Rankings, awards, and other professional recognitions are nice, but it’s what you do after the announcement that counts.
As we come out of a tough fall and winter, not to mention a mixed-bag spring market, 1000 real estate professionals have a lot to be happy about. The 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry Thousand and America’s Best have just been announced, allowing the top agents and teams in the industry their annual chance to shake their tail feathers and giving them bragging rights among their professional peers.
For many people, ranking among The Thousand is the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice. Like other awards and honors, it’s a way of standing out from the competition and differentiating yourself and the service you provide.
Recognizing years of hard work
People say awards and rankings don’t matter, but they do, both to the recipient and to their sphere. A professional honor can be an important personal confirmation and a reward for all the hard work you’ve done, the long hours you’ve put in, and the good ideas you’ve seen through to fruition.
Clayton Collins, CEO of HW Media, agrees, “Real estate is a competitive industry, which is one reason why I get so energized and excited about the work that brokers and agents do every day. Real estate leaders are charged with knowing their local market inside and out, educating and leading buyers and sellers through transactions, and simultaneously being entrepreneurs that build and grow businesses. At RealTrends we believe that success should be recognized and celebrated. We also believe in data and facts. RealTrends rankings take a verified, data-driven approach to ensuring that top performers are recognized and elevated.”
However, no one will know about your accomplishment unless you spread the word. This is not the time for false modesty or hanging back. This is the time to create buzz, using your ranking or award as the catalyst.
Here’s how to make your newly minted ranking or award matter more:
Buy the award
If the ranking, award, or recognition you’ve received has a trophy or certificate associated with it, make sure you have that sent to you or that you purchase it, if required. If there is a recognition event, make every attempt to attend. You can then leverage this official recognition through social media posts and send a press release to your local newspaper or a magazine focused on your local market.
Share your joy, and appreciation, with your sphere of influence through a letter or email. Let them know that you recognize that the award wouldn’t have been possible without them and express your sincere gratitude.
If you have a direct mail plan in place for your geographic farm, be sure to dedicate a mailer to the ranking or award. It’s one more way to reinforce the message of market leadership for these potential listing clients.
If it’s not already made available to you, make sure you reach out to the organization providing the honor to ask for a high-resolution digital graphic file that you can use on your website, in your marketing materials, and in your press kit. Make sure to find out what rules govern the use of the logo so that you can comply with the organization’s requirements.
Filter by city, county, state so you can display the higher local rank
It is an honor to be ranked nationally, but unless you’re at the top of the national rankings, the real impact of your award will be felt by filtering your results and focusing on your ranking in the local market. If you’re No. 225 nationally, but No. 1 locally, you’ll obviously want to emphasize that local ranking.
Remember that real estate is local, so the more you can differentiate yourself as a local real estate leader, the more attention you’ll receive from the actual clients you’re looking to engage. National rankings are impressive to your professional community, but local rankings are the ones that will generate new business.
Reach out to fellow recipients for referrals and professional networking opportunities
Professional recognitions make you part of an exclusive club, and offer you instant professional authority with the other members of that club. Reach out to fellow award recipients or highly ranked professionals in other markets for content creation and inter-market referrals.
If you have a blog, podcast, or video channel, for example, you can create a series of Q&As with your fellow recipients, highlighting their services and their markets. At the same time, you’ll give yourself the opportunity to highlight your own ranking and professional accomplishments.
This is an especially good idea if your local market is closely aligned with your colleague’s market. For example, if you’re an agent in the Northeast, reaching out to highly ranked professionals in Florida markets — which are commonly associated relocation and second-home markets for residents of the Northeast — can provide you and your fellow award recipients with important cross-promotional opportunities. At the same time, it reinforces your professional association and encourages a fruitful referral partnership.
Ranking on a prestigious list of top performers, receiving an award from your brokerage or association, earning an advanced certification or designation — any of these can help propel you into a whole new professional sphere. However, the impact of the honor comes from the way it’s leveraged and communicated.
If you didn’t get ranked where you wanted to this year, dig into the data to figure out what it would take to make it happen for you next year. The beauty of this industry is the potential that it always holds. What you do with the next 12 months can make all the difference in where you’re standing next year — and for years to come.
For those of you who ranked this year: Don’t be shy and don’t play small. You’re more than just a number or a name on a list. That number has a story behind it. Tell the story.