Jess Lenouvel

So you’ve been told that you NEED to be on social media to secure more listings as an agent…but you just can’t seem to get any traction?

If your Instagram feels like a ghost town rather than a party full of piping hot leads, you’re probably making one of these five common real estate agent social media mistakes. 

Let’s get into them so you can go from feeling like social media is a waste of time to making it your #1 lead source.

1. You’re Not Focusing on Relationships 

Using social media as a real estate agent gives you an incredible opportunity.

And that opportunity is to create relationships at scale. 

Before the internet, we were limited in our ability to create relationships. All relationship-building activities had to be done manually. We were limited by time and geographic location. 

But when you know how to build an effective real estate content strategy, your followers feel like they’re getting to know you through your posts. 

You’re able to create genuine relationships with people just by simply showing up and sharing your life online. 

Time and time again, I see amazing wins from the members in The Listings Lab showcasing the power of relationship-building through social media. 

I’ve also seen evidence of this in my own life and business.

Just the other day, I was sitting having lunch at the marina with my husband. For context, I live on a tiny island in the Bahamas.

I was at the very bottom of the island, which is literally the end of the earth, where two oceans meet. 

All of a sudden, I heard someone calling my name. 

I didn’t know this man, but he followed me on social media.

And he knew my whole life story! About my business, about our move to The Bahamas from Canada, about my cats. 

We chatted about SO much, hugged and he took a photo with me. 

I was yet again impressed with how deep a connection you can build with someone online, even if you’ve never met them in person.

The problem is, so many agents never get to experience this kind of powerful relationship.

They take themselves too seriously. 

All they talk about is business, business, business.

Their online content feels one-sided and transactional. Their posts are nearly 100% “just listed, just sold” posts or posts pushing their services.

They focus on being professional rather than relatable. 

There’s no element of relationship or community-building. 

I hate the word followers for that exact reason. 

Because you see these people as followers, and you don’t see them as connections, then you’re going to approach the relationship differently.

Remember to focus on serving over selling and creating authentic relationships rather than using social media to constantly peddle your real estate services.

2. You’re Not Prioritizing Authenticity & Vulnerability

Many people think that showing up authentically means showing up as the ‘best version of themselves’.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

People are tired of polished perfection. 

Instead, you need to start practicing vulnerability in your content.

At first, this might feel challenging and unnatural. You might even experience a vulnerability hangover.

But the more you practice being vulnerable in your content, the easier it becomes.

We’ve had members in The Listings Lab:

• Talk about grief
• Talk about their separation
• Talk about infertility

You know why?

Because these are all elements of the human experience. And when your content allows someone to recognize your shared humanity, they’re able to connect with you on a deeper level.

Vulnerability doesn’t make you look weak.

The golden rule is you don’t talk about your mess until you’ve cleaned it up. 

Focus on the lessons, takeaways, and mindset shifts you’ve experienced AFTER going through something –  rather than sharing reactively in the heat of the moment. 

And if you alienate someone in the process of being vulnerable?

They weren’t your people anyway. 

Individuality is what allows us to attract our people online. So don’t be afraid to be polarizing in your content. 

I would rather have a thousand people who love me than have a hundred thousand people who kind of like me.

Wouldn’t you, too?

3. You’re Creating Content For Other Agents

Another BIG real estate agent social media mistake I see often is creating content for other agents.

Usually, this happens because you’re creating content from a space of what YOU feel like talking about – rather than creating with your ideal client avatar in mind. 

So naturally, rather than attracting people who want to hire you, you simply end up attracting other agents. 

Which does absolutely NOTHING for your business!

If you feel like you’ve accidentally built an audience of other agents, I suggest removing them and starting fresh.

Of course, if you’re friends with agents or have genuine connections with your agent followers, keep them. But if not, fellow agents aren’t going to help you sign clients off social media – so go ahead and clean up your following. 

Remember, it’s not about vanity metrics or who has a bigger following. It’s about reaching the RIGHT people on social media. Watch this video to learn more about how not all followers are created equal.

4. You’re Outsourcing Before Your Ready

One of the best ways to come across as inauthentic in your real estate agent social media is to hire a marketing agency off the bat.

