Photo courtesy of Colleen Barry.
In thethird and final installment ofour exclusive interview with Ferrara, the professional philosopher, executive coach, and leadership trainer shares hisrecommended daily habitsand expands on the underutilized marketing tool amongreal estate agentsboth seasoned and new to the game.
GSIR: What are 3 habits you would recommend to agents for working productively?
MF:My top three recommended habits are as follows:
- Visualize yoursuccess every morning. Begin every morning by asking, What one or two things must I do today to fulfill my mission of helping my clients, my industry and myself be a little better? Visualize those activities right down to the conversations, the meetings, the social media interactions you might have. Then, begin your day.
- Use the Formula of Fives. Contact five people every day who you can helpthree people in your sphere of influence, such as past and current clients; one person in your marketplace who clearly needs your help, such as an FSBO or Expired; and one real estate peer who you can help make better with a kind word or suggestion. Take ten minutes on eachunder one hour in totaland youll build a powerful network of influence that will drive your entire career.
- Read something deep once a week. Theres a lot of headline news in this industry, but its important to get deep into the data, the trends, and the conversations if you want to understand how to navigate the opportunities over the long term. Take one hour each week to slow down, read an article or market report slowly, and then ask yourself what two or three things you learned that you can apply to your service going forward.
GSIR: Is there a marketing tool or practice you think agents are underutilizing?
MF: I think this tool social media. Essentially, everyone is trying to use social media to go viral with marketing rather than as a research tool to improve their interactions, both online and offline. My approach is to watch my friends and clients on social media to retrieve insights into whats happening in their lives, so that I know what to bring up when we have a conversation. If someone in my sphere of influence is feeling excited about something, I tap into that when I speak with them. If they are anxious about something, I try to find and provide a solution to them. Simply picking up the phone and having a better conversation or sending the right content in an email or text message will make you better. Social media is such a powerful listening tool. Agents who can slow down and take a pulse of whats on the minds of their sphere of influence will usually be far more effective in deciding what to share.
Matthew Ferrara is a professional philosopher, keynote speaker, executive coach, and leadership trainer who has served as a speaker and advisor to salespeople, managers and executives across the globe. This year, Matthew joined the Gibson SIR family as the in-house thinker for strategy, connecting the dots between disciplines and applying creative and critical thinking to the personal and professional lives of our agents and staff. Today, Matthew delivers keynotes, workshops, and retreats in multiple languages for professionals in real estate, sales, marketing, technology, and product organizations. A two-time cancer survivor, he has discovered that the most important thing in life is doing noble workgiving his audiences a chance to express their deep inner beliefs through their careers. To learn more about Matthew, visit www.matthewferrara.com.
