How New Agents Can Get Listings

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 10 December 2013 11:56

As a new agent, you've likely heard that "you last with listings." Listings are a great way to get your name in front of the public so you can start developing your professional reputation. So how do you get started?

Create a database

Whether you use Excel, Top Producer or your broker's client management tools, you need to develop a personal database of contacts.

Start with people you know and input as much information as you can. To make it easier, start with relatives, school chums, work colleagues, church friends, and so on.

Create client profiles with name, address, profession, birthday, spouse, children, dates of contact, and attitudes about housing. Categorize them - first-time homebuyer, investor, move-up buyer, empty nester, etc. This will help you act quickly when you see an opportunity for them.

Make warm calls

No one is going to hire you if they don't know you're in business, so get the word out there that you are licensed, trained and ready to help.

While it's a great idea to update your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles, announcing your status isn't enough to start your new career. You have to cultivate the relationships you've got to make them work for you.

Think of it this way - if you're building a farm, you don't stop after planting the first seed. Nourishment, water and sunshine are important, too. That means you reach out and personally call and visit your friends, relatives and acquaintances again and again.

Tell them that you're now a licensed agent and you'd like to help them buy or sell their homes. Ask them questions about their goals and dreams. Take detailed notes.

Make news a reason to get in touch. Tell people what's happening with interest rates, loan programs, neighbourhood improvements, school academic teams, and so on.

Make cold calls

You've got to start somewhere. Choose one neighborhood to farm. Start with where you live, where your broker is located, or with the type of home you want to sell such as condos, historical homes, master-planned communities, new homes, or whatever you are interested in. You can become known as the area expert.

Meet as many homeowners as you can. Hang fliers, send mailers and knock on doors and introduce yourself. Offer to provide personalized market analysis of their homes.

Now's not the time to worry about being a general agent who can sell anywhere. Your contacts will take you out of your neighborhood soon enough without having to go to the expense of farming your entire city.

Don't overlook other potential clients

Appropriate contacts are everyone you meet. Remember that people like your barista, fitness trainer, grocer, and others you meet daily have already met you. It is a lot easier to do business with people who know and like you.

Don't just pick up your dry-cleaning. Ask the name of the person, manager or business owners who serve you. Put them in your database and build a lifelong clientele.

Ask each person for their contact information, especially email, and tell them you want to send them some information about real estate and that you hope to help them one day with a move.

Get some PR

With guidance and the right counsel, REALTORS® can be at the center of a dynamic - and necessary - conversation about the economy, their profession and the trends influencing their industry. From there, that discussion can become the news we read and the information buyers and sellers crave. Welcome to the world of communications.

Realty Times offers a great free service that allows all agents to publish articles to their thousand of readers. For more information, Click Here.

Don't give up

Rinse and repeat. Make your calls every day. Rotate your contacts so you are in touch on a weekly, monthly, quarterly basis, depending on the closeness of your relationship or association.

The worst that can happen is someone says no. But you can turn a no to a yes with consistency, dedication and enthusiasm. Then the best that can happen is your efforts will pay off with listings and sales.

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Blanche Evans

"Blanche Evans is a true rainmaker who brings prosperity to everything she touches.” Jan Tardy, Tardy & Associates

I have extensive and award-winning experience in marketing, communications, journalism and art fields. I’m a self-starter who works well with others as well as independently, and I take great pride in my networking and teamwork skills.

Blanche founded evansEmedia.com in 2008 as a copywriting/marketing support firm using Adobe Creative Suite products. Clients include Petey Parker and Associates, Whispering Pines RV and Cabin Resort, Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS®, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Prudential California Realty, MLS Listings of Northern California, Tardy & Associates, among others. See: www.evansemagazine.com, www.ggarmarketclick.com and www.peteyparkerenterprises.com.

Contact Blanche at: [email protected]

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