Don’t just be interested be seriously interested!

If I could narrow it down to one simple formula that would show you how to be a successful Business Development Manager (BDM) would you follow the steps? The thing is it comes down to two simple words “be interested” in fact lets make that 3 “be seriously interested” in what you can do for others.

Too many BDM’s are focused on the wrong things and just doing the day to day duties without any passion and genuine interest. While I could easily share with you a detailed list of things you can do to prospect, things you can do to stand out as the investment property specialist and scripts you can use to close and negotiate the deal. I guarantee if you review these 10 key areas it will change the way you approach your BDM role in the coming weeks.

Bravery – rise to the challenge of the role each day and know that from time to time you will experience difficulty, pain and frustration.  It’s what you do after the situation and how you approach that next email, meeting or phone call that makes you brave and worthy of the role.

Creativity – think of novel and productive ways to ensure the customer has the best experience with you and your agency. Don’t just win the business and think that is all that needs to happen, and you have done your job. Take the time to continue to surprise and delight your clients and be creative. 

Curiosity – be curious about everything that is going on in your area, research topics for all the different customers you meet along the way and ensure that you don’t allow curiosity to be taken over by procrastination. Get the content you need and share with in your online and offline presence and this will demonstrate your curious nature. 

Leadership – the role of a leader is to encourage a group of which one is a member to get duties achieved and at the same time maintain a good relationship within the group with those you surround yourself with. While a BDM spends 80% of the time prospecting and closing deals you still need to be a strong leader for your team as they will be managing the asset for the landlord and the relationship for you.

Humour – bringing smiles to other people, seeing the lighter side of things and in general having a good laugh. Brings out your authentic personality and remember landlords like to do business with people. So, given you are the person they will be potentially handing the property over to you want to make sure they are comfortable.  

Zest – approaching everyday with excitement and energy is going to have a positive impact on every person you connect with that day. Doing things half heartedly is only going to demonstrate to the client you are prepared to give them 50% effort. Make sure you start your day feeling alive, active and with a zest in your step.

Honesty – the reason the prospect is coming to you is they want your honest opinion and while in many cases you think they don’t want to hear it. I can guarantee you eventually they will, and you will win more business with honesty.  It is never easy delivering tough news and taking on the responsibility for ones feeling. But the more you do the stronger your profile, brand and business will become. 

Gratitude – being aware and thankful for the good things that happen and taking the time to express thanks. Never think the role of BDM will be easy and what you see on social media is the life all the top performing BDM’s live. Each and everyday they are grateful for where they are at the point and continue to fight for top spot and never take daily success for granted.

Fairness – it is important to treat all people the same and give everyone a fair chance. Especially as your property management department continues to grow you will have new team members join and they will need time to learn and settle in. Guaranteed from time to time they will make mistakes and it is important you are fair and use this time to educate and delegate vs whinge and retaining unnecessary duties in fear of a mistake. Don’t forget we are all human and must start somewhere. As Elsa says in the movie Frozen “let it go let it go” if only we all had a 3-year-old singing that chant around our Property Management businesses daily. Imagine how much more willing and productive we would be.

Kindness – “be kind” are two words that are consistently used and are top of mind in our house hold and workplace. Doing favours, good deeds and just generally helping makes a massive difference in someone’s day. Image if the entire team was bouncing and buzzing around as much as you do when you’re walking in with the signed listing appointment. Kindness is and extremely powerful tool when used effectively and many of the great BDM’s I have meet along the way have mastered this art.

As you can see the role of a BDM is complicated, rewarding, emotional and wild journey. You will continue to trail and test new ideas, win and miss business and finally ride the massive highs and lows of this roller coaster experience. If you can embrace the top 10 and if they have go you thinking about your approach for the rest of the day then I have succeed in my role as a BDM leader in the amazing industry we call Real Estate.