Adam Empringham,
Director of Sales at Image Property.
3 myths that prevent agents going at it alone
[lwptoc]By Adam Empringham, Image Property
For as long as any of us can remember, there have always been agents that work within a recognised brand and those who decide to go it alone and be independent.
Over the decades, these models have changed with the times, including technological advancements replacing traditional marketing systems, for example.
Today, models like ours, Supported by Image, create the opportunity for agents to build their own personal brand and have the back-end support they need to build success of their own.
Many agents have a desire to work for themselves at some time in the future, but they often don’t take that first vital step towards doing so.
There are many reasons why some agents take the leap to being self-employed or contractors when others do not.
In fact, there are usually three key myths that prevent more people than necessary from going it alone and creating their own success.
1. Fear of the unknown
Working for yourself comes with so many opportunities that it always surprises me that more people don’t do it.
However, regardless of the industry, it is common for fear to be one of the principal reasons why someone might not go out on their own.
For agents, they may worry about their ability to make enough sales or manage administration and marketing for their venture to be financially feasible.
Our Supported by Image model, though, recognises there are elements of being in business that not everyone is keen on, which even may have prevented them from working for themselves in the past.
That’s why our model takes care of all the things in the background for our agents, so they can concentrate on what they do best and what they enjoy most.
2. Profile risk
One of the myths that seems quite peculiar to the real estate industry is agents being concerned about losing their online profile by creating their own personal brand.
Perhaps they have spent a long time building a strong online presence on property portals working within a franchise and are worried about starting all over again.
However, my perspective is the opposite. Look at it as the opportunity and challenge to build your brand the way you’ve always wanted it to be but never had the opportunity or the freedom to do so.
Agents also worry that they will lose the “might” of a franchise brand to help promote them when, in reality, bigger franchises are usually more interested in marketing the brand rather than their individual agents.
Supported by Image has the opposite philosophy because our model is all about promoting agents more than the agency brand.
We put our agent’s name in spotlights, over the broader brand, to help them achieve their career hopes and dreams.
3. Self-belief
Many agents fear failure when the opportunity to create something that reflects who they are and what they want to achieve should be one that they focus on, but at times self-belief holds us back.
The truth of the matter is employed or contractor sales agents within traditional franchises are already responsible for their own success and incomes!
It’s just they usually must share a significant percentage of their profits with head office and march to the beat of a rigid drum.
But our Supported by Image model supports agents to become the best they can be while taking care of the more mundane business for them in the background.
That’s because we understand the consumer connects with the agent rather than the agency because of the human connections that the hard graft of our agents has carefully developed.
Having an agent-centred focus ensures that all of our agents have the best of both worlds.
And that is the ability to drive their own success while also benefiting from the weight of a progressive brand behind them, helping them to shoot for the stars of their own making.
