Being a new real estate agent can be tough. Especially in such a competitive career field where so many real estate agents are vying for the same clients. Knowing some of the top mistakes that new real estate agents make will give you the heads up you need to avoid them. If you can get over these initial hurdles, you will be well on your way to success in your real estate career.
There’s a popular saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail.” This cliché holds true in your career as a real estate agent. You should think of your job as a real estate agent as owning your own personal business. As a business owner you need to have a business plan as well as a marketing plan. These plans hold the goals and action steps you will take to meet them. Once you have a plan in place, it will be easier to take the steps necessary to reach your goals.
Ever heard the saying “Don’t recreate the wheel?” Essentially this means, if there is already some tool out there that will help you as a real estate agent, use that existing tool rather than trying to create it yourself. Many new real estate agents have the attitude that they would rather learn on their own or develop some new technique, when there is already a wealth of information waiting at your fingertips. There are numerous resources at your disposal: your colleagues, your brokerage, and any professional organizations to which you belong. In unfamiliar situations, lean on these resources first.
You would be surprised at the number of real estate agents that think they will close five deals in their first month on the job. A goal like this is certainly attainable, but when you are first starting out there are so many obstacles to overcome that achieving a goal like this is extremely difficult. For many real estate agents, it takes at least a few months to close the first deal. Because most agents don’t consider this, they fail to properly plan their finances. When you are first starting out as a real estate agent, you need to be prepared to live off savings for at least six months, sometimes even more. Not only that, you should continue to replenish this nest egg because you never know when the real estate market is going to take a turn for the worse.
Many new real estate agents don’t take steps necessary to improve their productivity. You can easily become so bogged down with client meetings and paperwork that you don’t have time to respond to email and telephone calls from prospective clients. If you begin to notice your productivity slipping, consider taking advantage of an assistant. Having an assistant to take your calls and complete some of the paperwork will give you more time to market your business.
You cannot expect a cookie cutter marketing message to appeal all of your prospective customers. Different prospects have different needs. Unless you tailor your message to these needs, you will miss out on various segments of your customer base. Find out what your customers needs are and customize marketing messages for those needs.
