Is Your Fear of Rejection Costing You Listings?

By Jacqueline Smith

Jacqueline Smith started in real estate in 2015 and sold 52 homes her first year in the business as a solo agent. After considering growing her own team, and exploring different team models, she decided to partner with Place in 2017. The partnership allowed her to fast track her growth, and provide better systems and models to her agent partners. Her and her team in Vancouver Washington now close over $165M in annual sales volume, while keeping the quality of the agent and client experience at the forefront.

If fear of rejection is holding you back in your business, we want you to know two things. First, we totally get it. And second, it’s costing you more than you realize.

If you’re putting off prospecting, avoiding phone calls, or hesitating to ask for business, we guarantee you’re missing opportunities you don’t even know about. Making calls, door-knocking, and following up with people, it can feel intimidating.

The last thing any of us wants is to be annoying. But here’s the truth: the conversations you’re avoiding are the same ones that could change your entire year.

We want to share three tips that have helped us and the agents we work with get past the fear and into action.

1. Lead with value, not a sales pitch. You’re a professional, and you do have value to offer. Your insights, your expertise, and your real-life experience matter, even to people who think they already have the answers.

Let’s face it, a lot of buyers and sellers are turning to ChatGPT and AI to answer their real estate questions. And while those are useful tools that we’re all using, they can’t replace what you bring to the table.

AI can’t share the story of the buyer you helped last month who almost walked away from the right house over a fixable inspection issue. It can’t walk someone through what’s actually happening in their specific neighborhood. That’s your lane.

So when you pick up the phone, don’t lead with a pitch. Lead with something useful. Share a market insight. Reference a recent transaction. Offer something that AI simply can’t.

Recent data shows that about 35% of homeowners reached by even a cold call are open to selling within the next 12 months. And those open house leads you collected? The referrals that never turned into anything? Those aren’t cold calls. Those are what we call warm calls. If we’re not even making those, we’re definitely losing out on opportunities.

You’ve got to call people in this business, or you won’t have very much business.

2. Sound like yourself, not a script. If you know us, you know we’re a huge fan of scripts. So, how do you use a script and not sound like a robot? The answer is three words: memorize, internalize, and customize.

The first time you read a script, it’s going to sound stiff. That’s normal. That’s why practice matters. You need to say it daily until the words become yours, not something you’re reading off a page.

Here’s the thing: we all use scripts already. You have a script you use with your kids when you’re getting them ready for school. When you go to the doctor, from the second you walk up to the front counter until the doctor walks in, that entire interaction follows a script.

Scripts aren’t the problem. It’s that most of us aren’t great at using them yet.

A script is an effective way to communicate. So if you want to help people and sound organic doing it, not robotic, you need to be practicing your scripts every single day. We promise your business will improve when you commit to that one thing.

3. Rejection is part of the math. It’s not a reflection of you or your value. Some people are going to hang up on you. Some people are going to be grouchy when they answer the phone. They might have just tripped on a Lego or burnt their toast right before you called. It’s not personal.

This is a numbers game. The more people you talk to, the more conversations you have, the more referrals, and the more business you’re going to experience. That’s true in any market.

The only thing that changes is that in some markets, you need to have more conversations than in others to reach the same result.

And we’re definitely in one of those markets right now in the Portland and Southwest Washington area.

If you’re avoiding the phone, we hate to break it to you, but the only way to feel more comfortable is to do it. You can read all the books on swimming. You can watch videos about swimming. You can watch other people swim. But eventually, to learn how to swim, you’re going to have to get in the water.

If you’re not making phone calls and you want to break through this, we’d love to help. We built this business this way, and we’re happy to help you get in the pool and start to swim. It will make the biggest difference in your business if you start tracking your conversations and having more of them.

All you have to do is get started. Reach out to us anytime. Call or text 360-800-1334 or email Jacquelinesmith@place.com, or visit jacquelinesmithleadership.com for more. We’re always happy to help.