Real Estate Agents: Top 5 Strategies to Be on Top of Your Game in 2015

Written by Riti Verma, RankMyAgent.com

It’s the first few days of 2015. You had a good run last year. But like the go-getter that you are, you want more. You want 2015 to be a year where you exceed your goals and expectations. So you go to the drawing board with the question “What do I do to up my game this year?” 



This is a great question to be asking the start of the New Year. Not only does this help you set goals for the new year but it also ignites all motivation needed to achieve those goals. You just don’t want to be an exact iteration of what you were last year. You want to up the ante; you want to work on an upgrade – a 2.0 version of what you were last year.


Allow me to offer some tips and tricks of the trade. Hopefully these do not come to you as rehash of old sales lines because the foundation of these, really, is what marketers call the “Sales Process”. By utilizing the process of selling as a model for an actionable plan, I will point out some practical things you can do to start claiming your spot at the top as a real estate professional.

A Great Database is Key to Sales Success

Others call this initial approach to the sales process as prospecting or lead generation. Whatever it is called, however, the rational is still the same: the sales run will only be as great as your existing database. And let me explain why by utilizing this other well-known tool used by successful sales people around the world – the sales funnel.

The sales process resembles that of a funnel – wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with each point the funnel representing a stage in the selling process. This means that only a limited percentage of your leads translate to qualified prospects, and only a limited percentage of your prospects translate to buyers. A limited database means that you are already at a disadvantage. This is because, according to the sales funnel model, this means an even more limited percentage of qualified prospects and buyers. Hence, the very first thing to do this year is to revisit your database. Look into your lead generation activities once again and see if you are covering this very important base of the sales process.  A great way to start building database for new agents is to create awareness of your presence in your network of relationships by reaching out to family, friends, colleagues, past employers and service providers.

 Stay “Top of Mind” To Be in The Sales Running


The next step in the sales process has to do with engagement. This straddles a number of stages, from your initial approach up to the presentation where you make your pitch. Now it is necessary to keep in mind that you are in competition – yes, in competition with other real estate agents. Therefore it is imperative that at this point, you begin to make sure that you stay “top of mind”. 



This means that you should make sure that you regularly engage your clients – that they should know that you are always there; ready and available and top of mind when they are ready to buy or sell. In fact, your presence should also be seen as a reminder that they are supposed to make a purchase decision through you.

Fortunately, current technology offers us a number of ways to stay top of mind. There are various paid and free Customer Relationship Management (CRM) apps in the market, designed to make it easy for you to stay in touch to your clients. 

Almost all CRMs come with standard features – personal information management, email integration, follow-up reminders, customizable templates, and social network integrations. Others even come with bulk messaging capabilities, scheduling emails sending, among other things.  Some great products you may want to consider are Contactually, Top Producer, Nimble.

Now the idea is to treat the whole sales enterprise as a relationship-building endeavor. People will buy only from those that they feel connected to. This is a sales fact-which is why it is important to nurture that professional seller-buyer relationship to ensure your name stays at the top of your clients’ mind.

Take Time to Manage Your Time

According to the father of modern management himself, Peter Drucker, “Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.” And nothing could be more fitting to say about time management. Time management has constantly been a challenge even to the most successful real estate agents that it has become one of the most important concepts dealt with by the likes of Stephen Covey, Robert Kiyosaki, Dale Carnegie, John Maxwell and many others. 

In the hustle and bustle of the daily sales grind, it is important to make sure that we follow a plan. Time is wasted when there is no plan, no system to follow. 

The sales process is in itself an example of a strategic use of time. It is a plan, a system to ensure that you attack the sales effort by “working smart, not hard.” 

Again, we are lucky that we live in the world of technology. There are various free and paid apps that simplify multi-tasking and increase overall efficiency. The various time management software applications that can be easily accessed through smartphones and tablets will enable time and task efficiency. While it is always best to leave time management to suit your own personal goals and discretion, just remember – and this again from Drucker himself – to waste time is to not contribute to one’s effectiveness.

Your Reputation Precedes You

First, you should think of yourself as a brand, rather than just a sales agent because real estate agents are more than just property sellers, they are relationship builders. Clients look for more than a sales agent, they are looking for a real estate professional that can ensure honesty, integrity, experience and professionalism.

A study entitled “What Do Consumers Expect from Real Estate Agents?” [1]  can help you with that. 
These include:

          

Second, and in relation to the first – being the brand that you are, it is imperative that you make sure that you take care of your reputation. It is a proven fact that consumers are most likely to buy from people they trust, thus proving building relationships gives you an edge. If you are known to be a great go-to-solutions provider-that-leaves-no-stone unturned-sales person, people will flock to you.

Let Your Prospective Clients Know How Good You Are

The reality of staying relevant and current while multitasking clientele relationships can be overwhelming but luckily for real estate professionals, the evolution of the Internet can ease the stress.

Online Reputation Management platforms are those that are built specifically to help you showcase your services. These websites have the option to have your clients write a review for you so prospective clients can learn more from those first-hand experiences. This is a great way to demonstrate your qualifications, strengths and competitive advantages by taking word of mouth – online.

It’s a known fact that consumers trust peer recommendations such as online reviews more than traditional advertising.

Here’s what the numbers say about positive reviews:

72 % That’s the percentage of respondents who said that they will trust a local business if they read positive reviews! That is a whopping 7 out of 10 consumers!

69.53 % Ease of conversion of online review to a completed real estate deal. This is based on T3 Expert’s 2014 Survey Report entitled “Agent Reviews and Lead Generation”.

RankMyAgent.com allows you to manage and build your online reputation and get you recognized for your services.  Your clients get the opportunity to thank you by writing about their experiences.

One of the great things about Rankmyagent.com is that it is a moderated site built for the real estate industry. All reviews that come in are confirmed as firm, closed transactions prior to being posted. Authenticity and legitimacy are core values of the site. When homeowners come to the site for information they read real reviews, written by real clients that have worked with the real estate professional throughout the entire sales cycle.

The New Year brings in a lot of great possibilities. I am sure that you are as excited as I am about the prospects 2015 brings. I am confident that this is going to be a banner year for all of us.

Believe that what you’re doing is right. Believe that you can achieve it.  Believe that it will happen. 

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[1] Baylor University study  “What Do Consumers Expect from Real Estate Agents?” can help you with that.