Let’s face it: Becoming a successful real estate agent is pretty difficult. Far more than a simple majority of real estate agents who start in this business will ultimately see their career fizzle out. It’s a sad reality that we face, but according to the National Association of Realtors, the real estate sales industry can feel like a revolving door with agents coming and going — and often not making it beyond their first year. So how can you be a part of the elite group of agents who do succeed in the business?
If last year wasn’t your year, that’s fine. Consider implementing these strategies in your business so that you can see massive growth and maximum success this year.
The Planning Strategy: Create a business plan — and actually work it.
After over a decade as a real estate agent and broker, not many things surprise me these days. However, I am absolutely shocked by how many agents I run into who are operating in their business without an actual business plan. A business plan not only helps you to properly plan out your goals but also your budget, your marketing strategy and other key areas of your business. It’s the roadmap (or GPS, rather) for the success you want to see in your business.
Far too many agents operate without a business plan, and it may be one of the reasons they fail. Take two hours out of your week to create a detailed plan for your real estate business. Don't simply write a list of goals, but rather take the time to plan out every aspect of your business. Take a deep dive into the following:
• Key performance indicators: days you plan to work, listings, buyers, appointments, etc.
• A vision and mission statement for your business: your "why."
• Transaction goals.
• Prospect calculation: conversations needed to convert to "closed" transaction.
• Income goals.
• Lead generation sources.
• Lead generation system.
• Personal and business budgets.
Having a solid plan written down for your business is a great way to stay accountable and see maximum success this year. Remember the age-old "five Ps": Proper planning prevents poor performance.
Tip: Be sure to track your progress daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly.
The Reconnection Strategy: Reconnect with your sphere of influence and stay connected.
In a world where we’re inundated with information from the internet of things, agents often forget that this business is still a relationship business. Agents spend so much time and money on internet leads and social media marketing (more on this later) that they forget some of the closest people in their lives have the potential to be the most loyal clients. If you’ve forgotten about your sphere of influence (SOI), take some time to reconnect with them.
Your SOI is what I consider the people near and dear to you — your past clients, friends and family members, people who love you and ultimately want to see you succeed. In my experience, roughly 10-15% of your SOI will make some type of move this year and you should be the real estate professional who helps them through that transaction. Once you reconnect with your SOI, create a plan around staying in touch with them. The biggest insult to a real estate agent is seeing a close family member or friend buy or sell a new home with the help of someone other than you. Don’t let this happen to you.
If you’re stuck and not sure how to reconnect with your SOI, consider doing the following:
• Pick up the phone and call them, and call/text again every month.
• Add them to your monthly email marketing campaign.
• Add them on your social media networks.
• Invite them for coffee, lunch or drinks — yes, those things still work!
Tip: Create a follow-up system for staying in contact with your SOI. Be intentional with your efforts in order to see a successful outcome.
The Social Strategy: Tighten up your social media.
It goes without saying that social media is here to stay, so you should leverage it in your business. Social media goes far beyond just creating a business page; it includes strategically utilizing each platform to yield the highest amount of connections, leads and business possible.
My favorite social media tool is Facebook. That's not because it’s the largest, but because of what it allows business owners to do with their databases. Arguably one of the greatest tools that Facebook has for business owners is the ability to create a “custom audience” using an email database of people you may know. Meaning, as a real estate professional you can create targeted ads on Facebook to reinforce the message they may be sending to people already in their database, helping you stay top of mind for a very low cost.
Connecting the Reconnection Strategy and the Social Strategy is fairly easy and highly recommended, too. Marketing best practices based on the mere exposure effect tells us that the more a consumer sees something, the more likely they are to favor it. So if you think that your sporadic email is doing the trick, then you are mistaken. Consider combining these two strategies for maximum results by doing the following:
• Download your database into a spreadsheet.
• Upload these contacts to Facebook using the “create a custom audience” option.
• Contact your SOI via email and also follow up using an ad campaign targeting that audience.
• Create a "lookalike" audience on Facebook to advertise to using a similar campaign.
In order for an agent to last in this industry, they must be intentional in their pursuit to bring in new business. Instead of searching for the next wave or the new technology to arrive, try implementing these tried and true methods with laser-like focus. Any agent can plan, reconnect and socialize at any level in their business to experience massive growth. Be intentional, be focused and go win.
