Set Yourself Up for Success in Real Estate

Set Yourself Up for Success in Real Estate

Success in real estate means different things to different people. Regardless of how you measure “success,” you’ll need to build a strong foundation for your new career. As a new agent, it’s important to set yourself up for success by following a few key steps. To help get you started, here’s a checklist of things you can do to get your real estate business off the ground:

Time Block:

Time management is key to success in real estate. Make sure to block out time for the most important tasks, such as following up with leads, prospecting, and attending professional development training. This will help you stay focused and achieve your goals.

Blocking your time will also prevent you from jumping on every issue that arrises throughout the day. If you’re diligent about your schedule, you’ll know when you have availability to address those issues.

This is first in the list because it’s a crucial skill that will help you not only tackle the rest of this list, but manage your time as your business grows and becomes more demanding.

Know your market:

The next step to success in real estate is to have a deep understanding of your local market. Sign up for market insights to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, home sales, and more. This will help you make informed decisions about the properties you sell and the clients you work with.

I tell my new agents to be ready for the question, “How’s the market?” That’s the question you’re most likely to receive as soon as you tell someone you’re a Real Estate Agent. Be ready with an answer! I answer that question with a general market update. However, I follow up with a question of my own, “Where do you live?” General market stats are only so useful. I offer to follow up with more specific stats for their area or neighborhood. I ask one more question, “Do you mind giving me your email address? I’d be happy to send you information on how strong your specific are is doing!”

This leads perfectly into my second suggestion.

Get a CRM:

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is an essential tool for any real estate agent. It helps you keep track of your clients, properties, and leads, so you can stay organized and follow up with potential customers.

What’s the best CRM? The one you use! Even if it’s an Excel spreadsheet, if you’re keeping track of your clients and customers and how often you’re communicating with them, you’ll be better positioned for success as your business grows.

Tracking names, contact information, and key dates (anniversaries, birthdays, closing dates, etc) is going to help you reach out at meaningful times without having to memorize every little detail.

A CRM linked to a professional website will be key to your success in real estate as you start to grow your business.

Create a professional website:

Your website should be the nucleus of your marketing efforts. Make sure to create a professional website that showcases your listings, highlights your services, and reflects your brand. This will help you direct traffic to a central location while you’re attracting new clients and establishing yourself as a trusted expert in your local market.

Having a clear Call to Action on your website is going to increase the likelihood of someone signing up on your site. As I mentioned above, if your website and CRM are linked, you’ll be better prepared to cultivate that customer into a lifelong client.

Schedule a Zoom session with me, and I’d be happy to show you what that process looks like!

Engage with your SOI (sphere of influence):

Your sphere of influence includes family, friends, and past clients. As a new agent, you should focus on friends, family, and people you engage with on a regular basis. Reach out to me for a Brainstorming Guide that will help you determine who your sphere of influence is.

Beyond just adding contacts to your database, make sure to keep in touch with these individuals and engage with them regularly. Ask for referrals, share your latest listings, and stay top-of-mind.

In addition to determining who’s in your SOI, find key individuals who you would consider your biggest promoters. Who can you send a draft of a marketing piece for feedback? Who can you share your website with for constructive criticism? Bring them into the discussion early on. You will make them feel part of your process and therefore, more likely to spread the word about your new career.

Now that you have determined who your sphere is and you have identified a few key promoters, how can you engage with the public?

Create professional social media accounts:

Social media is a great way to reach out to potential clients and showcase your expertise. Make sure to create professional social media accounts that reflect your brand and showcase your personality.

Just like a CRM, the best social media account is the on you use! The worst thing you can do is create a social media account, then leave it dormant. What happens when a customer finds your abandoned profile? They’ll think you’re no longer in the business and move on to the next agent.

Business or personal?

Successful agents will have a mix of professional and personal posts on their accounts. Simply posting Real Estate stats or listing photos will not give your audience any idea of who you are as a person. Add some personality to your posts! If your audience feels a personal connection to you, they’ll be more likely to engage with your posts. You can continue to the conversation and, if you’re following these steps, you can eventually add them to your CRM and convert them into a client.

Don’t let this next tip scare you away. Get comfortable posting videos! Videos are currently trending higher than text or photo posts. There are many ways to maximize exposure on social media using video even if your face is not on the screen! To achieve success in real estate, you want to be perceived as being everywhere. Video will be a huge help adding to your exposure.

Schedule posts to those social media accounts:

Consistency is key when it comes to social media. Staying top-of-mind is essential to capturing business. Statistically, the general public know at least 7 Real Estate Agents.Ultimately, your goal is to be the first agent they think of!

Schedule posts in advance so you can maintain a consistent presence on your platforms. This will help you stay top-of-mind with your followers and attract new customers. This will also cut down on your day-to-day time commitment, freeing you up to spend time on other aspects of your business. Listen, we’re all human. If I don’t schedule my posts, I know I will get sucked into a social media death scroll. Avoid the spiral, and get the posts scheduled ahead of time!

Reach out to me for a guide on When to Post to Social Media.

Create a welcome email for new customers:

Finally, make a great first impression by sending a welcome email to new customers. Your open rate and click through rate will be much higher if your first communication with the customer is not a marketing email. Your welcome email should introduce yourself, explain your services, and set expectations for your relationship going forward.

How often will you be communicating with them? What information can they expect to receive? What’s the best way for them to get in touch with you? Address these questions in your welcome email so your customers feel informed and confident that they’re working with a professional.

What’s next?

By following this checklist, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful real estate business. At Coldwell Banker Elite, we have all the tools mentioned above, as well as an incredible onboarding and coaching process to help new agents achieve success in Real Estate.

If you’d like more information on what we have to offer, reach out to me! Let’s chat about how we can get your career heading in the right direction!