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There’s no denying the past year has been exceptional for most real estate agents. Listings have come in thick and fast, and there are buyers eagerly waiting to snap them up.
In a market like the present, the biggest challenge for agents isn’t finding listings or selling properties but rather tending to the basics that will set you up for future success.
What do I mean? A lot of the small basic tasks you undertake right now in a good market will set you up for six, 12 or 18 months from now when the landscape may look slightly different.
So, let’s look at three key areas that you can look at right now to set you up for future success.
Buyers become sellers
In theory, we all know buyers become sellers, but one of the first basic agent skills that often falls by the wayside when things get busy is buyer care.
If you’re at risk of not calling a prospective buyer back because you’re too busy concentrating on sellers, this is a fatal mistake for the future of your business.
Somewhere down the line, that current buyer will remember you were the agent who failed to return their call, and if they are looking to sell a property, that memory will immediately rule you out as their agent of choice.
The top tip? Whether it’s hiring an additional member of your team to handle buyer inquiries, or introducing technology that allows you to better manage your time, turn your attention to buyer care to build future clientele.
Improve your follow-up strategy
Ever wondered why someone sold with you in the past but opted not to use you again later down the track?
It’s a pretty common phenomenon in the industry, with statistics revealing around 80 per cent of sellers do not use their original selling agent.
And this comes down to one of two things: a) they didn’t have a great selling experience, or b) after the sale, you failed to follow up.
Of course, both of these are preventable, but let’s look at follow-up first because I’d argue it’s far more likely that it is a lack of follow-up strategy that costs you repeat business.
Consider what happens after a sale: are you touching base regularly with the former seller and buyer? Are you keeping them up to date with relevant, useful information they might value?
Are you using your CRM and reaching out as part of your regular communication to see how things are going – not asking for something, but simply touching base and having an informative conversation about what’s going on both with them and in the property market.
Each of these is key to a successful follow-up strategy, along with providing any assistance required in the immediate period after a sale.
Needs and wants change
Let me reveal a quick statistic that offers a light bulb moment for future business. In any market, 10 to 20 percent of all new listings are properties that only sold 12 to 24 months ago.
There’s a good chance that statistics are also about to get higher due to the recent trends we have seen where people bought properties sight unseen or moved to regional destinations that may not actually suit their expectations or future needs.
This simple statistic also ties together my two points above. If 10 to 20 per cent of the sellers and the buyers you are speaking with right now could be selling their property next year or the year after, you want to be the agent at the top of their list.
That’s 10 to 20 per cent extra future business you could have by ensuring your buyer care and follow-up strategy are up to scratch.
One of my favourite sayings has long been “an agent’s greatest competitive advantage is that their competition is lazy, so long as the competition cannot say the same thing about them”.
Remember your future success starts with the little things that other agents fail to tend to, and often the real gold is in the work that doesn’t pay right here, right now.
Instead, your actions today are an investment that might reap rewards in six, 12, or 24 months’ time. But without fail, each of the above strategies is an investment that pays off.
Manos Findikakis is the chief executive and co-founder of the Eview Group.
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