I went to an event with 1500 real estate agents and got a lesson in psychology

Momentum is a yearly event held to discuss developments within the Australian real estate industry. If you're a real estate agent who wants to know how to make your business thrive, this event is for you.

I'm not a real estate agent. I've never even looked for a place, I still live with my parents. So what the hell was I doing there?

My friend Steve Carroll was speaking at the event. He invited me to come along and watch.

To prepare, I watched some videos on YouTube on what it's like to be a real estate agent in 2018. And I figured my previous consumption of various episodes of The Block would come in handy somewhere.

I took my camera with me. As I entered the hall, one of the doormen asked me if I was filming the event. I responded with a semi-confident "yes". "Please head straight up through."

I bypassed the line and went straight to the lobby. The perks of having a camera.

I called Steve and he took me to the presentation area.

Woah.

This was no small event. I hadn't been to a hall as decked out since my graduation. Two massive screens, whole body vibrating speakers, all the lights, this was the real deal.

Despite still not really knowing what was going on, I was loving it.

Then the talks started.

Speakers

Steve was first, followed by Tom Panos, a panel of agents and Chris Helder closed it out.

Here I was thinking I'd be updated with the latest market statistics, how to buy and sell homes, where's a good area to rent etc.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I took pages of notes from each speaker. I've distilled my favourites in this article because I feel they are applicable to any industry.

Steve Carroll

Steve's speech began with him being introduced by Jarvis, his intelligent assistant (think Ironman). What followed was 40-minutes of human and technology integration.

"You are competing with the best experience your customer has ever had!"

The world is changing, technology is getting better, we know that. With this, customer expectations are also changing.

No longer will someone compare his or her experiences in the same industry, instead they compare them to every other experience they've ever had.

Steve used the Uber payment process as an example. It's seamless. You get out of the car and it happens. Nothing to worry about.

Now imagine exiting said Uber and walking into an agents office and running through a 7-step payment process. Not ideal.

Of course, this is an extreme example. But what stands is that as technology changes so do expectations. What cut it for 2018 won't cut it for 2019.

Personalisation is the new black.

This is a postcard Steve and his family were sent by a real estate company in the UK.

It's a drawing of their UK home as the snow was beginning to fall.

When they moved to Australia, they left their home to be rented out by a real estate company. This company took care of the listing for 12-years.

The thing is, the company who sent the card and the company who took care of the rental weren't the same company.

Wait what?

Surely after 12-years, the original company would've at least sent a Christmas card. No chance.

Instead, a new business decided to take it one step further with a small act of kindness.

Which company do you think Steve and his family ended up deciding to go with when they eventually sold their home?

As technology increasingly makes it easier to take care of the mundane tasks, humans had better start getting better at the human tasks. People know when they're being treated like a number.

Steve concluded with an emphasis on how technology can improve our interactions with each other rather than replace them. Digital is here to stay, we might as well use it right.

In an ever-changing world, kindness isn't going away.

Tom Panos

In my preparation, I saw a video of Tom with Gary Vaynerchuk talking about social media in real estate but other than that I didn't know much else.

Tom brought the show. And not just from a real estate perspective. From life to marketing to being a good person.

You've got to be your own media company.

I circled and underlined this point on my notepad.

There no shortage of marketing companies who can help you create a voice and a brand. But at the end of the day, they will never know you or your business as well as you.

It goes without saying technology and social media have made this easier than ever.

The barrier to being your own media company is the lowest it has ever been and it is only getting lower.

Tom shared a video on Instagram right from the stage.

Who says agents can't dance?

"The best camera is the one always on you, and the one in your pocket is the fastest at getting it out there."

Tom livestreams auctions on various channels. This fascinated me. If I wanted to learn about different auctioning techniques, I could tune into his livestream and watch them as they happen.

There are an infinite amount of ways to tell your story. Written word, voice, pictures, video. Ultimately, it's about finding one that suits your style and running with it.

Marketing in combination, not isolation.

With so many platforms, where do you post?

"All of them."

Tom emphasized how important a combination of different channels was to his marketing success.

"If you don't see me on Instagram, you'll see me on LinkedIn."

He then went deeper on a well-known quote.

"It's not what you know, it's not you know, it's who knows you."

The internet is noisy. This is a fact. There are many platforms. One may be better than the other for your message but the combination is king.

There's no point shouting your story from the hilltops if you're on the wrong hill.

If you're only on one channel, your market-size is reduced. Use each of the channels to leverage off each other. A video on Instagram can be re-purposed as a status share or mini-blog on LinkedIn.

And before you start to overthink it and outsource your marketing, start considering how you can create your own narrative.

Storytelling is a superpower and we're all storytellers.

Chris Helder

Before Chris got on stage, Steve introduced me backstage. I called him Nick for some reason. Not a great start.

Energy is a choice.

The first thing you notice about Chris is the energy he brings to the stage. But even before the stage, I felt it then.

Then he told us the secret. Not butter in your coffee, not positive thinking, not eating at every morning.

Choice.

If you want energy, decide you want it.

He used the example of how we're conditioned by our environment to be tired. Ask someone how they're doing and one of the most common answers you'll get is "good but tired".

Where did all this tiredness come from? Surely people can't be tired all the time.

I admit I was tired before hearing Chris speak. The aircon was putting me to sleep. Then I decided to steal some of Chris's energy. I wanted energy.

BOOM.

I got it.

After 2000 presentations, Chris hasn't missed one. He's not most proud of not showing up but never not showing up without energy, without bringing the show.

You don't need rituals to make sure you have the perfect day. No amount of green tea will compare to an energy abundant mindset.

Life begins at ___(insert age).

Chris was at a real estate event in Las Vegas. 20 of the top real estate agents in the US were there.

"Life begins at age 70!" an agent yelled at Chris across the room.

"Life begins at age 70!" he did it again.

Chris walked over.

"Life begins at age 70!" again. "Come outside with me Chris, I want to tell you a story."

Chris went outside.

"Chris, I'm 74 and I wanted to tell you, life begins at age 70."

"What do you mean?" Chris was curious.

"When I was 70, I read your work, and your line about life beginning at (insert age). So I started my own real estate business. I'm 74 now, and I have 110 people working with me."

"Life begins at age 70!" and again.

How many people get a certain age and feel like their life is over?

For many, 70 would be a point of no return. But instead, this man decided to start building a new path. And the first step came from one statement.

Life begins at ____(insert age).

Whether you're 70 or 17, you can decide what you want your life to be.

Summary

I went to an event for real estate agents but got a lesson in psychology.

The most beautiful thing?

These principles can be applied to any field.

1. The world is evolving - so are expectations.

2. Personalisation is the new black - treating people as people will never get old.

3. Be your own media company - no one knows your story like you do.

4. Market in combination, not isolation - it's not who you know, it's who knows you.

5. Energy is choice - put on a show, even if it's only for you.

6. Life begins at ____(insert age) - your life begins right now... now... now...

There are far more things I wrote down, worthy of another article. But in the spirit of another key theme of the event, knowledge is worthless without action.

Pick one of the principles listed above and try it out. I'm playing with 3 and 5.

I took my camera along to the event so check out my YouTube channel for a vlog style video in the near future.

A big thank you to the speakers, realestate.com.au and News Corp for hosting the event and Steve Carroll for the invite.

Links to speakers and more

• Steven Carroll on LinkedIn
• Tom Panos homepage
• Chris Helder homepage
• Momentum 2018 homepage