Turning down clients could be your downfall. Why would any real estate agent turn down clients in the first place? Two reasons jump out:
1. Luxury homes
Some agents only work with high-end clients. Many real estate professionals advocate focusing on high-end listings.
Inman claims it takes more time to sell 10 homes at $200,000 each than one home at $2 million. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Depending upon market conditions, 10 $200,000 listings may sell quickly, while a $2 million listing remains stagnant. Also, finding qualified buyers for a $2 million property can be difficult even in the best of markets.
2. Niche clients
Other agents specialize in “niche” clients, such as clients in certain neighborhoods or living in certain property types.
Again, market conditions dictate whether focusing on a niche client results in sufficient annual income to survive. For example, specializing in farms during a drought won't be profitable.
Volume Business
Successful real estate agents recommend never turning down clients. That’s because real estate is a volume business. The greater number of clients leads to a greater success in real estate sales. That’s why “Lead Generation” is so important.
Referral fees increase when an agent picks up too many clients to handle. Always arrange a referral fee with another trustworthy agent to help out when your business hits a high volume. In addition, you get to add new leads to your contacts database for future prospecting.
Farming clients in a specific territory successfully leads to higher volumes of clients. Top producers claim that effective farming techniques can make you “the agent to work with” in a neighborhood. The more homes you farm, the greater your volume of clients.
Market Crashes
The greatest nightmare occurs when a real estate market crashes. Listings stop selling, and commissions rolling in. Real estate agents with fewer clients suffer the most during a market downswing.
However, despite market conditions, “homes never stop being bought and sold.” Changes in market conditions force people to move for new jobs and opportunities in other locations.
A market crash creates buying opportunities as prices lower. Instead of focusing on obtaining more listings, switch to helping buyers. Market conditions should only affect commission volume. Increasing buyer clients results in greater annual commissions no matter the market conditions.
Agents with high volumes of listings during a down market can still make the best out of a raw deal. Investopedia demonstrates how successful agents “sweeten the deal” to close sales during a market crash. Besides reducing the sales price, offering to pay part of the buyer’s closing costs, or paying buyer-requested home improvements may sweeten the deal.
Branding
Branding involves advertising a consistent theme, creating a unique name for a product or service in the consumers’ mind.
MOBE, a company specializing in small business training, recently reported that a survey revealed “a whopping 86% of consumers said they selected a real estate firm because of the individual agent.”
If consumers select individual agents no matter what brokerage they work for, then branding yourself as a “unique” real estate agent makes sense.
Branding, according to top-producing real estate agents, requires marketing consistency and repetition. Branding helps you to convince potential clients you are the best in the business. Successful branding results in targeted sellers and buyers thinking of you when it’s time to sell or buy.
Branding enables you to obtain more clients.
Managing Volume Clients
Managing a large volume of clients can be challenging. Here are some tips to accomplish this:
Use a CRM
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system manages all of your relationships and interactions with clients and potential clients. A good CRM saves you time, while keeping you in touch with your present, past, and future clients.
If you don’t have a CRM, look for ones that specifically help real estate agents.
Don’t select the cheapest CRM because it should be the mainstay of your marketing, promotional, and sales activities.
Use your CRM consistently to change the way you do business in a positive way. Your CRM database should fill up quickly, with your first leads turning into sales (or purchases) after automated follow ups.
If you already use a CRM, perform a database audit to resurrect old leads to generate new business.
Treat Your Clients Right
Constantly “WOW” your clients. Keep providing a constant supply of never-ending little pleasant surprises. For example, find out what types of food your buyers like and pay to have that food delivered to their new home on moving day for dinner.
Your clients’ WOW experiences differentiate you from your competitors.
If you don’t treat your clients like gold, one of your competitors will.
Keep Your Marketing Department Open
Spend at least an hour every day toward lead generation for new business. According to the experts, agents who do this earn the majority of real estate commissions.
Don’t ride the real estate roller coaster. Try to generate new leads every day.
Keep Prospecting
Top producers claim that the fastest conversion ratios come from contacting expired listings and FSBOs. These people want to sell their homes right now.
Your Reputation
Building your reputation as the best real estate agent in the area leads to success.
Turning down new clients creates a reputation of being too busy or unavailable. As mentioned above, when you are too busy, refer new clients to a trustworthy agent to handle the excess business and get a referral commission.
Building Your Referral Business
Referrals amount to 75 percent of a typical real estate agent’s business. Last March, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) published a summary of their recent survey of home buyers. NAR found that 89% of surveyed buyers will use their agent again or recommend their agent to others.
Use your CRM system to build referral contacts. Regular contact with your referrals leads to more referrals. Keep building your referral base and stay in contact with them.
Attrition contributes to real estate agents losing about 20 percent of their clients annually. The main reason is that agents fail to maintain consistent contact. So, stay in touch with your referrals.
Turning down clients could be your downfall. More clients means to new opportunities for earning commissions.
And while you're building your extensive portfolio of leads, you need the perfect listing presentation. Our presentation will help you double your closing ratio on listing appointments. This training system includes:
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Joe Nickelson is a real estate professional dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers achieve their dreams of owning property, and helping real estate agents stop using the sometimes-vicious tactics that weigh on their consciences. He believes that the Smart Agents books will, quite literally, change people’s lives for the better. Check out his full bio here!
