Ever wish you had a time machine and could start your real estate career over? With all the experience and skills it's taken you years to develop? Well, you can't turn back the clock, but you can move forward, with the benefits of your own knowledge, plus these great lessons learned.
Here are some of the challenges experienced real estate practitioners faced and overcame, plus some advice on how to leap those hurdles and become a success in record time.
1. Start Building a "Book of Business" from your first Day.
Your list of names is your book of business. The National Association of REALTORS reports show 74% of all top producing agents business is derived from their book of business. So why not do what the successful agents do from day one? Keep up with all the details of each person on your list, ie: birthdays, anniversaries, closing dates, children's names, and property details, and when you speak with them use this info to make your conversations more personal.
Make a conscious effort to contact everyone on your list at least 12 times per year with at least 4 of those contacts being personal in nature, (meet in person or phone call). Committing to Relational Networking is the #1 way top producers become and stay top producers!
2. You only have 15 seconds to sell yourself.
It's fine to say a salesperson should gather leads through open houses and floor time, but get trained on how to be persuasive and get critical information in a 15-second encounter. Without proper training, these are lost opportunities.
Personality profiling and learning to read people is one way to build rapport quickly. You can adapt your communications style to mirror a prospects' demeanor, so there's a feeling of deeper connection. Attending continuing education classes which expand your knowledge of personality types can be beneficial. Developing good listening skills and focusing on the prospects interests instead of yours will also help you make a good instant impression.
3. Some deals will fall apart.
"You can't always figure out who is 'for real.' Someone may say they're writing an offer and will call in an hour, and then disappear," "Flaky clients just come with the job. If they get you down or you quit, you're the one who loses."
"Even experienced salespeople sometimes miss red flags that indicate unmotivated buyers or sellers," "For example, an unwillingness to get pre-approved or to put their current home on the market before finding a new one are signals the clients aren't committed to you or the home-buying/selling process. "When practitioners are hungry, they're sometimes willing to work on more of a hope than a certainty. That's when they get disappointed." If buyers can't seem to make a commitment, it may be time to cut your losses and refer them to another associate? (hopefully for a referral fee.)
4. Don't confuse experience with skill.
"When you're new and unsure of your knowledge, it's natural to hang around more experienced practitioners, but be careful who you emulate," Successful practitioners are out hustling business, not sitting around the office. Use top performers as models..
5. REALTORS don't "sell" houses...Houses Sell Houses!
"Clients have to buy you before you get the chance to assist them in the purchase or sale of a home,"
No matter what you say, if a buyer doesn't like a home you won't (and shouldn't) talk them into purchasing it.
Whatever your sales skill level may be now, it's critical to chose a brokerage company with regular training on both the basics and on new industry trends.
6. Hook up with a mentor. Seek mentors who have demonstrated credibility in the business and are geographically accessible so you can have regular face time.
"With a mentor, you can see concepts in motion, emulate their techniques, and tailor them to fit your personality and business," "People hear good ideas in a class but can't always apply them." Mentoring isn't just for newcomers either, two experienced people can team up, mentor each other, often referred to as parallel mentoring--and take both their businesses to the next level. "With parallel mentoring, it's not a matter of learning new skills, but finding how something old can be done better."
7. A transaction is made up of a million details, and you can't forget any of them. "When you start out and you have only one transaction, you may be able to do it all. But when you have multiple transactions, it's even more difficult to keep track of every date and deadline,"
To help herself stay on top of transactions, develop a series of simple forms and checklists to give buyers, sellers, and yourself as an outline for every step of a transaction. "The approach not only saves you time, but also gives clients guidelines to follow," The checklists will also reduce phone calls between your office and clients and make you look professional and organized. You'll never miss a deadline.
8. Don't overspend on technology you won't use. Indiscriminate Technology spending can drain precious financial resources and the time invested in learning new hardware or software can never be recovered. Make an inventory of what technologies you have and use regularly. Seek their common traits (such as an indication that you're dependent on mobile devices like PDAs and cell phones) to help you decide which technologies are making the biggest contributions to your productivity.
9. Don't work without a business plan. "So many people just try to fly by the seat of their pants," "A business plan helps you align your strengths and values with your business." It's also critical to create long- and short-term goals. You can make a plan quantifiable by nailing down the number of transactions, sales, and weekly working hours necessary to reach the goals. It can even include a schedule for vacations and time off.
Check the goals monthly to see what's working and what's not and shift course if something isn't effective. From the time you set a goal, market conditions, and your plan of action--could change. Look at your weekly activities to see what has been most effective in getting you closer to your goals and what steps you can take that will provide the highest payoff.
If possible get a Coach to help you during the first few months of starting a new business plan...
10. Sometimes you have to say "no." Manage your time efficiently and stick to your schedule as much as possible. For instance, rather than answering each call when it comes in, she suggests answering calls in clusters--returning morning calls at 11 a.m. and afternoon calls at 3 p.m., for example.
Eddie Brown 2010
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