A lot of these real estate marketing agencies create very generic content that’s not customized to YOU.

Your brand.

Your mission.

Your values.

Your ideal client avatar.

Instead, they post boring real estate infographics and “just listed, just sold” type of posts.

You might be tempted to pay someone $500/month to create this type of content for you, just so you can say you’re being “consistent” on social media.

But this type of content is doing nothing to help your business. In fact, it’s hurting it.

These companies might give you what you’re asking for, but they’re not giving you what you need.

Remember, just because a lot of other agents are doing something doesn’t mean it WORKS. 

5. You’re Letting Fear Of Judgment Hold You Back

One of the real estate agent social media mistakes that saddens me the most is when agents let the fear of judgment hold them back.

Worrying too much about what other people think is the #1 way so many people fail.

And I get it – because I’ve been there too.

I remember when I first started building an audience, a little voice in the back of my head asked, “What’s your ex-boyfriend going to think of this?”

I wasn’t in touch with this person. They were totally irrelevant to my current life. So why was I going to let them hold me back?

I realized it was time to unfriend a lot of people on Facebook.

You have to be willing to put your desire to grow your business over other people’s opinions. 

If you’re ready to start taking your real estate agent social media presence seriously and build a lead generation machine that fills your calendar with appointments, we can help.

Download The FREE Listings Lab Guide to grow your audience, boost your income, and become the #1 agent in your area!

Want to know a winning framework for how to close real estate deals every single time?

You’re in the right place.

A lot of agents tend to overcomplicate sales. But in reality, sales is simply connecting the right person with the right solution.

Jess sat down with world-class entrepreneur and legendary high-ticket sales expert, Erica Martin, to discuss the 8 steps you need to get an easy “yes” during your next listing presentation.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

1. Warm-up

The very first step of your real estate listing presentation, or as I like to call it – your listing conversation (because it should really be a 2-way street!) is your warm-up.

If you want to close more real estate deals, making your prospect feel at ease is key.

Your warm-up is all about breaking the ice. Think typical small talk.

Ask how they’re doing, how their day was, how whatever thing they had going on recently went.

The key here is to know who you’re talking to. How well do you know your ideal client avatar?

That way, you can personalize the warmup phase. If you’ve already interacted with your prospect, you should have some familiarity with who they are as a person. 

In Erica’s words “People will break contracts. But they won’t break relationships.”

If you can get to know your potential clients on a personal level, it sets a solid foundation for the rest of the listing conversation. 

Depending on how long your listing presentation lasts, the warmup phase can last anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

 

2. Setting expectations

From a psychological perspective, people always like to know what’s coming. Especially when sales are involved. 

Setting expectations is the step that so many agents forget when trying to close real estate deals.

You have to set the agenda and give a walkthrough of how the conversation will go.

When you do this correctly, you immediately put your prospect at ease. 

You want to detail the structure of the conversation as well as let them know what will happen at the end if it turns out you’re a good fit to work together. 

So often, we’re nervous about sales or we’re really hungry to get the listing – and so we shy away from being “sales-y”.

But if you don’t tell them upfront that you will be presenting an offer…it can often feel like a bait and switch at the end.

Your listing presentation script might go a little something like this:

Agent: Is it okay if I set some expectations with you about how this listing presentation is going to go? Prospect: Yes, sure. Agent: First, before I get into my presentation, I really want to find out more about you and what your goals are, and where your head’s at on this. So is it okay if I just ask you a bunch of questions to get to know you a little bit better?  Prospect: Of course. Agent: Okay, wonderful. And then once I get a good picture of your vision, then I’ll talk about methodology and how we can get there together.

Once you get a ‘yes’ after this part, you can move on to step three of the sales framework for how to close real estate deals.

 

3. The Promise

The promise is a key component to closing more real estate sales.

For one thing, it saves you if you’re talking to somebody that’s not qualified for your offer.

Delivering the promise part of the sales framework might sound something like this.

“I want you to understand something about how I do business. I promise you that if I can help you with this and I feel 100% confident I can get you results, we’re going to partner up to get this listing on the market and achieve your goals.

