The real estate industry is incredibly competitive. Even in very good markets and economies, real estate professionals can find it difficult to acquire listings and sell a lot of properties. This can be even more challenging during the fourth quarter when the real estate market starts to slow down for the year. Fortunately, there are a variety of tips that you can follow that could help you lead a team of real estate pros to more sales in the fourth quarter.

Set Incentives

One of the best things that you could do to motivate your real estate team to sell more property in the fourth quarter would be to set incentives tied to the winter real estate market. Many real estate incentive programs are tied to the better markets of the year. However, if you want your team to work harder, you should encourage them by offering incentives in the slower parts of the year as well. Offering higher commissions or other rewards could motivate a realtor to get working harder in the fourth quarter.

Look for Canceled Listings

One of the best things that you could do to close more sales in the fourth quarter would be to look for cancelled listings. When you have access to the public records, you will be able to find listings online that were recently canceled. This can be a great opportunity to find a seller that wants to sell but was not successful. You may be able to encourage them to list with you if you can develop a unique strategy that would help to sell the property.

Benefit from Lower Inventory

Most real estate agents know that the winter real estate market is slower than it is in the rest of the year. Because of this, people either take their home off the market in the late fall or wait to list until the spring. Because of this, there is almost always a lower inventory. If you have a home that you are trying to sell, you should use this to your advantage. When there is less inventory, buyers will have fewer options to choose from. This could give you an opportunity to sell your listing for a higher price.

Use Technology

In today’s world, technology is essential in every industry. As the weather gets colder, fewer people want to go outside, and viewing houses and properties with a client involves some time outside, but this can be avoided. Virtual reality (VR) allows clients to view the entire house without stepping outside. You use 3D cameras to film the entire property, then have the client put on the VR goggles, and you can have remote viewings from the comfort of your office.

You can also acquire some software that can relieve your real estate agents from some of their duties. Getting fraud detection with Confluent to monitor your agents to ensure no fraud is being committed. This relieves the pressure of monitoring your own agents as the software will do it for you. You could also use technology to see if your office could be more efficient in any way. By identifying shortcomings in efficiency, you can improve the efficiency which overall improves employee motivation while increasing the amount of work that is able to be completed in a shorter time period.

Sales Education

Finally, when the winter time comes, it could be a good time to give an updated sales education. While your experienced realtors may feel that they are already educated and trained enough, there is always more that they could learn to do better. This is especially true when you are looking to sell homes in the winter. Ideally, you should offer a sales seminar that would focus on how to sell homes and close sales during the winter or other off-peak times of the year. Doing this could give your team the motivation nudge that they need to get going.

Ultimately, when you are trying to lead your team of real estate professionals, you need to make sure that your team is motivated. During the fourth quarter, it is easy for successful professionals to lose interest, especially if they have already made their annual numbers. Keeping them focused and motivated will help lead to more sales at the end of the year.