Unfortunately, career advice in our industry can feel like a vomiting of ideas and must-dos that leaves agents feeling paralyzed and confused. Almost all new agents want a road map to success handed to them. Your willing to do the work and ready to help future clients but so much information keeps you second-guessing at every turn. Your success in real estate will never come from a predetermined map or perfectly laid out plan. Your path to success will twist and turn in many directions as you build your business. Clarifying what to focus on in the beginning can accelerate your journey as you jump on this wild ride called real estate. Here are 5 things I believe every new agent should do first as they start their real estate career.
- Get Serious About Your Business Planning
You need a road map. Your goals need to be written down and reviewed frequently. A personal business plan will breakdown your goals into sales volume and then into the number of transactions needed to achieve your financial goals. In other words, you need to know where you’re headed and then figure out how to get there. Real estate professionals need to have written goals so they have a way to measure what’s working and what needs to change. Once your goals are defined in your business plan then you follow the strategies laid out in your marketing plan to help reach those goals. Start with a plan and remember the saying fail to plan, plan to fail.
- Learn To Connect With People
Real Estate will always be a personal business. Regardless, of how far technology takes us, there will always be the human element that wants a trusted voice and guiding hand when dealing with important decisions. All successful agents have one amazing superpower! They build trust quickly. In other words, they have the ability to communicate in a way that puts their clients at ease.
You might make the mistake of thinking it’s the allure of a certain agent or their extensive industry knowledge that puts their clients at ease. NO, successful agents understand how to adjust their style and approach depending on the personality of their clients. It’s all about the client being comfortable with their agent. Some people need more information while others only want the highlights. Some people are extremely analytical while others make quick decisions based on their gut. Can you dress it up or dress it down depending on who the client is? Can you be yourself while giving sound advice in a way that puts the client at ease? The quicker you learn how to raise your business acumen the faster you will connect and build trust with clients and others.
How do you learn to connect with people more easily?
Here are some helpful tips.
- Be more aware of others
The is sounds obvious but being more aware of every person you interact with (cashier, restaurant server, co-worker, etc) is an intentional action most people don’t take. This doesn’t mean you stare at their soul. This means being in the moment so you can read their actions, personality, and find ways to connect.
- Match their energy level
We have all met a person that has over-the-top energy or a person with almost no energy. When trying to connect with new people one of the goals is to quickly put them at ease throughout the interaction. Try to engage someone at the same energy level they’re at because it helps eliminate awkwardness, and awkwardness is the enemy.
- Don’t be awkward
Try to engage in conversation that’s more about them but don’t be pushy, intrusive, or uninterested. You are trying to connect with people in a casual way. People enjoy talking about themselves, their families, and their interests so start with a question they would most likely engage with.
- Be memorable
Even a brief interaction can lead to a connection that can lead to a conversation that can lead to the client that can lead to a closing. Being memorable is important because it heightens the chances you will connect easier in the future. You can accomplish being memorable with a helpful action, a funny quip, or simply being kind.
- Add Value
Listen for opportunities to add value to a person or conversation by sharing how you can help as an agent, as a connection, or simply as a friend. Adding value to people will pay dividends in so many ways. It’s the highest level of success.
- Understand how leads are generated
Now that you’re connecting with more people, you might as well let everyone know how you can help them or others with their real estate needs. Here are a few things to remember about generating leads.
The ultimate goal is to become your own lead generator
There will be times (especially in the beginning) that brokerage leads or paid leads can help supplement your real estate lead generation efforts. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking these leads are your ultimate path to a long career as a real estate professional. Think of your daily work efforts of connecting with, adding value to, and gaining the trust of people as the necessary steps to baking your beautiful cake of real estate success, and then think of all leads programs as simply icing on your cake. Everyone loves icing but the cake is much more filling.
So in addition to paid leads and brokerage leads where do you begin?
Start with people who already know and trust you, and let them know about your new career as a real estate professional. Don’t be a secret agent! Tell your family, friends, colleagues, hairdresser, dog groomers, etc. Remember, it may take months, or even years for your closest relationships to trust you as a real estate professional. Be patient, not pushy.
Next, meet new people. Get away from the computer screens and social media posts and go be social. Get face-to-face every day! Practice what we learned about connecting in the previous section. Here are just a handful of places to get social with people you don’t know:
Volunteer
Join the chamber of commerce and attend events
Join a gym
Get to know your neighbors
Meet others where you worship
Talk to strangers
Join a sports team
Go out into the world with a genuine interest in getting to know people. Once there is plenty of trust, these new connections will be happy to provide referrals or even work with you to buy or sell their homes.
Focus on building a pipeline
It’s not about closing a deal. It’s about building a pipeline. Let those statements sink deep into your real estate mindset. Real estate agents close deals but real estate professionals build pipelines that allow them to see success for years to come. Professionals constantly listen to others and find ways they can help now or in the future. Professionals position themselves around others so they can benefit from a conversation or a new connection. This means you consistently circle your sphere of influence. The keyword is “consistently”. Someone may say they aren’t in need of any real estate-related help right now but if you wait 9 months to reconnect and in the meantime, their relative moved to the area you really missed an opportunity. Nurturing these relationships will lead to repeat and referral business (on average 89% or all real estate transactions). Consistency matters!
Investing in lead programs
Leads purchased through online sources or provided through brokerage partners can help supplement your business and provide future referrals. Make sure you understand that ALL leads programs are hit or miss, regardless of how a company sells their leads as the best or the hottest. A high percentage of leads may not work out initially so recover your invested time and money by being ready when a lead is truly hot and nurture those that aren’t. Paid lead systems are an investment in your business so it’s a good idea to make them a part of your overall business plan. Be sure to keep track of your specific program’s ROI to see if changes need to be made to your plan.
- Put Everyone You Know Into Your CRM
Now that you understand consistency matters when it comes to contacting your sphere of influence, you need a way to take the relationships you build and put them into a quantitative format. This is why you need to utilize your CRM (Customer Relationship Manager). This important business tool allows you to store information for every person you know and every new person you meet. You can see how many contacts you have when you last contacted them, whether they are a lead source, and so much more. Keeping all this information in one place will make it easier to “round your sphere” consistently and create strategies for strengthening your relationships and staying top of mind.
In addition to phone calls and the occasional face-to-face chat, one strategy to nurture your contacts would be through content marketing. Share valuable content that is useful and relevant to your contacts, and that demonstrates your expertise.
Here are some examples of content you might share
For Homeowners
- How much their home has increased in value since they first bought it?
- Information on local market conditions that could affect the value of their homes
For Renters
- Updates on new housing developments coming to their area
- Information on affordable properties
You can share content through email (drip campaigns), social media, postcards, and even text messages. Figure out how each of your contacts prefers to hear from you.
- Fully Understand The Forms Used In Most Transactions
One of the most important behaviors any agent can have is transactional confidence. An agent with transactional confidence is more likely to continuously prospect for new business knowing they can properly handle contracts and other documents for any client. Do you need to know every single document? No, but you need to fully understand the most common forms. Fully understanding contracts and documents means you understand their purpose, their meaning, and how to explain them to a client. While your managing brokers will always be here to assist in educating you along the way, the best way to gain a boost of confidence is to spend time getting to know these forms. Investing time in understanding contracts and other documents is a move from agent to professional. The responsibility to properly handle your client’s transaction ultimately falls at your feet and most outcomes are determined by your willingness to seek transactional excellence. For more information on understanding forms check out the resources section or ask for your managing broker for a specific list of forms.
Written by Dagan Greene