The real estate market has been very strong and offers a lot of growth and income potential for real estate agents. But with a rapidly growing industry, more real estate agents are penetrating the market and with that more competition occurs. To become one of the top real estate producers you will have to learn how to generate better leads, make more contacts, be quick to respond, stand out and collaborate with others (e.g. Transaction Coordinators) to be more efficient with your time. 

Here are the best ways to a successful real estate business:

It is important to know where you are at, where your local real estate market is heading and analyze what you want to focus on in the next month/year. Decide on a budget for your new growth and make a plan that you can follow and track your success with. Make sure to look at demographic and economic regional trends in your real estate market to find a goal that makes sense for your specific situation. Try to find out what is happening in your local market and community and analyze demographic trends of your local market. Tip: Also think about how to address the new generations – they are close to buying their first homes.

An idea for your next long-term goal? Develop and build out a long-lasting referral source. Keep the communication up with clients after closing and build a long-term relationship. Try to incentive referrals and build a referral program. Personal recommendations are considered the best form of advertising and people trust testimonials of their sphere more than any email marketing campaign or cold calls.

An idea for a short-term goal could be to focus more on a client-centered approach: Stay focused and help your clients rather than concentrating on yourself. Make sure to pay attention to every detail stated by the client and understand their needs/imaginations and provide an ideal house that is the solution. Try to not get bogged down with a low priority to-do list and start outsourcing to your professional network and partners, such as have a transaction coordinator manage your transactions, or have a marketing expert take over your social media content.

Make sure your work ethic Is at the highest possible standard, follow through on promises made to clients, go above and beyond and be one step ahead. When your clients feel like you have an amazing work ethic, they will be more likely to work with you again and refer you to their network. A high standard work ethic includes to show up in time, preview properties that you feel skeptical about, communicate clearly and often and be there when your clients need you.

Develop a personal brand that makes you more memorable, your ultimate goal should be to become a “go-to” agent and expert in your area. Your personal brand is a combination of your personality, the location of the market you are focusing on, the type of clients you have and your work ethic – it is what you are known for in your community. 

An important part of personal branding is to build out your network of professionals that can help you and your clients during the transaction, such as lenders/mortgage brokers, inspectors, professional movers, and your transaction coordinator. The better the network the better your personal brand and your clients’ experience will become.

Your presence on social media is still as important as ever. Build out your social media platforms and technologies and use different tactics to get your name out to new people that could be your next potential buyer or seller. If you want to grow you will have o be active on at least one or two social media platforms where you can run ads, share content and drive leads to reach potential clients. Try to educate your clients with important information about buying or selling a home instead of sending an email that has less useful content. 

Start blogging and share your valuable real estate expertise with potential buyers and sellers. If you post your blog posts on your website you will be able to get more traffic to your website and with that wake more interest of people to work with you. Become an expert for a certain neighborhood and improve your knowledge of the local community, culture, and amenities. You could then talk about local events, trends, and listings on your blog and social media. Other ideas for social media posts: Live video tours of new homes that are on the market or boost your listings in a post on Facebook (it will automatically sync to Instagram) 

Finally, to be successful in social media marketing, it will take time and money to do so but can also bring you a source of new leads and clients. Connect with other brokers, prospects, current and past clients, as well as other colleagues that are part of your network to boost the distribution of your social media posts and blog posts. Try to find followers that are interested in your local market and convert them to future clients that want to buy with you. 

Networking is one of the most important elements of top agents’ success and can bring you unlimited opportunities for your business growth. Make sure to make a lot of contacts every day and talk to people. The more homeowners or potential buyers you talk to the more business you will get. Try to use the available technology and tools to meet new people in the community. Sound confident when you talk to your potential clients. Buyer and sellers are looking for certainty and for a confident agent that makes them feel comfortable to move forward with the probably biggest purchase of their life

Don’t only focus on talking to potential buyers and sellers though, also build a network of professionals that you can refer to your clients and that can help you make the transaction process smoother. This can be other agents, lenders, contractors, inspectors and transaction coordinators. Your professional network is powerful and established relationships can work as a synergy – referrals can be two-sided. When you go to a networking event have a targeted approach and focus on meeting with people that can help you reach specific business goals, decide whether someone might be more valuable in expanding your business or would be best as a mentor.

Endless to-do lists are toxic to the growth of your business. So, focus on what can bring you to the next level instead of getting distracted and playing catch-up with non-revenue generating tasks. Whether you are already there or it still takes some time, when the time comes it is in your best interest to hire a transaction coordinator to give you a little breathing room between making it to meetings, reaching clients and finding time to maintain your sanity. Start to collaborate and be more resourceful to your clients.

Next to having to manage contract deadlines and paperwork, it gets tougher every year to keep up to date with the latest updates in the fast-changing real estate world and its contracts and requirements. It is important to start collaborating to avoid costly mistakes 

The aspect of collaboration and delegation is often overlooked though so important. Make sure to use the resources you have, so you can stop reinventing the wheel and wasting your time

Finally, if your goal is to grow your business and take on more clients you will have to focus on the tasks that really matter and are revenue-generating. Hire a transaction coordinator, like Transactive, who can help you manage your transactions smoothly, so that you have more time to find new leads and expand into different markets and trends.