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In real estate, success often comes at great cost – missed family moments, holidays that don't relax you and never being able to switch off.
When I meet frustrated real estate agents, often they're achieving great success – but the businesses they have built don’t give them the chance to relax. The agents are busy trying to meet the high expectations they’ve set, themselves and are also at the mercy of clients who expect everything, now!
How you do create a real estate career by your design and actually make it work?
It’s a tough ask, one you need to commit to. You’ll have to accept it's a journey – there will be times you’ll be ready to accept defeat – but it is possible if you keep pushing forward.
The first thing to look at is profits versus revenue. What good is a million-dollar business selling 100 homes that costs you a fortune in staff and marketing? A simpler business, selling 30-40 homes with lower costs, might earn the same amount of money but without all the hassle. What you take home is the true measure of success, not how much you sell.
You also need to accept a new way of doing business – on your terms. Choose your work hours to suit your life, then work with clients who accept your business standards. Yes, this may mean you miss out on some business. You won’t be able to meet a potential client if they can only see you on your day off or if they only want to pay half your proposed marketing. Remember, you can’t be everyone’s agent – pleasing everyone is just not possible.
Therefore, be selective with who you work with. Stick to people who like you, who need to sell and who meet your expectations for fees and marketing. There is power in saying no.
Work out who your ideal client is and go after them. Dealing with your ideal target market will make business a whole lot easier. For me, I never liked selling homes that were not owner-occupied; they were always more challenging and required more of my time.
Your also need to work out what your agency stands for. A lot of real estate businesses just stand for selling homes then moving on to the next client. But if you’re to make your life more rewarding, you need to figure out what will make things more enjoyable for you, your client and your staff. What business standards and rules need to be in place to ensure, as far as possible, complete satisfaction at all times?
Agents should strive to be the world’s best agent – based not on sales, but on service. Aim to be the best in your area so people are attracted to and referred to you. You want to build a business where your potential clients are impressed by your results and by the way you market homes for sale. Strive to stand out from the crowd as something different. That could mean changing your strategy, your marketing material, your presentations – even the way you speak.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trent White
While other seven-year-olds were collecting basketball cards, young Trent was collecting cards of the local real estate agents. He got his big break at the age of 17 with one of Western Australia’s up-and-coming sales representatives. Trent is a career personal assistant and has set up offices, led large teams and also been the PA running the whole back end. Now, he uses that expertise providing invaluable business consultation to real estate firms and agents across Australia and New Zealand.
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