Real estate agents are always on-the-go. Showing one property after another, agents work to win over their clients and make a living. You might not appreciate the hard work ethic of a real estate agent, but from a business perspective, they’re doing everything right.
You can learn a lot from real estate agents:
1. Keeping Up on Technology is a Must
I remember leaving the grocery store and finding real estate books just waiting to be picked up. A prime location for anyone looking for a home, these books helped locals find homes in the surrounding area.
But the books were dated, with many listings sold even though they still existed in the catalog.
Real estate agents have adapted and adjusted to technological changes. The biggest change for agents is that clients now find their homes by themselves. Statistics show that 51% of buyers find their own home on the Internet.
Just 34% of buyers found their home through a real estate agent.
Your business needs to jump on trends, in this case the Internet, and diversify the way that you generate leads. It’s imperative to utilize the latest and greatest technology to remain profitable. In many cases, time and money are saved when you use the latest technology to your advantage.
2. Profit in Numbers
Real estate agents are chasing commission, and these professionals only earn commission when a sale is made. This is good for buyers because the agent will work in their best interest to make sure a sale is made.
And if you have ever contacted an agent, they like to give you options.
I recently contacted an agent looking for Flagstaff homes for sale, and they helped me:
- Setup an account on their website
- Refine my search criteria
- Show me listings I am only interested in
I didn’t like the first home I saw, but I kept receiving email updates on new homes and visited quite a few before I decided to place a bid.
Real estate agents profit in numbers.
Offer clients several options, reach out to multiple clients or potential leads, and wait patiently as a sale materializes. Small ticket items or sales make this approach much more difficult, but when profits are thousands of dollars or more, you can spend the time to lure in leads and nurture a sale over the short- and mid-term.
3. Adapt and Learn On-the-Go
When a person first comes looking for a home, they have somewhat of an idea of what they want. Realtors know that they will need to ask potential clients questions about what they want. A person may want a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in a particular area.
Realtors need to adjust to these needs and start showing their clients homes they want to see.
It’s a learning process, and it’s something that a realtor needs to accommodate on-the-go. Maybe a potential buyer really liked one home because it had a fireplace and a claw foot tub.
Realtors will use these clues to their advantage and show the client more homes that have these two features.
4. Work With Teams of People
One of the most important aspects of business and life is networking. You can use a network of people to grow and profit from your business. But a lot of business owners will keep themselves locked away from potential clients.
It’s scary “working with other people.”
Realtors are not scared to ask for help and work with others. A call to my agent landed me with:
- Contacts in different cities
- Mortgage company contacts
All I had to do was talk to my agent, and it seemed like he had a little black book of contacts ready and waiting to be called.
I appreciate this level of business because it allows me to use a realtor as a one-stop-shop.
Clients and customers of yours will appreciate the same level of attention. You can easily work with a few professionals in your area to offer a complete, robust package of services to your leads.
And when you network like this, the professionals you work with will also refer people to you.
It’s the perfect way to grow a business, generate leads and build relationships with people in your industry.
