7 Habits of The Most Successful Real Estate Agents

When you decided to become a real estate agent, you were excited about climbing to the top. You had everything in place, but now you feel disappointed, knowing you haven't achieved the level of success you had hoped for. You’re working way more hours than you thought you’d have to and, when you break it down, you aren’t making much money. Let’s look at what it takes to to become the most successful real estate agent you always imagined you could be.

1.  Find a Mentor

When it comes to being successful, there’s nothing better than bringing someone into your life who has already achieved the success you desire. Catapult yourself to the top of the success ladder with the help of a mentor. If you ask around, you'll find that many agents have used mentors to help them on the path to success.  Listen and learn from their experiences, apply their tactics, learn which systems and software they have in place. If you aren’t convinced the software they use will support the way you wish to run your business, look around for something new. Advances in technology continually provide new and improved software that can help you achieve the same goals as your mentor, but at a much faster pace. The information shared by your mentor may turn into the most valuable education you've experience, and it will likely launch you to the height of your career.

2.  Make a Plan

Do you have a clear idea of where you want your career to be in the years ahead? 10 years from now, imagine looking back at the goals you set and realizing you’ve achieved every last one of them. What a feeling! I encourage you to get organized, write down your goals, and make a plan for your future. Set daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, 5-year, 10-year goals, etc. Writing down goals increases the probability of them coming true.

• Follow a schedule
• Write down your goals
• Visualize goals
• Hire a business coach

Following a daily schedule will help you get the most out of each day and will lead to greater success. Most successful people will tell you they had a plan in place to build their success. Plan your day and stick with the schedule as closely as possible. Include time for yourself (ex. workout; time with family) to create balance in your life which will lead to more productivity. You might start each day by returning phone calls for the first hour then end the day touring homes with clients. Need help? Consider hiring a business coach who will keep you accountable. Sticking to a daily schedule will increase your productivity, help you stay organized and avoid distractions, achieve greater balance in your life, and ultimately increase your chances of a enjoying a highly successful career.

3.  Make Your Clients Your Priority, Understand Their Needs

Your clients are your bread and butter so it’s important to put them first. Always take calls from existing clients, vs. letting the call go to voicemail, so they know they’re a priority. Focus on being accessible and a good communicator. Listen closely to their concerns and meet their needs by offering solutions to problems.

“I understand your concern about lead paint because it is an older home. I’ll find out what has already been taken care of and what else needs to be done. Then, we’ll look at whether or not you want to make an offer.”

Put yourself in your client’s shoes, and you'll find it much easier to serve their needs. For example, relate to their concerns by sharing examples of related situations you’ve experienced ("I had a client who also found mold in their crawlspace and we were able to remediate it by..."). They will feel more comfortable knowing they aren't the only ones dealing with a particular problem and, in turn, build trust in you because you communicated understanding and expertise. Be conscientious and hardworking as you serve your clients. As your clients share their positive experiences with others, referrals will come your way. By putting your clients first, you will find your success growing at a rapid pace.

4.  Grow Your Leads

To succeed in real estate, it’s important to continually generate leads to grow your business. These days, the majority of real estate leads are generated online -- your website and blog and 3rd party vendors. Using social media, such as Facebook, to generate leads is also a good option. Reply to comments on social media to help build relationships and to increase your chances of getting leads into your sales funnel.

Consider purchasing verified leads to save valuable time. Knowing their contact information has already been confirmed makes it easier to get on the phone and make the call. However you generate leads, make sure to follow up with them as quickly as you can. The faster you engage with them, the higher your chances of turning them into a sale. Find ways to generate leads from multiple sources to grow your business.

