldn't figure this out for the longest time until I asked why, when he revealed that he liked to entertain. Finding people's why, can reveal motivation, details that are very relevant, or just simply getting more in depth feedback.

In sales, this is everything. I think most people have the perception that salespeople are all extroverted smooth talkers. Being that I myself am introverted, I rely on my ears to make a sale, not my mouth. By understanding personas and actually listening to your client or consumer, you will be much more successful. I would agree totally that if you know their specific needs and interests, the sale is more likely to go through.

I was having a conversation with my parents about playing the guitar. When I first started, it was an arduous process in which I struggled for many months. I had to sit in a room and teach myself chords, learn how to find rhythm, and eventually took a lesson or two. Today, if someone wants to learn to play the guitar, there are video games and YouTube videos on how to hack this process and totally streamline the learning curve. After 17 years of playing the guitar, you could say that I have mastered the insturment to a certain degree. Although I almost quit entirely when I saw a 12 year old kid on YouTube that was playing "Stairway to Heaven" flawlessly.

This is something that I have thought about for a long time. I listened to a podcast with Elon Musk and he was speaking about this in-depth. It's somewhat scary to think about the technological advancements that we have made in just the past few decades. Machines are doing jobs of people, and they don't complain, the don't show up late to work, they don't take vacations, etc. Part of evolution is finding ways to adapt to survive. Employment growth is now and will have to come from different ventures.

It's shocking for me that this is so elementary, yet makes perfect sense. I truly have seen first hands other realtors that are so terrible at listening to their clients. They either do not take constructive criticism well, are stubborn, or are just bad listeners. Maybe it is an ego thing as well. With any business, especially a start up, you need to work out the kinks and take in as much feedback as possible. Working towards customer validation is huge, and then moving towards referrals or good reviews is the next crucial step

I think marketing automation can be great, and very calculated. The negative is that it is not personable, and that many people will unsubscribe. Newsletters are a great way to stay in touch while reaching a large audience. Social media scheduled posts can be great as you can plan out how often you advertise and be more strategic with planning.

Social media can be an excellent tool in marketing. For realtors, I believe that there is a fine line between posting too much content, and not enough. In 2020, if you are an independent contractor and not on social media, you are either not doing any business, or your business is booming to the point where you are too busy that you don't need to advertise. I believe the former is more practical. I find that social media posts are great in the aspect of "reminders" that you are still selling or business is good. I don't think that much is generated from the actual post itself.

I know Zillow does a similar process. If you are a paying subscriber, you are higher on the list of contacts compared to someone who is not subscribing. I think it can be valuable to subscribe to this or similar services, to be the first on the list. Especially when our data tells us that on average, people interview only 1.5 realtors before signing any contracts.