There is ongoing debate among real estate professionals about the value of social media and its ability to help get business.

I have seen hundreds of agents eliminate any chance of success in sales because of social media – and I have seen 10s of agents use social media to reach levels of success that rival the rock star agents of the past.

It comes down to this: if you use social media to avoid the courageous (and sometimes intimidating) work of having conversations with people, connecting with people authentically, and risking rejection and disappointment, then social media will be the pathway to your failure.

Sales involves connecting, communicating, understanding, persuading, and building trust. Social media is a communication tool: if the tool is used well, it can help you achieve success in sales. On the other hand, if you don’t know how to use the tool, then you might waste a lot of time without seeing any results.

Judy Mitchell, one of our top coaches at The Nature of Real Estate, is an advocate for social media. As she said to me this week, “It’s about connecting with people as people. Whether you are face-to-face, on the phone, or in a chat room, your ability to ask the right questions, listen to the answers, be curious about the situation, and be caring enough to understand the real situation – this is what matters to build the trust to earn the right to help them make great decisions.”

My take: if we treat social media as a new tool instead of a new way of being, we will be able to use it more effectively. Once upon a time, the wheel was a new tool – those that learned how to use it well thrived. And – just like social media – the wheel didn’t change the way the world worked; it only changed how we moved it.