In my previous blog, I gave you 5 critical mistakes agents make that place huge barriers in the way of advancing their careers. Now, here are the next 5. Do any of these ring any familiarity bells’?
6. Not focusing on service ‘wow’
Less than 25% of all agents send surveys after closing. According to customer satisfaction surveys today, consumers aren’t exactly thrilled with the level of service. Building a career based on delighted buyers, sellers, and other agents, assures you build a long-term career–at one quarter the marketing dollars expended!
Recommendation: Include a survey at closing with every ‘thank you’ letter and gift you deliver to buyers and sellers at closing.
Click here to download my ‘ After the Sale’ closing survey.
7. Listing properties that don’t sell
What’s wrong with that, you say? After all, you got a sign up. You got sign calls. You made money. But, what about the seller? Was he thrilled with your service? You can bet not. Without knowing it, an agent who lists a property that doesn’t sell provides more negative PR to himself, his company, and the industry than all other real estate behaviors combined.
Recommendation: In your business plan for next year, shoot for 85-90% of your listings selling within normal market time. It’s the way to build a great referral business at low cost.
8. Not qualifying buyers before putting them in your car
When I was a new agent, I put everybody and anybody in my car. My motto was, “Either they get tired and buy from me, or I get too tired to show them any more homes and they don’t buy.” Not exactly professional (and I corrected that habit). Yet, many agents are still putting too many “non-buyers” in their cars.
Recommendation: Use a comprehensive buyer information questionnaire, so you’re sure you’re meeting the needs of that buyer AND working with a bona fide buyer.
9. Not asking directly for loyalty
Recently, an agent told me that he doesn’t ask for loyalty. He thinks, by showing the buyers what a good job he’s doing, they’ll figure out they should be loyal. I’ve got a secret for you: Buyers don’t know that’s what they’re supposed to do–they don’t know the game. How do I know? I tried it that way, too.
Recommendation: Decide where, when, and how you’ll ask for loyalty. Practice your presentation until you’re sold, yourself, on your unique value as a selected ‘pro’. Go to your manager or coach and practice dialogue until you’re comfortable with it. Get feedback on what comes across as beneficial to the client, vs. what is perceived as self-serving.
10. Not building the value of working with you
Let’s get blunt: Why should I work with you? What’s so terrific and different about you and your service, that, out of the ten agents I’ll meet today as I look at open houses, I could spot you as exceptional in a minute? Because, you see, that’s about all it takes for a buyer or seller decide whether they want to entrust tens of thousands of their hard-earned dollars to us!
Recommendation: Write down at least ten talents, skills, and areas of knowledge you possess (not in real estate), that would be benefits to buyers and sellers. Now, attach benefits. Now, say them aloud. Last, create visuals to back up your claims.
Don’t forget: Click here to get my ‘ After the Sale’ closing survey.
Which of these recommendations can you implement to greatly improve your production and profits for next year?
Where can you get more information to get past those career barriers? My consultative resource, The On Track to Success in 30 Days System for the Experienced Agent, gives you dozens of tips on how to figure out what’s right and what’s holding you back in your business. Then, I provide recommendations in each chapter, plus a 30-day regeneration plan. See more here.
