You’re a real estate agent and you are wondering what you can do to increase your exposure and build your business, so you are consistently getting commissions. There are several things that successful Utah real estate agents do.
Exposure – Building a Utah real estate business is dependent on name recognition and exposure. Whether it is comfortable or not, your name must be exposed to the public so that it comes to mind when people are trying to sell or buy a home. Exposure can be achieved through:
- Being active in hosting open houses. This is an excellent way to get to know a neighborhood and meet residents. Pass out cards and take time with the neighbors and people that drop by.
- Cultivate an online presence. Get expert help to develop a website that ranks high in search results. Ensure that links with social media lead potential clients back to your website.
- Hire a publicist. For a couple of hundred dollars a month, a publicist can get contacts with reporters and get your name in print as a source of Utah real estate information and as an expert.
Be Proactive – To be an effective real estate agent, manage your time. Give attention to generating leads and referrals and always follow up on leads. Set up meetings. Build relationships with contacts so that you can generate sales and additional referrals.
First Things First – Relationships are more important than sales. If the sale or buy is not right for the client, the relationship will be forfeited and so will any referrals or future business from that customer. Make sure you are honest and up-front with customers and they will be comfortable doing business with you and referring their family and friends.
First, understand what your customer’s needs are. For a sale transaction, understand how they feel about their house and make sure those feelings are respected in the sale. When the customer feels understood, then it is easier to position their expectations for what the market conditions are.
Build a Team – One way to look professional to clients and as someone they trust is to have an effective team behind you. This team should consist of:
- A network of other real estate agents. Every client is not going to fit with you either in personality or the type of sales you are doing. You need to use your time effectively with those that you can help most effectively. Have a cooperative relationship with other Utah real estate brokerages who you can refer leads and referrals to if they will not work for you and vice versa.
- Lead a team to make the transaction run efficiently – people who will demonstrate the same level of professionalism as you do. This team should include a strong administrative assistant, appraiser, house inspector, attorney and title company contact.
Think Win-Win – A good agent must always be thinking positive. Anticipate the issues and negatives that might appear and prepare to deal with the negatives. If representing a seller, have them tell you about the negatives about the house before they come up. Don’t ignore or hide negatives but be prepared to deal with them.
A good agent never turns down a deal albeit how small. Closings lead to satisfied customers as well as contact with the other parties in the transaction. All these people provide opportunities to build relationships and future sources for referrals.
A good Utah real estate agent also must keep contact with not only past customers but with individuals he has met and with whom he has built a relationship. Continuing to contact past customers will keep you in mind when they are ready for the next move. It will also keep your name on their lips if they have someone who needs real estate help.
Continue to Grow – Part of the success formula for great real estate agents is that they are never satisfied. They see a need to continue to improve and grow. This could be identifying weaknesses – personal traits, demeanor, appearance, etc. – and take steps to improve themselves and their business.
Improvement could be to focus time on building their network and increasing their sources of referrals. One never knows when old networks and sources will dry up so good real estate agents are always interested in meeting people and building sources.
The third leg of improvement is to continue to gain knowledge and ability in the business. Attending seminars and taking additional classes to build knowledge will not only make an agent a more complete professional but also is another source of building leads.
Conclusion
The name of the game is developing a strong professional attitude, managing your time and planning your steps to build exposure and to expand contacts and a network. The more exposure a Realtor® gets to the public and the more relationships he builds, the more referrals and business will flow his way.