Being a good listener, a good communicator, and having a knack for negotiating are all talents that can serve you well as a real estate agent. But, that’s not all you’ll need.
To become successful at what you do, you’ll need to acquire or develop your skills and habits such as relationship building or marketing. This is excellent news because, unlike talents, skills can be learned and enhanced.
Today we’ll take a look at the top 3 tips for becoming a successful real estate agent.
1. Build Strong Relationships
Relationship building is all about developing your social connections. In business, it has a direct effect on your reputation, your influence, and your ability to close deals.
To be successful as a real estate agent, you have to go the extra miles - so to speak.
- How you feel or how your day has been should not affect your attitude
- Every client should be treated with the same level of professionalism and respect
- It can’t always be about the sale it has to begin and end with the relationship
The best way to build strong relationships with your clients is to be a good listener. This will help you to better understand their needs and put you in a good position to fulfill them.
When someone feels like you have their best interest at heart, they are more likely to put their trust in you and commit to a financial relationship. That being said, clients aren’t the only ones you will need to develop a good relationship with.
As a real estate agent, you’ll also need to do a bit of networking. There will be times you are unable to provide all that a client may need or desire.
Instead of rejecting the offer outright or turning over the client, you can make use of the option to co-represent them by partnering with another local agent. If they specialize in what you’re looking for, you get to keep a valued client and increase your partner’s bottom line by splitting the profits.
If you have a specialty of your own, they may be able to return the favor. Once the deal is done - keep in contact.
It can be something as simple as a holiday card or an annual check-in. Making use of a real estate phone system is a great way to manage all your connections.
You can schedule client meetings, make courtesy calls, set and meet deadlines, share files, and even draft contracts - all on one secure and easy-to-use platform. Staying connected reminds both clients and partners that you are still active, still available, and interested in them.
Not only will this strengthen your relationships but it opens up an opportunity for you to grow and expand your reach organically. Even in this information age, word-of-mouth recommendations still hold a large part of the marketing pie.
2. Develop and Implement a Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is vital to generating new leads and helping you reach your target audience. As a real estate agent, you fall under service provider and there are multiple ways to build awareness around your service.
- Create a website
- Establish a social media presence
- Hire a publicist
Creating your own website is beneficial to both current and future clients. It helps them to visualize what it is you do and how you may be able to help them in their pursuits. It also creates a platform for you to reach a larger audience in any area and at any time of day.
Another benefit to having your own website is that it creates a landing base for your social media campaigns. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter are among the largest social media platforms globally.
Automating posts that follow current trends can boost your social media efforts and help drive traffic to your website. Another major goal of social media marketing is branding - putting trust and loyalty behind your name.
A publicist can help in this regard by pitching your story. Using the connections they have with journalists, they can get you mentioned or negotiate cross-marketing deals for you with local outlets.
You can even do some publicity of your own by sharing information you may have on trends with the local media in exchange for being mentioned in their article or being linked. All this helps to solidify you as a trusted source and can even earn you additional traffic or new potential clients.
3. Keep Learning as Much as You Can
When you’re just starting out, it can be a good idea to find a mentor - someone who you can learn from and that has experience in the real estate industry. With the right mentor you can learn to file, prepare and manage paperwork or host a successful open house.
Experience is the best teacher but it's even better when it's someone else’s. Keep an eye out for training programs that can help you gain some experience of your own. Your brokerage may offer these on a variety of topics including sales or technology (try to make use of them).
While it may not be economical to turn away business out of state, keeping your home base local (at least initially) where you are well known helps to build your credibility and makes you accessible. There is a lot of information online but one thing that can never be substituted is personal experience.
It takes a lot of effort to become an expert in your market but it is certainly worth it. When it comes to what you know, current and potential clients will be hard-pressed to find your expertise anywhere else.
When in Rome
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your reach, influence, or reputation. By creating quality relationships, developing a good marketing plan, and taking steps to further your education, you can put yourself in a better position to win.
Below are a few more tips that didn’t quite make the top 3.
- Setting reasonable goals
- Treating your job like a business
- Developing a small business system that works (on a budget)
Keeping these tips in mind can help you make strides in the right direction toward becoming a successful real estate agent.