But on the flip side, I’m a really straight shooter.  So if anything comes up where I don’t think that I am the right person to help you, I will not waste your time. I will let you know right away if I’m not the best person to list your home, and if I can, point you in the right direction.”

The promise takes the pressure off of your prospect. It allows them to be more present and open with you during the conversation. 

AND it makes sure you don’t waste either party’s time if a lead isn’t qualified for your offer. 

An example of someone who wouldn’t qualify might be someone who wants to list their house for 50% over what you believe their house will sell for.

When you let the client know you’re selective and only work with people who are the best fit for your offer, the power dynamic switches.

Instead of the seller sitting on their throne thinking, “You’re here to fight for my listing” – you’re able to change the dynamic… and communicate that the conversation is actually a 2-way vetting process. 

In a moment, you’re able to convey the message that you don’t work with just anyone.

 

4. Qualify

Learning how to qualify during a listing presentation is key to signing clients who are a perfect fit for you.

As stated above, knowing what your potential client wants to list their home for is going to be a big part of the vetting process.

An old-school listing presentation will walk someone through a CRM and then at the end tell them what their suggested price would be.

In my opinion, that’s not the right way to do it.

Instead, you should be getting their expectations right from the beginning. This way, you’re able to handle all of the objections that may come up between the first initial time they share that number with you and when you give your suggested pricing.

There needs to be some objection handling, especially if those two numbers are different. 

Two ways to qualify prospects would be:

• Timeframe
• Expectations

For timeframe, you need to understand: is this person setting up conversions for a move their planning next month, or in two years?

For expectations, you want to know what’s driving their move. People never move because it’s fun. People move because there’s something in their current situation that they want to change.

5. Personal Questions

In step five, you want to start asking personal questions to confirm that their expectations are in line with your offer. 

A key part of this step is making sure you have all the important decision-makers present for the listing conversation. 

I’m sure we’ve all been in a situation where you’re meeting with someone and then at the very end of the conversation they tell you, “Ok, well I need to talk with my dad”. 

It can be a huge issue because the primary decision maker wasn’t in attendance, and now you’re relying on someone ELSE to present your methodology. It’s much tougher to close a deal without any of the psychological buildup, without any of the proper positioning.

If you were in this position, your best bet would be to reschedule the conversation for a time when you have all decision-makers present. 

Once you’ve asked questions about their timelines and expectations and have gathered all of the decision-makers, it’s time to dig into the emotional reasons why they’re moving.

For example, maybe their family is growing and their house is too small and they’re upsizing. 

If this is the case they might be feeling some internal pressure.

Get to the heart of what’s motivating them at a core level. 

6. Enroll them in a vision

In old-school sales formulas about how to close sales, there’s a lot of digging the knife into the pain point. 

But this framework for how to close real estate sales isn’t about that. 

While yes, you do want to unearth their pain points, what’s even more important is building a vision together. 

You want to create a vision for them that’s even bigger than what they possibly imagined.

If you give them a new way of looking at things, you’re giving them value before you’re even working together.

The goal is to illuminate the pain point and show them there’s a better way – without it ever feeling icky. 

You’re allowing them to see the true reasons why they should be making this move and how well you understand what they’re going through. 

At the end of the day, you’re trying to build a deeper connection than all of those other agents who have come in, talked at them for 45 minutes, and then told them that they’ll list for 1%.

When you’re able to build a relationship with a prospect, it’s no longer about being the fastest or cheapest. 

This part of the listing presentation is also a great time to share some real estate testimonials and case studies. 

You might say something like, “I totally understand where you’re at. You know, you remind me of my clients, Kate and Matthew. They were in the exact same position when we first started working together.”

Showcasing client stories helps give you an element on credibility and shows your prospect they’re not alone. 

7. Offer presentation

Once you’re in agreement on the vision, it’s time to present your offer. 

You can ask them if they’re ready to hear about how you can achieve that vision together using your proven methodology. 

Again, you want to make sure you’re having that back-and-forth communication. In the industry we call this a listing presentation, but it should really be called a listing conversation. You should never be talking at someone. 

When you’ve set up the conversation correctly up until this point, presenting your offer should feel seamless.  

You’ve created the emotional buildup, and your offer presentation should practically explain how you’ll achieve the results together. 

