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Experienced Agents
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You're not a new agent anymore. Congratulations! You've survived your first two years in the business and you're well on your way to being a success. You are one of top 1.5% of all licensed real estate agents, but maybe you're not exactly where you want to be. Why not?
It could be any number of reasons. Usually, it's because an important step has been overlooked or possibly because you don't have a successful mentor to show you the way. You, of all people, know that this isn't always an easy business. It can be relatively easy at times, but eventually, you'll experience the challenges associated with the real estate profession.
If you're not exactly happy with where exactly where you're at, I invite you to contact us today for a confidential interview to find out how we can help. It's very important to feel at home in your brokerage, and to take an active role in the company culture.
By now, you've developed a market niche, you serve it well, and you're ready to take your business to the next level. This is where real estate teams come into play. Teams are a very productive way to grow your own business, while spending more time on the things you care about most. It's fairly easy to grow from no transactions, to around 50 transactions, but many agents experience the plateau from not being able to be in more than 4 places at once. Teams can overcome that challenge with your direction.
If you skipped the steps on writing your business plan, branding yourself, refining your market niche, or working your sphere of influence, we have some work to do. You may think you're the only one who hasn't done all of this, but you're not. You're not alone. In our experience, most agents have not accomplished what needs to be done to build a business. As someone once said, most agents don't have 20 years worth of experience, they have have 1-year's worth of experience, 20 times in a row. Kind of funny to think about it like that, but it's really true. There are agents out there who essentially have not changed the way they do business in the past 20 years, and they keep doing the same things over and over. I suspect that what you'd like to do is 1) work more efficiently 2) take your business to the next level and 3) really formalize your business so that it can run without you. Am I close?
We can help you do that. It's difficult to get the winning attitude and exhibit the right culture if your current brokerage isn't accepting of your desires, and you really need every bit of help you can get. We're all in this business to win, right? For experienced agents, here are some common recommendations:
Spend your Time on Income Producing Activities Do you ever think about how some agents seem to have all the closings and some don't? We've studied this for quite some time and here's what we've found. Successful agents focus their time on income-producing activities. If you, or your team, are not fully engaging themselves in directly helping people, the sales are slipping through your fingers. Sometimes, agents were willing to make the call or follow-up with a potential client when they were new, but they got spoiled in previous markets, getting accustomed to "order taking."
This is where people call you directly, and ask for your help. It's nice when it happens, but if your future clients don't know who you are, they have no reason to call. The best way to ensure your future clients know who you are is to speak directly to them. That means getting them on the phone, getting to know them, corresponding with them, finding the right home or selling their current home, and solving their problems.
In the current market, you need to be doing as much of that as possible. Order-taking is gone. Concentrate your time on the tasks that directly deliver income, and hire out the rest. How much time do you spend today, keeping constant contact with your sphere of influence?
Improve Your Company Culture You also need to feel at home with your brokerage, and identify with the company culture. The brokerage you work for can either help or hurt you. You've probably also been in situations where there are agents in the company who are fairly caustic, or difficult to get along with. No one really needs that, do they? Although it can be entertaining to be around agents like that when you first get in the business, it's not something you necessarily want when you become a professional, and it's certainly not something you want in your life for the long term.
Formalize your Business with Systems No business is complete without formalized business systems. That means investing the time to write down your systems that your business operations are consistent. It's been proven over and over again that the reason people choose McDonald's over many other restaurants worldwide is because they deliver a consistent product, not because the food is so great they can't live without it. People know that they're not going to be disappointed, the service is good, and they'll be back for more before you know it. We're not implying that your business maintain an impersonal relationship with your clients - only that it needs to guarantee consistent service and be as automated as possible.
Get Specific Coaching from a Recognized Leader in the Industry Sometimes, you're going to be so unique that no brokerage can really keep up with you. Your service is impeccable, your growth is unlimited, and the sky's going to be the limit with you. If this is you, you really need to invest in your business and obtain the services of a real estate consultant or coach. Coaching is not unique to this industry. If you're experiencing a limitation on growth, a business coach may be the way to go. You'll often find services that are agent-centered, and those that are broker-centered. What will help you most is someone who will hold you accountable for the production you'd like to achieve, and the means in which you would like to achieve it. Coaching helps.
Hiring Team Members & Administrative Staff At some point, you'll need to hire team members and administrative staff if you want to grow your business beyond 50 transactions/year. You can't just do it all by yourself. Virtual assistants may be the way to go in the beginning, but you'll need to hire your own internal staff eventually. Hiring the right staff members isn't always easy, so you'll want to locate a brokerage, like ours, who are team-friendly. We have a great deal of experience with real estate teams and we know the importance of working together to accomplish a goal. Teams are the quintessential way to grow your business beyond you, and having a business that operates on it's own. In our opinion, this is the end goal you should have in mind when business planning from Day One. If you don't have this in mind, it's kind of like writing a novel with no real outline, or any idea of what you really want to say. Start with the ending first, and reverse plan from there.
Formalize Your Branding This is a big one for experienced real estate agents. You've spent so much time actively engaged in income-producing activities that you failed to really plan out your business. As a result, you really have no brand, and nothing that really sets you apart from the competition. Did you know that most of your potential clients think you're the same as every other real estate agent out there?
In reality, there are probably many things that you do differently than your competition, so your main challenge is conveying that message to your target audience in an insightful, intelligent way. That's what proper branding will do for you. You're the best person for the job, right? Why is that so? What is it that you do better than almost anyone else in your market? You know the answers, but now it's time to begin writing them down so that you can get the message out.
You won't find many successful companies without a successful brand. Invest some time and marketing money into developing your brand, and conveying your unique selling proposition to the general public. When you find the right brand, devote some time to consistent message delivery and watch your business grow.
WHAT'S NEXT? MOTIVATIONAL BOOKS & TRAINING....
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TREY & BOBBIE JACKSON
All about real estate agents and brokers
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