A real estate agent can either choose to take a relational or a transactional approach to their business. The transactional agent moves from deal to deal, person to person, without planting any real roots; the relational agent invests time in getting to know people and develop longstanding relationships. Here are ten things to help real estate agents to develop a relational approach to their real estate business.
1. Build a database – This starts with the contacts in your cell phone and grows by adding everyone that you meet and associate with in the future.
2. Message anyone with a business that you support – Your past or current support of someone’s business is a perfect entry point to getting them into your database and establishing a quid pro quo relationship with them.
3. Document your journey – An essential element to developing relationships with others is to allow them to see the “real” you. This can be accomplished through story telling and sharing personal aspects of your life with others.
4. Market to agents in feeder markets – I’ll admit that I would not have thought of this one had I not read about it. Seek neighboring markets, perhaps within your own state, where people are moving from. These statistics can be secured from your local government. Once you determine these locations, connect with agents that practice there.
5. Join a networking group – This is an opportunity to connect with other business professionals; you can help them grow their business and they can do the same for you. Build relationships with these individuals and watch as you each become business “connectors” and “promoters” for one another.
6. Attend conferences – This allows you to sharpen your tools, gain knowledge, and learn strategies and techniques from other industry professionals.
7. Host an open house – Done correctly, this can be an excellent lead generation tool and it starts with a face-to-face interaction. For information about our particular open house program, contact me directly.
8. Choose a farm – This is a little “old school,” but it can be effective. The key here is consistency and follow-up. If you choose to farm a neighborhood, do so every month and consider holding a few community events each year; this gets you face-to-face with the neighbors.
9. Call expired and for sale by owner listings – Great sources to secure contact information can be obtained through RedX or Espresso Agent.
10. Have conversations – Industry numbers state that it takes fifty conversations to secure one client. Are you having at least fifty conversations a day with various prospects? Probably not. This is the greatest mistake made by real estate agents and probably why 90% never earn a living in this business. Talking to people comes along with awkwardness and rejection; get over it and just do it.
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