We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wyatt Gassiot a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Wyatt thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
As any agent who has entered the industry and attempted to find success can tell you, working towards a consistent flow of clients or even your first client can and does feel impossible at times. For a solid year I felt like I was absolutely spinning my wheels and making ZERO progress other than burning myself out as month after month passed of trying and trying only to be met with what felt like failure. However, one day I decided to switch things up and alter my approach to building my business and creating relationships with prospective clients and the impact was immediate and mind blowing! For the first year I did nothing but try my hardest to show up at the most knowledgeable, reliable, and well versed version of a real estate agent I could muster. Although those truly were and are my goals as an agent it wasn’t until I decided to LET GO of the idea of perfection and the version of a real estate agent other people expected to see out of me that my business turned around. I was so afraid of being perceived as a young, unserious, and relatively inexperienced agent that I did anything and everything to come off as the opposite, in doing that, any semblance of authenticity disintegrated from my personal presentation to any prospective clients. As soon as I started dressing how I liked, choosing my words freely and casually, and admitting my knowledge gaps the clients started flowing one right after the other. Moral of the story, although it can feel like a risk, being yourself and showing up to work as authentically as possible really is the key to success, people want to work with genuine people, whatever form that comes in. When you’re true to yourself you’ll attract the client who want to work with YOU, and that’s a really powerful feeling.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I first got my real estate license a year out of high school after I had freshly turned 19, initially, I struggled to find my footing being so young in an industry dominated by people who were older than me and who had lived a lot more life than me. However, once I got over the general learning curve and discovered how to capitalize on my own brand of professionalism the successes started flowing and I discovered the purpose behind the work I was doing day in and day out. My passion for working in real estate revolves around my love and appreciation for my community, as well as the value I can bring to others through authentic connection and care. Reflecting on my life so far, I recognize that my most significant achievements were made possible thanks to the incredible support system provided by my family, friends, and community. I wholeheartedly believe in the profound impact of genuine consideration, support, and collaborative care on an individual’s ability to achieve success and find joy in life. Being a real estate agent gives me the unique opportunity to create happiness, offer support, and provide solutions surrounding one of life’s most monumental milestones. Nothing brings me greater contentment than knowing I have made a positive impact on the community I serve and the wonderful people within! Nothing has made me more proud of myself and the work I do than the relationships I’ve built and the lives I’ve contributed to through working with the clients I’ve had the honor to walk alongside!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
So far in my experience as real estate agent the most effective strategy I’ve been intentional about implementing that has significantly grown my clientele has been being fun and authentic!! With almost every client I’ve worked with I’ve been directly told that what hooked them as my client was my ability to express a sense of authenticity, and light heartedness in my approach to selling/assisting through the home buying process. Time and time again I’ve been told I made purchasing a home FUN and I will forever turn to that when I feel I need more clients. People are drawn to genuineness and an enjoyable experience, SO MAKE IT ENJOYABLE, have fun and be yourself!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I first started in real estate I made a separate Instagram account and followed everyone I felt to be relevant which started me off with somewhere around 100 followers which unfortunately in the grand scheme of things isn’t a whole lot! At first my posts where entirely statistics, market data, and stuffy real estate tips which, I’m sure to no ones surprise, didn’t get m very far! Eventually I decided to pivot to a more comedic, fun approach and my follower counts has since grown to just under 1,000. Which I can admit 1,000 followers still isn’t a whole ton but the rate of growth I’ve experienced so far is what tells me I’m on the right track! People love to have a laugh and rarely want to be lectured about the real estate market! I still make sure to post one educational/market related reel per week just to prove that I do in fact have knowledge and understanding but those reels rarely break 1,000 views. What’s more important and has proven to be more beneficial for me is posting 2-4 comedic reels per week, I’ve had a handful of those break into the hundreds of thousands of views with my best breaking half a million views! Find a way to marry the topic of real estate with humor and the likes, views, and follows will start rolling in!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gassiot_real_estate?igsh=MWV3dmJ2dzg4emZzdA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
