Residential Real EstateMega Agents: Four Cornerstones of Success
"Housing Prices Plummet!"
"Builders Slash Prices to Move Inventory!"
"Housing Slump in Full Swing"
The familiar headlines have been splashed across the front of every major new real estate publication in the country for months now. After years of a seemingly non-stop real estate boom, the brakes have been locked up and it"s giving some real estate agents a reason to look for the emergency exit. Let"s face it, how many people do you know who recently decided to get their real estate license because they thought they could make some easy money in real estate?
Yes, it"s easy to make the comparison between today"s real estate market and the internet stock boom of late 90s and early 2000. Back then people were quite literally giving up secure high paying jobs to become day traders because they believed they could become internet millionaires. Obviously none of these people had ever heard the phrase, "Don"t confuse brains with a booming market."
Still, even when it seems like everyone is painting a doomsday scenario for the industry, there are more than a few agents in your town or city that seem to consistently be at the top of their game. Through boom and bust you see their ads and you know their names. You know … the agents with the billboards and the commercials. The agents that seem to have a presence everywhere all the time through good markets and bad: the Mega Agents.
If you"ve ever wondered what makes them as successful as they are or how they do what they do, then you"re in luck. Having recently been fortunate enough to sit down with some of the most successful agents in Central and South Texas, I asked them point blank: How did you get so good? The answers were varied based upon backgrounds and personal history, but the common themes below stood out in interview after interview.
Missy Stagers, a Mega Agent with Coldwell Banker sums up one key to her success rather nicely: "Don"t be afraid to invest in your business! It is a business and you need to treat it as such. People get into this business thinking that it is easy to make a lot of money, but they ultimately fail because they don"t invest in growing their own business."
Missy went on to explain that this does not mean spending money foolishly, and even though we all know that, it is nice to be reminded of it again and again. It also doesn"t mean that you need a stockpile of cash to invest in your business. Lack of funds is often the fountainhead for creativity when it comes to marketing. Being able to use what you have in a more creative and memorable way than your competition will create a powerful snowball effect for your business.
Another vital element among the Mega Agents is their effective use of the calendar, telephone, and email. With the advent of numerous types of contact management software, there simply is no excuse for not having an extensive list of people with which to market to and network. "As an agent, everyone that you speak to or come into contact with is a potential client," says Dwight Hale of REMAX. Missy echoes Dwight"s sentiments: "If you are handing out your business card and just waiting for the phone to ring then you"re destined for failure. If you believe that you can just stick a sign in someone"s front yard and wait for the phone to ring, you"re destined for failure." This point simply needs to be hammered home. The saying: "It"s not what you know but who you know," has never been more true.
Constantly accumulating and creating a database of potential clients that you remain in touch with on a consistent basis is crucial whether you"ve been in the business 30 days or 30 years. This one activity literally stacks the deck of cards (think business cards) in your favor. The more quality contacts you have but more importantly MAINTAIN (even when you don"t feel like it) is the key to growing your business.
Now, for those of you who are new to the industry that are saying, "That"s all well and good, but I want some tips from someone successful who is new to the business," please consider what Susan Rodriquez also of Caldwell Banker has done.
Susan is a former college professor who dove into real estate head first a little over 3 years ago. What"s the key to her success? Hard work. Susan is a self proclaimed workaholic who is often the first person to the office and the last person to leave at night. Her initial strategy to learn from others and emulate the other successful agents in the office has paid off handsomely.
Taking that work ethic and applying it to a market that she was comfortable with was only natural. "The military market here in San Antonio was something that I was personally familiar with. I concentrated my efforts there first and as my confidence in what I was doing increased I began to focus obsessively on referrals," Susan says. In fact, the Monday of our interview Susan let me in on a bit of good news that occurred over the weekend, "I picked up 7 new clients over the weekend, all referrals!"
Susan went on to explain how not taking herself too seriously and having a great sense of humor were instrumental in her success. Missy made a comment similar in nature. She says, "Be different and find ways to stand out from your competition. With so many agents coming and going, YOU must be the one that they remember. It"s hard work, but you have to make it fun."
The insights that you"re reading about today aren"t rocket science. Sure it"s nice to have some fancy new marketing idea or some new spin on how to market yourself. But, it"s also refreshing to have a little cold water splashed in your face to remind you that some things never change.
These tips are really the cornerstones of success, used by three very different and very successful Mega Agents. Even though the approach that each of these individuals uses is unique, the cornerstones for each person are the same: invest in your business, be prepared for hard work, have a consistent disciplined approach to prospecting for new clients, and find ways to stand out from the competition.
By strengthening these areas, you too may find yourself on your way to better relationships and bigger paychecks!