The personal is professional. Or, professionalism is a matter of personalization: the services a real estate professional offers, from the wisdom she dispenses to the results she delivers, in addition to the counsel she provides and the insight she possesses—these things are not only good but necessary. 

These things are hallmarks of independence and customization, proving what words alone cannot do: that a real estate professional addresses the wants of each client, based on the finances and demands of each client, in accord with the circumstances of each client. 

Upon these services, a real estate professional’s reputation rises or falls. Because of a real estate professional’s fulfillment of these services, his reputation—her reputation—will rise.

Personalization applies to all real estate markets, as Melodee Rivera of the Rivera Team agrees. Her team’s success in Denver is a model all real estate professionals should emulate. (I cite the Rivera Team because, like similarly responsive firms elsewhere, Miss Rivera’s expertise typifies what she does in her region while her skills—the strengths all real estate professionals can develop—are not regional.)

About the skills that influence success, about the social skills that make success possible, about succeeding by socializing rather than, say, relying on social media to do the impossible, consider the value of listening. 

Consider what it means to know something; to know a lot about the clients a real estate professional represents.

Consider how a real estate professional can apply what she knows about a location, along with what she knows a client appreciates about the same location, so as to promote long-term appreciation. Put another way, before a client can enjoy the benefits of appreciation, a real estate professional must appreciate a client’s situation; she must provide value, thus allowing a client to buy a property with a high probability of increasing in value.

Service of this kind is personal because it is tangible, giving a client the keys to a house or the means to develop a property. So, yes, listening is “key” to closing a sale. 

But a true professional is never purely transactional, or she is never impersonal in executing a transaction, because one of the many learned skills a real estate professional must acquire is the ability to pay attention. This ability, with its foundation in respect, speaks to the truth of a person’s character; of whether a person acts with the professionalism a client deserves, or whether a person is a professional.

The best way to honor these skills is for real estate professionals to perform these skills.

In honor of these skills, with gratitude for the honor to be a professional who has these skills, each individual within the real estate industry can exemplify the merits of personalization.

Seizing the advantage is what defines personalization, showing to clients and colleagues alike what success is.

The advantages of these skills are clear.

Real estate professionals can clarify what they believe, and be true to their beliefs, by believing in the rewards of personalization.