You’ve done it. You put in the work, got your license, and now it’s time to get started in your career as a real estate agent! Real estate is a competitive game though. Even if you’re a real go-getter, you can definitely benefit from any new real estate agent tips and tricks that can help you to hit the ground running.
Here are eleven new real estate agent tips to help you launch your career with the right start:
Tip #1: Be honest
The thing about being dishonest is that eventually you will be found out. Once a reputation of dishonesty precedes you, you’re going to have a hard time gaining the trust of clients – both old and new. If you are known as an honest person, your services will be sought out more readily, and your business will grow
Tip #2: Know your market
What market, segment, or group of people do you want as your clients? If you know the market you want, you can more easily target your marketing campaigns to those people. Knowing your market begins with knowing what value you bring to the market, what strengths you have, and who can benefit most from your services.
Tip #3: Collaborate with your clients
View your relationship with clients as a collaboration rather than a business-client relationship. You’re not a salesperson, you’re a service provider, and clients don’t want to be sold to, they want to be helped. Prove that you are there to work with them, rather than for them or for yourself.
Tip #4: Separate emotions and business
A big part of real estate has to do with negotiating deals, and it is important that negotiations consistently remain professional, not emotional. When emotions enter into negotiations, it decreases the chance that both parties are going to leave happy. While negotiations are never 100 per cent win-win, there is a way to make compromise work, and emotions often remove this possibility.
Tip #5: Be human
In real estate, you can’t be an automaton. Use your human mind, your feelings, and your empathy to understand your clients’ situations and help them find the best options for them. Your goals are important, but it will show if you put your own needs before your clients.
People love to be thought of, and it is a good way to keep friends in the industry, as well as keep clients. Send thank you notes to clients and to anybody who helps you out in your business. Give public thank yous on social media if the situation allows it, and send birthday cards, anniversary cards, congratulatory notes, and other thoughtful messages to show people you are thinking of them and that you appreciate them.
Tip #6: Have a good work ethic
Attack challenges and new situations head on, don’t shy away from them or drag your feet when they appear. You get what is handed to you, and it is up to you whether that turns into a profitable situation or not. The more effort and dedication you put into your business, the more you will get out of it.
Tip #7: Stay professional
You won’t make it too far if people find out that you are two-faced. Trust is an important part of the real estate business, and you need allies. Keep your discussions with colleagues and other professionals in the field positive, and don’t bring others down, even if they aren’t present. There is a lot to be said for taking the high road in this industry.
Tip #8: Automate marketing
Using CRM tools and resources that help you to automate your marketing is crucial to keeping up with everything. This is one of the best ways to ensure that you can maintain your current client base, foster a new client base, keep up with meetings, and maintain some kind of work-life balance.
Tip #9: Keep your ethics
It often feels like the people who bend the rules and sully their ethics are always on top, but it is also these people who have to constantly watch their backs and who have a long way to fall if they make one wrong move. Maintain good ethics and you will never have anything to worry about.
Tip #10: Be careful with your budget
Because your income will fluctuate based on the sales you make, you need to have a budget so you can keep track of where you are at financially. You need to know how much your living expenses are, and how much your business expenses are so that you always know what your financial situation looks like.
Tip #11: Expand lead generation
Look for leads on many different paths so that if one of those paths closes, you still have others to keep you going. Your lead generation is the root of your livelihood, so put a lot of effort into it, and make sure you’re tapping into the entirety of your target market, not just one area of it.