We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lyndsey Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
How did you get your start in opening your own real estate brokerage and how are your agents communicating their value in the competitive market?
I started my real estate brokerage after more than a decade working in corporate America. I left a career as an executive, for a real estate development firm, because I wanted to define my own version of success. The beginning was simple, I knew if I clearly visualized a goal I could achieve it.
I knew right from the start I was not going to take a typical real estate agent path or be part of someone else’s team. My creativity and independent style drive me to the edge of rebelliousness and sometimes pushes me over it. I dream big but have the determination and personal accountability to push through obstacles along the way, so I started a business brokerage called Emmly Realty. By definition, ‘Emmly’ means to strive for success, excel, and rival.
There are a lot of requirements for owning a real estate brokerage and one of my greatest skills is the ability to navigate between the big picture and the granular details. My top priority was getting clients and making money, but I never lost sight of the little things that differentiated me from other top real estate agents. I learned in my corporate career, “done is better than perfect” and that was my philosophy as I built my business.
For one example, I used a CRM system to track my clients and leads, but when I first started it truly served like an address book and not a true customer relationship management system. Over the years, I refined my systems and processes and leveraged the technology and automation to make me more efficient and increase my lead conversion rate. If I had waited to start using a CRM until I had all the smart plans, drip campaigns, lead generation tools, etc. all set-up I probably would have never started.
I made mistakes along the way, like sending a mass email to everyone in my database, but the mistakes are part of the learning process. Now, my CRM keeps up with client birthdays, home closing anniversary’s, property tax protest deadlines, and is a way for me to keep in touch with my clients by providing them value valuable real estate information over the years. One of the main strategies I teach agents working for my brokerage is how to maximize client communication through the CRM without sacrificing content value and the human element I layer in video messages to clients and those small touches make a big difference in my client relationships.
What is a ‘high value’ real estate agent and how are they different than other agents?
Home buyers and sellers view real estate agents as a commodity because their professional skills are often not explained, and an agent’s role is simply misunderstood. There is a perception that buyer agents just “open doors” and seller agents just “put a sign in the yard.”
A commodity is generally an item offered by many companies that is uniform in quality. When choosing between commodities, the only differentiating quality is price. Which is fine if you’re shopping for a commodity, however, real estate agents are not commodities. When a buyer or seller can’t differentiate the value from one real estate agent to another they resort to choosing based on price. Which real estate agent will sell my house for a discounted commission? Or which real estate agent will give me a commission credit when I buy a home?
I realized very quickly most real estate agents cannot communicate their inherent value. They have no idea what makes them different or better than their competitors. I’ll give you an example, when a real estate agent is asked by a seller, “why should I list my home with you?” a typical answer is some version of selling their brokerage or an intangible characteristic. “I work for a top brokerage in the area, and I am passionate about helping people.” These statements are immeasurable and don’t show value to the seller.
Any real estate agent can associate their license with a brokerage – it’s not like the notoriety of working for a top-rated business consulting firm, or attending a top university, where only the best of the best are accepted and sellers know this. When real estate agents don’t clearly educate sellers on their tangible and measurable deliverables, sellers are forced to choose based on price. Discount agents are ones that sell their value by offering to list the seller’s home for a discounted commission, effectively saving the seller money.
What seller’s want to know is how they can get the most money when they sell their home. Sure, a discounted commission is one way to net a seller more in their bottom line but the real estate agents who discount their commission do it because they have no other tangible value to offer. An exceptional real estate agent knows this and focuses on their own niche strategy. For example, an agent may have a sales strategy where they value the home accurately but list the home for 20% less to create bidding wars which result in quicker sales and higher prices. Their listing presentation will focus on sharing their methodology for determining home value and list price, then correlating that data to the percent of homes they sell at, or above, the home value. This agent understood the assignment in netting the seller the most money and communicating their differentiating value as an agent. A high value agent, with clear and measurable results, makes the discount agent look unappealing without ever having to address a discounted commission.
Real estate is the one of the only sales careers where agents are taught very little about actual selling and negotiating tactics which is reflected in their value propositions, or lack thereof. One of the most beneficial skills a real estate agent can learn is how to increase their value to their clients. When a client knows the value you bring them will net them more money in a sale, or a better deal on a purchase, you’re no longer viewed as a commodity, but as a necessity, which will lead to repeat business and referrals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emmlyrealty.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyndseymjo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyndseymjo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndseyjohnson/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lyndseyjohnson