At Royal LePage RCR Realty, we are huge believers of tracking and measuring everything we do in real estate so we can tell what is working, what is not working and what we are doing well and more importantly what we frankly should just do more of. The second half of the year is about doing more of what works and if you do more of that you obviously like your chances of finishing the year strong. This is the top five activities that work with all the most successful agents we work with.
1) Database – All the most successful agents have at least 28 to 36 organized, planned and systemized activities a year that add value to their past and existing clients. They personally mail them, e mail them e reports, provide complimentary annual reviews of their real estate holdings, host client party events, hand written personal notes, birthday and “houseaversary cards, pop by gifts like ketchup, relish and mustard packs with a tag that says “Thought I would catch up and let you know I relish your real estate referrals and not all agents cut the mustard.” and more. They have a blend and balance of top of mind and give to get activities that continue to propel their repeat and referral business year after year!
2) Open House – There are literally very few activities an agent can do where the clients actually come to them and the agent doesn’t need to go find the client. Agents get to use their strengths as they get to meet the client face to face and engage their audience and the clients determine whether the agent is likeable and someone they can trust. Think about it open house is the rare place agents can use the interpersonal skills to get a client to engage and connect and feel they want to do business with them and why it is always in our fabulous five activity list year after year.
3) Door Knocking – 86% of communication is non-verbal meaning that eye contact, voice inflection, voice tone and body language make up a large portion of non-verbal communication which we are able to utilize going door to door and meeting face to face with the clients. Now you have to go bang on doors and ask everyone “Hi you want to sell your house?” the cold call approach is dead and gone, unfortunately. What in fact works very well is warm call approaches using a Bona Fide buyer, New listing, Recent sale or invitation to your open house approaches. Think about it, what person wouldn’t want to help you find something for a buyer, hear about the latest asking or sale price on their street or be asked to snoop at the neighbors upcoming open house?
4) Geographic Farm – Almost every top agent stands out from the crowd and the way they stand out is being an expert or have a niche at something. Every agent is good at every type of real estate and very few make themselves experts, niched and stand out from the crowd! Being an expert at an area, neighborhood, property type or even a certain demographic will get you further and more recognized as an expert than just being like all the other agents. Top producers strategically pick, work and add value to their geographic farm and within 8-12 months it pays back in spades and if done correctly it always hits the top producers activity success list year after year.
5) Online Leads – This is not the silver bullet but something for a new agent to kick start their career, a veteran to top up their business and keep a bit more consistent and something a top producer uses to feed leads to their associates and increase their volume and leverage. Before anyone even turns this type of activity on, buy, read and study Chris Smith’s book “The Conversion Code” it’s easy to buy and turn the lead machines on but converting the leads is where the money is at! Start at chapter 8 and learn the art of conversion before embarking on the online lead machine.
So there it is, the top five activities that are consistently showing up as the most successful dollar producing activities of hundreds of agents we have had the pleasure of working with. Track, measure and see what your top five are and spend the second half of 2017 doing more of what it is your doing right and is making you money. Finish the year strong and don’t reinvent the wheel and take you and your business off course!