How do you build trust with clients in one of the least trusted industries out there?
That’s the question I want to answer today, because sadly, it’s true…
Realtors have one of the worst reputations out of all professionals when it comes to trustworthiness.
When it comes to our perceived integrity as an industry, the odds aren’t exactly in our favor.
Only one in ten consider realtors to be trustworthy.
Yikes.
So how did we end up here?
A lot of agents will go their entire career feeling victimized by this fact, when in reality – we’ve done this to ourselves.
I believe a BIG part of why people don’t trust agents comes down to how we market ourselves as agents.
- The cheesy tag-lines
- The way we bombard people to work with us
- The old-school marketing tactics that consumers are just so sick of
It’s time for a shift.
If we want to build trust in the markets that we’re in, it actually requires the opposite of what many of us think.
Let’s dive deeper into how to stop giving off that sleazy salesman vibe and instead start to build trust and connection with your ideal clients.
Understand That Trust and Credibility Are Not The Same
Before we get into how to build trust, let’s start with an important distinction.
Trust and credibility are not the same.
You can be considered credible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve built trust with your clients.
Credibility often refers to whether or not people think you’re good at your job.
But trust is a human connection. And human beings are emotional creatures.
Building trust comes down to not only showing your credibility but building an emotional connection with your ideal clients.
Stop Trying To Be “Perfect”
However, what holds SO many agents back from making this emotional connection is inauthenticity.
There’s no way around it – agents lie in their marketing.
They lie in their marketing by trying to pretend that they’re perfect, and they’re not.
Agents hide in their marketing by refusing to share what’s real. They resist showing up with vulnerability.
Effective marketing is the opposite of this.
The phoney image associated with real estate agents has created deep levels of mistrust among the public.
If you’ve ever run an ad to cold traffic, you’ve probably noticed this based on the mean comments from strangers.
Agents get trolled because often we haven’t put in the work to build real relationships, or to show up as real people.
In a way, the perfectionism coming through in your marketing is a form of lying.
And human beings are lie detectors.
They can sniff out inauthenticity from a mile away.
If we ever want to change the public perception of the real estate industry, we have to stop putting forward this shiny, “perfect agent” image and start showing up as our true selves.
Understand The Science of Connection
If you’re truly committed to building trust with your clients, it’s helpful to know how the brain works.
Our brains have two parts.
- The prefrontal cortex
- And the limbic system
And what part of the brain you choose to connect with matters.
The way that you market yourself actually has to work with both sides.
The thing is, human beings process and engage with the world based on emotions first.
It’s only after something resonates with us emotionally that we activate the rational part of our brain. Only then do we justify and integrate something into our value system and behavior.
As much as we love to think of ourselves as perfectly rational, we’re not really rational beings at all.
None of us are. Not me, not you, not your clients.
If you fail to establish that emotional “click” with your clients, they literally won’t be able to trust you.
And if they don’t trust you, they’ll never like you enough to actually hire you as their agent.
It doesn’t matter if you’re highly credible, if you’re brilliant or if you’re one of the top agents in your market.
If you’re not resonating with them emotionally, none of it matters.
You’re messaging won’t resonate – it won’t stick. Your potential clients will feel like something’s off, and so they won’t take action.
When you market emotionally first, anything is possible. Because you’ll have created an authentic, accepting relationship with your audience.
And with that kind of relationship, that kind of connection – that is where trust is built.
Prioritize The “Emotional Click”
When we talk about The Listings Lab Methodology, (covered in detail in our free guide!), it’s often the intimacy piece of the framework that is missing from a lot of agents’ marketing.
This goes much deeper than just having the intimacy piece dialed in with your past clients or long-time followers.
You also need to understand how to build intimacy with the people you don’t know – the people who just followed you, the people you haven’t even had a conversation with yet.
So how do we establish that?
It all goes back to the “emotional click” I mentioned above.
Emotional resonance is the difference between content that feels preachy and out of touch and content that builds connection.
If you want your prospect to take action, they need to feel enough of a pull that they take that first step to reach out to you.
Successful inbound marketing starts with emotions.
When you master the emotional click, you’ll see an increase in audience growth, engagement, and best of all – conversions.
Understand The Law of Reciprocity
So by now, you’re probably wondering, how do I make sure that this actually works?
And to put it all together, you need to understand that marketing is all about the law of reciprocity.
The law of reciprocity states that when people receive something, they’ll feel compelled to return the favor.
This is why it’s so important to give more than you take in your marketing.
If you’re still posting stuff like, “Referrals are the biggest compliment you can give” and “Give me a call for all of your real estate needs”…
It’s time to change your strategy.
It’s time to stop focusing on yourself when it comes to your marketing and put all of your energy into your audience.
If you find yourself constantly saying:
- I hope this gets more views!
- Not enough people are reaching out to me!
- The algorithm has been screwing me over lately
Then change your thoughts to:
- How can I connect with one person today?
- What does my ideal client need to hear?
- How can I offer ‘X’ person in my audience some encouragement or inspiration?
When you change the energy from which you’re putting out content, you’ll change your results.
The bottom line is if your content isn’t landing, your business isn’t growing, and people aren’t coming to you…
A lot of the time, it’s because you haven’t successfully been able to build trust with your clients.
By prioritizing authenticity, emotional connection and reciprocity in your marketing, you’ll be able to change the way real estate agents are viewed, one client at a time.
Want to learn more about building a marketing machine that gets clients lining up to work with you?
Be sure to download our FREE guide, The Listings Lab Method, where you’ll learn how to set up marketing systems that effortlessly attract your ideal clients at scale.
