Get Out of Your Rut!

At some point in your real estate career, it’s likely you get stuck. Fall into a rut. Lose your bearings. No matter how astute or successful you are, it’s only human to hit a wall, in which you feel like nothing you do is working.

What’s an agent to do? Revisit the basics of finding clients or buyers. Visualize what it was like as a newbie agent, take a breath and work a plan that starts over at a scratch.

• Get serious. Treat your business like a business. That means don’t take any lead casually and don’t waste time. You can’t afford to not follow up on leads or postpone meetings if you intend to succeed in this career.
• Return to your database. If you feel stuck for leads, to back to your own database. Don’t assume your friends and family aren’t in the market for new properties if you’ve not asked recently. And remember – a lead isn’t necessarily the same thing as a prospect so don’t dismiss any name on your list without at least asking for a referral.
• Use social media to find leads. Social media gives you the opportunity to market yourself at a much lower cost than traditional advertising and to reach more prospects. Beyond the starter step of creating pages for your business profile, join real-estate groups and community pages. Create a site featuring your hot properties and offering advice and resources on your target neighborhoods or geographic farms. If you feel stumped starting out, engage the skills of a digital marketing strategist to assist.
• There’s no substitute for the personal touch. Digital marketing, as we’ve discussed, is a wonderful tool but nothing beats looking a prospect in the eye. You can become a trusted real estate source by also being a respected and integral member of your community. Join a community group in which you have similar interests or support a charity. If you have children, you can multi-task by supporting their school and turning your new contacts into leads. When you do make contact with leads, ensure they remember you warmly with a hand-written follow up note. In today’s digital age (and for all that’s good about it) the rare hand-written note is remembered.
• Know when to follow up. Follow up with leads is an essential part of the business, but don’t get so freaked out by a slump that you become a pest. Present yourself and appropriate properties and give your clients a little breathing room. If you haven’t heard back in a couple of days, check in – but if they remain indecisive, keep the lines of communication open and consider putting them on a drip campaign.

As important as any hard strategy is a softer one: Be kind to yourself. Everyone goes through down cycles and stress makes them worse -so take deep breaths, meditate, or listen to music – then get back to work.

Doug Spak

Doug Spak has over four decades of experience as an advertising copywriter, agency creative director, blogger, and content creator. He joined Vulcan7 as a Content Specialist in 2016. In addition to ongoing website copy refreshes, Doug has produced over 300 blog posts while developing content for Vulcan7’s social media platforms.