Humans are emotional creatures. We make decisions emotionally first, and then back them up with logic.

Too many agents go on a long sales pitch. When really, the key to closing real estate deals is to set the conversation up the correct way.

As you’re presenting your offer, you want to constantly be receiving their buy-in. Ask them questions to see if things sound good and confirm you’re both still on the same page. 

8. Close & congratulate

If at this point, you’re both in agreement, it’s time to hand over the listing agreement and have them fill it out. 

After everything is done and sorted is when you get to congratulate them and be excited.

When it comes to closing any kind of sale, but especially something major like a real estate deal, it’s SUPER easy for people to talk themselves out of things down the line.

Which is why you want to come prepared with some sort of agreement, even if it’s just an exclusivity agreement while the house is getting prepped, or some sort of letter of intent.

When people sign something or a proper, solid agreement is made, there’s more commitment from both sides.

It helps things feel solid and locked in rather than tentative.

A key point here is not to get excited before you have a signed agreement. It can almost make your prospect wonder if you’re pulling one over on them.

Instead, maintain a calm, authoritative confidence. 

When getting them to sign, make sure you’re clearly explaining each step, what each part covers and where they need to initial or sign.

And when both parties have officially signed, that’s when you’re able to move on to the celebration phase. 

Congratulate your client on taking action toward their new chapter in life, and show your enthusiasm for getting to support them through this life transition.

The next time you find yourself stressing over how to close real estate deals, come back to this post.

And make sure you hit every step of the framework for the highest chance of success!

Want to learn more from Erica? Follow her on Instagram here.

And for daily real estate agent business and marketing tips, you can follow me here.

 

Want to know the biggest difference between run-of-the-mill six-figure agents and multi-6 and 7-figure agents?

A signature real estate system. 

Six-figure agents sell themselves. 

But seven-figure agents sell their system.

I know this because I was guilty of it, too. 

I built a business where everyone knew my name. It was all about me. 

Referrals were coming in fast and furious—but the clients only wanted to speak to me directly. They didn’t even want to talk to my assistant.

They wanted to know when I would be calling them. Because of this, everything became single-threaded through me—every conversation, every email, every phone call. 

My biggest mistake?

I didn’t have a repeatable real estate system.

How To Develop a Signature Real Estate System

If you want to build a real estate team, there’s no way around it, you need a standardized process.

You *need* to have a standardized client process that is branded and marketed that you can start passing off to agents on your team if you want to scale your real estate business.

A Signature System solves the problem of clients who refuse to work with anyone other than you. 

It makes sharing your leads and clients amongst your team that much easier – because your clients have bought into the system…not just you. 

Your system is the foundation from which you build your SOPs (standard operating procedures). 

SOPs allow your team to execute your system at a very high level—no babysitting necessary. Every single client is taken care of, maybe even better than you could have taken care of them on your own.

Clarity is Key

When developing your system, it’s important to keep it simple. You want to structure it so that clients understand it right away. 

Tell them:

• What the system is
• Why do they need it
• What are they getting

Many agents fall into the trap of reinventing the wheel for every single client.

But if you’ve taken the time to carefully select an ideal client avatar, your ideal clients should all be facing a similar problem.

Whether they’re families looking to upsize or corporate millennials looking to get into the condo market, you want to create a signature real estate system tailored to getting YOUR specific clients the results they’re looking for.

Take a moment to take inventory of your ideal client’s needs.

• What results are they looking for?
• What’s going to make them happy? 
• What problems are they facing?

Then you’ll build your solution based on those answers. 

A signature process means you’re able to deliver the best possible experience – no matter which agent on your team is using it. 

Having a system creates predictability, which is a key ingredient to being able to SCALE your real estate business.

Choose Your System’s Pillars

You want your system to have a methodology in the same way my book, More Money Less Hustle has a methodology. Once you have the pillars, or cornerstones, of your methodology fully built out, they become the foundation for your system or process.

Name the entire system—and each pillar—so that it becomes the core of your work and the backbone of your business. This system will be what sets you apart from the crowd. It also gives you the framework you’ll use to build out all of your services.