5.  Hire An Assistant

As you close more and more deals, I recommend hiring an assistant. An assistant will save you valuable time which will help you achieve your goals at a much faster pace. You might even consider a virtual assistant who can take care of tasks without having a physical presence in your office. Consider handing over tasks you dislike or those you never seem to have enough time for. He/she can take care of tasks you aren’t proficient in (ex. social media) so you can get out in the field more often. Sure it’s going to cost you some money, but in the long run it’s going to make you richer. Start with a part-timer and have a solid plan in place for the tasks this person will take on. As your business grows, consider promoting this person to a full-time position or hiring an additional assistant.

A few tasks you might want to hand off to an assistant:

• Managing social media
• Creating flyers
• Preparing listing presentations
• Verifying leads
• Keeping CRM system up-to-date
• Answering phones
• Prepping docs for showings and closings
• Managing online leads

6.  YouTube Videos

As you're growing your business, consider getting a YouTube account. YouTube outshines tv networks when it comes to the number of American viewers -- you aren’t going to find a bigger audience. By uploading your videos to YouTube, you can create a large following for yourself, but you must post video consistently. Upload videos to YouTube a minimum of 2x per week to gain audience traction. Have fun coming up with ideas for videos including the following examples:

• Neighborhood walkthroughs (define your expertise in areas you’re selling in)
• Market updates
• Newly listed homes
• Home staging tips
• Tips on picking the best agent for your needs
• Landscaping tips
• Realtor profile (what make you great)
• Importance of professional home seller photos vs. amatuer photos
• Community programs & fundraisers you’re involved in
• Anything you think your clients might find interesting

As you create more and more videos, you can group your topics into “playlists”. By categorizing your videos into playlists, you make it easier for your audience to search for what they’re interested in and watch multiple videos on the same topic. To create more cross-platform traffic, link your channel to your website and insert your videos into blog articles.

• Link your YouTube channel to your website
• Insert your videos into your blog articles
• Use channel keywords
• Add multiple calls-to-action to each video (ex. click to subscribe)
• Post videos on social media

7.  Mindset

One of the most powerful tools you must possess as an agent is a positive mindset. If you tell yourself that you’re successful, success will follow. Visualize what you want at the beginning of each day. “I will setup 3 appointments during my lead follow-up calls today.” Your mind is so powerful it believes whatever you tell it, no matter if it’s positive or negative, so be confident in your thinking. Learning positive self-talk, vs. a negative mindset, will accelerate your success.

Negative mind-talk:  “Every time I do an open house, only a few people show up.”

Positive mind-talk:  “The open house on Sun. is going to be very busy with visitors because I’ve done my advertising/marketing and…”

Do you see how the positive mind-talk focuses on what you want to create?  You want a busy open house.  Plant that thought in your mind and practice saying it to yourself repeatedly. 

As you practice positive thinking, put yourself in a “helpful’ state of mind. In other words, make this about someone else, not yourself. Be unselfish and focus on giving back. Let’s say you’re hosting an open house. Instead of thinking, “why won’t any of these people agree to look at homes with me?”, turn it around by thinking, “how can I help these potential clients find the home of their dreams.” Still doubtful? Don’t be. Positive, repetitive mindtalk really works. Just remember not to follow up with a negative statement like, “.... but I doubt it will happen”, because it will override the positive.

Conclusion

As you practice the suggestions in this post, don't be afraid to fail; it’s part of life. Failure is simply a stepping stone to success. When you make a mistake, try a different approach next time. If the new action doesn’t produce the results you want, take another new action.  It will take some patience to master your processes and find which actions produce the most success results, but it will be worth it. Treat failures as challenges and forge ahead!

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten” ~ Anthony Robbins

Whether you’ve been in the business for years or just beginning your career, follow the suggestions provided in this article to bolster your chances of becoming the most successful agent in the area. Set goals and stay focused and organized. Stay in touch with your clients and always answer their calls with a smile on your face. Stay positive. Make some videos. Hire an assistant or a business coach. Nurture and grow your leads. Don’t worry about failing because failures lead to success when you take a new approach. I wish you a happy and successful career as a real estate agent. Now get out there and make it happen. You’ve got this!