Although Century 21 is an international network, and nationally we are pretty much like a very, very large family, all of our real estate offices are independently owned. And that means all of our real estate franchisees are running their own small (or not so small as the case may be for some!) businesses. One thing that interests me immensely when it comes to small business is the attitudes that people have towards them – and I'm talking about the people who run the business here.
In real estate, we regularly tell customers that they have one chance to make a great first impression when they're selling their home. We all know this mantra is true, and it's true for more than real estate. In many aspects of life, you get one shot to get it right and to make people want to see or know more of you. So why don't some people believe it for their own business? If you're trying to win a customer, you again have only one chance to make an amazing first impression. Often when you speak to small business owners, especially in tougher economic times, you'll hear lines like "it's slow at the moment" or "the economy has really hit us hard." Now, I'm not disputing that external factors have a big impact on many businesses, but you also need to realize that you are in control of your own business, and you need to take control to make it work. That's why most business owners get started in the first place – beucase they want control of their own destinies. So to fall back on saying things like "people just don't understand what the business does" is a cop-out of massive proportions.
At all times you need to present your business the way you want people to view it. As a real estate agent, when you're meeting a prospective client for the first time, you need to dress like you would for a job interview, and you need to pitch yourself like you're at a job interview and you need to win them over with your dazzling track record and winning personality like you're at a job interview because they ARE interviewing you! Be on time, promote yourself in a professional manner, and make sure every aspect of what you do and how you do it is up to scratch.
You need to respect yourself and your business enough for them to see that your business deserves respect.