Your client has to understand why each step happens at that particular part of the process. Explain the pillar and what it entails but limit that explanation to just a few sentences. Boil your system down to its absolute essence for your clients. If you tend to get wordy when describing things—don’t. Your descriptions must be refined and clear. 

Get Them from A to B

If you’re a savvy real estate agent who’s already served dozens of clients, chances are you already have a signature process of some sort.

You most likely just haven’t nailed it down, documented it, or named it. 

The problem with having a loose set of steps you follow in your mind rather than a documented process is that it gives the impression you’re flying by the seat of your pants. It also contributes to the perception that no one else can “do it” other than you. 

Having this Signature System will become your unique value proposition. It’s your differentiator. 

The most important thing you will express through your system description is how you’re going to help your clients get from A to B—from their current situation to their desired outcome. 

People don’t move because it’s fun. It’s not. 

People move to solve life problems or to build a better future. The key here is to understand what isn’t serving your potential clients in their current situation and to understand what they see as the vision of their future after the move. 

To convey this, you should have a guide that walks them through the process. This same guide should also serve as your listing conversation documentation.

The Real Estate System as Marketing

Your Signature System isn’t just how you do business.

It’s also how you MARKET your business.

You can—and should—use your Signature System as a cornerstone of your marketing. It can serve as an education piece so that people buy into not just you, but what you do. 

The real estate system becomes a secondary piece to make your business scalable. It makes the handoff of things within the process so much easier.

If you’ve laid out your system in clear terms, addressed your clients’ pains, and offered solutions, you’ll have their buy-in.

If you’ve done your job correctly, this buy-in eliminates objections when you explain that you’ll be bringing in another member of your team who specializes in solving a particular part of their problem.

The creation of the Signature System may seem overwhelming, but it definitely doesn’t need to be — not if you follow the method below.

Start With Their Pain Points

The first thing you want to do is to start with your client’s pains and problems.

What are they in their most specific form? It’s important that you don’t just guess but that you find out from your ideal clients—past or present.

For example, an upsizer might realize that the cute starter home they bought isn’t actually family-friendly when they’re lugging their child up and down a staircase to change them several times a day.

You want five steps maximum in your process and only want to include the steps that your client or prospect will see. Ask yourself:

“How can I take what I would normally do and apply this very specifically to solve the main problems that I’ve identified?”

For the upsizers, most agents will start with a needs and wants assessment. I disagree with starting there because upsizers often aren’t looking at the bigger picture. 

They need help seeing that their current home can serve larger wealth-building goals. What they need the most support with is creating a long-term plan that ensures the move they’re about to make sets them up for success. What you would do for someone selling their third home is very different than what you would do for someone selling their first. 

Knowing and acting on this is how you build lifelong clients.

Remember: You’re not just working for the transaction. 

Your goal is to create influence with that person—for life. You want to be their trusted advisor forever—and becoming that advisor starts with the first step of this process.

Because of this, every step has to be very intentional.

Ask yourself:

Why is the next step you choose important? And why is it in this particular order?

When you do this, you’re able to look at a whole process holistically and break it down into steps for your clients to easily understand.

Your relationships and trusted sources can also be included in this process, too. Your “team,” including your mortgage lender, lawyers, etc., can be very useful in helping take some initial stress off the clients’ minds.

Automate While Staying Personalized

Including automation in your real estate signature system is key to helping you and your team deliver efficiently. 

Just keep in mind that your clients never want anything to feel automated. They want to feel that their relationship with you is special.

At the end of the day, everyone just wants to feel seen and heard. 

When you can do that for your clients, they’ll never want to go anywhere else. And it changes the types of conversations that leads have with you.

Every day, our members get emails asking, “Do you have space in your schedule to take on new clients?” and not, “I’m interviewing five other agents. Can you do a deal for 1 percent?”

When you sound like a professional with a solution that caters to people’s problems, you become the go-to expert in their eyes. And that means your sales conversation isn’t really about sales as much as it is about confirming the fact that you want to work with them.

Are you ready to get started creating a signature system that turns leads into clients for you?

This is exactly what we teach inside The Listings Lab. 

Check out all of the program details and apply here to start scaling your real estate business to  multi-6 and 7-figures.