A seat at the table

“I just need a seat at the table” is a mantra I hope you’ll pick up by the end of this blog post. 

Realtors can struggle so much with self-doubt and feeling like they’re not good enough or smart enough or savvy enough or been in the business long enough. There are so many reasons we try to convince ourselves that we are not good enough. I want to share with you the mindset shift that I’ve had over the past few weeks and months and why I started to believe that all I need is a seat at the table.

Recently an amazing friend named Melissa Bloom put me over and referred me to list a one-plus-million-dollar house. And I shared that with you guys on You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take, how previously I didn’t even have the guts to ask if another friend would consider listing with us. In the part two episode, I shared what happened with this newer listing and how I had the confidence to set up a meeting. What I learned from it all is that I just need a seat at the table.

When my amazing friend Melissa Bloom referred me to that new client, I instantly felt intimidated. I immediately thought, John, you’re not good enough. You don’t normally list properties like this and. You just don’t have the skills required for a listing like this. You can hear the doubt that crept in.

You just need a seat at the table.

Another friend told me to just take the meeting and get to the table and let it happen for me. They encouraged me, “Hey, John, even if you don’t get the listing, it’s a lesson, and it’s a learning experience for you to sit down with someone selling a one and a half million dollar house, to just see the things those kinds of clients are looking for.”

When you have a listing in that price range, that’s a huge commission check. 

My friend continued, “So how are you going to instill confidence in the client that you can do a great job with that listing if you’re not even confident in yourself?” 

That was a mic drop moment. I just sat there, silently, and thought to myself, Wow. You’re so right. 

Be confident during the meeting.

Therefore, when I went to the meeting, instead of doubting myself, I was confident. I think many of the people around me in Total Life Freedom had more confidence in me than I had in myself. Borrowed confidence helped, but I went into that meeting feeling like I was the best Realtor, feeling confident that I could get the job done. 

After leaving the meeting, although I didn’t know if they’d hire me or not, I finally felt like “I just need a seat at the table. I don’t need to be the best realtor. I don’t necessarily need to get the listing.” 

Land the listing.

I did get the listing, and I’m very thankful, but all I needed was a seat at the table. The reason for that is this: if I can sit with one client who’s listing a 1.5 million dollar home and be confident in my abilities and the company I work for, and know that I’m going to do an amazing job listing their home—if I can do it once, then I can repeat it 10, 50, 100 times over.

Once you get through your first settlement or do your first deal or have your first client interaction, and it goes well, then you feel like the Kool-Aid Man. You feel like you can run through a brick wall, and you say, well, why not do that again and again?

If I can get myself to the table and be confident, instill that confidence in the clients, and show the clients that I can sell their luxury home for top dollar, then I will have more and more success. I just need a seat at the table. I just need an opportunity to have those conversations. 

And again, I’m so thankful to my friend Melissa. She knows so many Realtors, but she was confident in me. I even remember on the way up to the home messaging her and saying, “I’m not ready for this.”

I felt like a fish out of water. I felt like, oh, I’m driving my like old Chevy cruise. That’s beat up and has dents in it to this listing. Oh, I’m wearing these, you know, whatever shoes or pants or whatever it is. I felt like an imposter, but then I remembered, I just need a seat at the table if I can get a seat at the table with these clients, and if they know, like, and trust me, that’s all I need. Now, this client listed with me, and I’m so thankful. We listed a few weeks ago and it’s gone. It went well. 

Success brings more success.

If I can do that once, I know I can do it 10, 50, 100 times over. And if I can do that 10 50, 100 times over with million-dollar-plus listings, that gets me closer to my goal that I’ve shared with you guys, of making more money this year but working less. 

It was a ton of work to list their home. But it was a lot less work than listing eight homes in the $200,000 price range. 

Wherever you’re at in your real estate career, whether you just became a Realtor and haven’t done any deals yet, whether you’re making millions of dollars a year in real estate, I want to encourage you to get a seat at the table.

Winning the deal starts with getting a seat at the table.

It all starts there. If you can get people to meet with you, then you have won half the battle. If you can just get to the table, you’ve given yourself a great opportunity to land the client. 

They interviewed three other Realtors, and all of those other Realtors lived within five minutes of them. But they went with me. I live an hour away. Why? Well, because these other people. It wasn’t a priority for them to be there for every part of the event. 

One of those Realtors took a few days to call the client back. Obviously that person doesn’t want the business that bad, or they would have called back immediately. One of those people said that they don’t come for the listing pictures; they send their assistant. 

One of the reasons that this client worked with me, I’m sure, is that Melissa gave me a very kind and raving review and said I would do a great job. I’m so thankful she did that. 

Outwork everyone else.

Another part of that is I told them I would be there every step of the way. I told them that I understood how much stress goes into selling a home. I said my goal was to be there every step of the way to guide them on the journey and to be at every event.

I told them I don’t care that I live an hour away. I’ll be there for the listing meeting, for the pictures, for any vendors that are coming to get the house ready to go.

I kept my word. I was up there multiple times, a few times a week before we listed, and again once we listed.

Just give me a seat at the table, and then I’ll show you that my skills are unmatched.

Again, not because I’m the best Realtor. Not because I’m the smartest, not because I’ve been in real estate longer than anybody else. I’m not any of those.

I’m not the longest tenured. I’m not the smartest agent, but the passion I have for helping you, I know that is second to none.

One of my first clients said in a video interview in a testimonial, “John will outwork every other agent.”

I can say that not only because I know it’s true, as the client said in the video interview. Clients don’t just say that. It’ll be true in every deal. I know that I’ll out work any other agent, and I know that I’ll do a great job selling the home, whether it’s a client with a $100,000 dollar house or a $1 million house or $5 million house. There’s no doubt that I will do a great job. All I need is a seat at the table. 

Go after the listings you want.

All you need is to be confident and get a seat at the table. What do you have to do to get in the door? If you can get to the table, you’re halfway there. And then you just have to be you and be a great Realtor. I hope this helps.

I hope you can think about this in your real estate business. It’s been so helpful to me to remind myself you have to be the brightest or smartest or longest tenured or have the nicest outfit or the nicest car. That stuff does not matter. You just have to be yourself and do a great job of that. And you just need a seat at the table.

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