Tips for New Real Estate Agents
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As a new agent, you may be feeling a mix of emotions such as excitement, nervousness, overwhelm and more. That’s only natural! But with the right systems, training and coaching in place, you will soon feel confident.
Follow these guidelines to get started on your journey to success:
Creating Your Database
The fastest way to feel discouragement and burnout is not having a plan to create and manage your database. You could try to buy leads, make cold calls or knock on doors. In some cases, you might get lucky and gain a few leads this way.
Or
You could follow the Work by Referral System, a proven, repeatable way of doing business as taught by Buffini & Company for over three decades. Its premise is that a consistent level of contact with and care for the people in your database leads to a steady stream of repeat business and referrals from their friends and associates.
It’s a simple, easy to use, multi-channel marketing system that will deepen your relationships and create advocates for you and your business.
This system utilizes direct mail, email, phone calls, video messaging, Pop-Bys (short client visits where you drop off a small gift) along with targeted dialogues and hand-written notes. These methods will help you go beyond word-of-mouth endorsements to create a predictable and steady stream of high-quality referred leads and referrals from their friends and associates.
Managing Your Database
Now that you know how you want to populate your database, you need a way to manage it.
Seek out a customer relationship management (CRM) system that lets you enter information for each customer and lead. It should also allow you to rank them in order of importance and have triggers that tell you when you need to reach out to them.
Buffini’s Referral Maker® CRM is the best CRM in business for real estate agents. It also has the capabilities to create to-do lists, calendars, budgets, action steps, and marketing plans.
Budgeting
When you are starting out, you won’t know how many deals you need to close to break even. It’s imperative that you have a professional and personal budget. These are just some of the things you’ll need to make sure are accounted for:
- Licensing fees
- Brokerage fees
- Office expenses
- Marketing expenses
- Taxes
- Gas
- Living expenses
- Miscellaneous/unexpected expenses
Many new agents experience limited or inconsistent income in their first few months, so it’s helpful to have a source of financial support, whether savings, a part-time job, or help from family.
Put Your Marketing on Autopilot
It’s important to continually communicate with your leads and customers so you stay top of mind. An automated system that tells you what and when to send marketing collateral to your database is key. Otherwise, you may lose an important window in time to contact them.
You can also hire a service to handle this important function for you. Buffini’s Referral Maker® PRO offers a full marketing suite of professionally designed monthly assets, both digital and print so you have multiple ways to make connections with your clients.
Set SMART Goals
Once you know what you want to achieve, turn those goals into SMART ones: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based.
Ask yourself:
- What exactly do I want to accomplish?
- How will I measure it?
- What skills or resources do I need?
- What’s the professional benefit of hitting this goal?
- What’s my deadline?
Break big goals into 10-day action steps. Then write them down and share them with someone who will hold you accountable, such as a coach or colleague. Research shows that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. It’s also a great way to check in with yourself every so often.
Find Support
Sometimes you just need someone to help you figure things out, make sense of what’s confusing and be a guiding light. That’s why it’s so important to have a coach or mentor. Again, you may think you can’t afford a coach now but think about the best athletes in the world — they all work with coaches.
An experienced coach, such as those at Buffini, will help you build a thriving business that will weather any type of market. They’ll help you set goals, create a business plan, and offer support, encouragement, and accountability.
Invest in Training
Experienced agents know the market is always shifting, and therefore their knowledge base needs to be constantly updated as well. Investing in ongoing training might be the last thing you think you need — and perhaps an expense you can’t afford right now. But it’s actually a smart financial decision. You’ll learn in-depth strategies for negotiating and working with buyers and sellers in all types of situations. You’ll also get access to assets and support to help you learn faster.
Buffini offers a number of courses for agents at every level, designed to help them create businesses that will thrive for the long run. Check out their courses here.
100 Days to Greatness!
One of the most popular ones for new agents is 100 Days to Greatness®. In this course, you will work with a group leader in your office – in person or virtually — to learn and practice with other agents ways to prepare to work with any client or buyer. You can also take the course on your own online from anywhere at any time.
In this course Brian Buffini instructs, via powerful training on many of the subjects in this blog as well as other pertinent ones all agents should know. This program also includes print and digital marketing materials, and resources, as well as dialogues and presentation techniques to help you thrive in today’s market and your career. When you’ve completed this course, you’ll have a strong business foundation that will help you achieve ongoing success.
We’re Committed to Your Success!
Contact us for a free Business Consultation. In this 30-minute call, we’ll help you: Get clear on your vision, uncover what’s holding you back, see what’s working for others just like you and discover your next step. If it feels like the right fit, you’ll have the opportunity to partner with a full-time, Buffini & Company Certified Coach who will help you grow and scale in alignment with your strengths — so your business not only succeeds but truly serves your life.
