The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

Welcome to the first of four book club discussions during the Agent Grad School Summer Book Club 2020 edition!

Just as a reminder or to catch up any newcomers…here at Agent Grad School, we have a summer book club (completely free to join) and you can find out all the details about how long it runs, what books we are reading this summer and how you can be a part of the discussions right here.

We also added a few extra books this summer, specifically to learn more about how our industry has been part of the systemic racism that continues to plaque our country. You can find more about those books here.

Now on to our first book club discussion about our June book choice–The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz.

At first thought, you may be saying, “how could this book possibly help me in my real estate business?”

Great question!

This book is all about how to make better decisions, how to make decisions more quickly, enjoy the process of making decisions and how to eliminate buyer’s remorse.

Ultimately, all selling houses is, at its core, is helping people make decisions. And, our job is to help them make the best decision when it comes to their home.

This book is a perfect resource for real estate agents because we help our clients make one of the biggest decisions in their lives–where they will live and create a life!

This is a book I give to every client who gets stuck in the decision making process. I always have a few on my bookshelf, ready to give to anyone who needs a nudge making a big decision.

The lesson from the book I use most often in my real estate business is about how in order to make a good decision, we must first narrow down the pool of options.

If you do that first and then make a choice from there–it’s easier and leads to a better choice in the end.

Clients absolutely love this concept because it helps them feel less overwhelmed in their home search.

Whenever I have clients who have search criteria that is too wide, want to see too many homes, or feel stuck or overwhelmed with the idea of choosing a home from all the options, I’ll say something like, “I know at first thought it seems like seeing more houses is better, but have you heard of something called the Paradox of Choice?”

Nine times out of ten, they’ll say no and be interested in hearing more.

I’ll then say, “The Paradox of Choice is a concept and book all about how to make better decisions. One concept in this book is about how we must first narrow down the number of options so that we can make better choices and be happier in the end with our choice. And, what’s awesome is if we narrow down the options first, it actually makes the decision making process more enjoyable too!”

If they are still feeling stuck or aren’t really buying into what I’m saying, I’ll say, “here is a copy of the book so you can read more about it. I think once you learn more about how many studies point to giving ourselves too many options makes it harder to make a choice, you’ll want to apply these strategies to your home search and I can help you do that. Here’s an example of how narrowing your options makes the choice of which home to buy easier, even if it seems counterintuitive…”

I have used what I learned in this book with almost every real estate client and I hope you will too.

The concepts in this book about decision making will not only help you be a better agent, helping your clients with how to make decisions, but most importantly, it helps them feel empowered and in control of their home search, making the process of buying a home much more pleasant for them and help them answer the inevitable thoughts may creep in after they move in to their new home, “did I make the right decision?”

After you take them through the process of narrowing their options first and making a home choice from there, they will feel like not only did they make the right decision, but also that they held the decision making power.

They will feel less like a victim of circumstances and more in control that they were in control of the choice they made, which leads to feeling better about the choice after the fact, eliminating buyer’s remorse.

Applying the strategies is just another way to answer that pivotal question we always talk about here at Agent Grad School–why should someone choose YOU among all their options and how can they buy or sell a home at all.

Using strategies like these shows your clients why they should keep choosing you to be their agent, even when the search for a home gets tough, why they should refer you to everyone they know and why they should use you again when they are ready to move a second time.

If you want even more help on how you can answer that question–why should someone choose you or want help applying the strategy of the Paradox of Choice to your real estate business, become an Agent Grad School student.

Learn more about Agent Grad School and become a student here.

To your success,

Jennifer