So here we are at the beginning of a new year, and it’s quite natural for many realtors to experience something of a downturn in business during the back side of the colder months of the year. There’s nearly always a down turn in real estate marketing activity after the first two weeks of December, but the smart choice is to make it into an opportunity to strategize for an even better 2017. Have a read here and see what we recommend for realtors who want to take the initiative here in January.
There are 3 reviews you need to complete before you can set a path for growth of your real estate biz in 2017. The three reviews include your transaction history, your prospecting efforts, and your personal marketing efforts.
Let’s start with the review, looking at what you’ve done financially, the number of actual transactions completed last year, and anything else we can identify with those opportunities.
A good initial reference point is to ask this question – what was your average deal size last year, the year before that, and the year previous to that one? From there it can be what clients did you work with, and how would you categorize them and identify similarities between them?
Other considerations for your transaction history review and analysis:
- What were the average size deal with those clients provided for you?
- How were those clients generated?
- What was the source?
- Were they sourced via a prospect call? Otherwise?
- Was it a website, a lead, a company referral?
- Was it the same clients?
- Where were those clients and opportunities located?
- What market are you best suited to pursue more actively this coming year?
- What are your best product types and may that be changing moving forward?
We think it’s best to look at these points before addressing every realtor’s big picture question:
Did you achieve your net income goal for 2016? Next, look at your results above and make connections between why you DID or DID NOT meet that net income goal. Look at the numbers. Look back on your efforts last year, and see where those are. Define your average gross commission income. What was your average net commission per closing? Of the listings/representations/assignments you secured, how many were unsuccessful?
Identify your top five clients. Maybe you define that as the five that made the most money for you, maybe you have other criteria. Whatever it is and whoever those 5 clients are, you need to spend time conceptualizing on who they are collectively.
Now look at your prospecting efforts. Prospecting is a disciplined act of asking for business. Think about and critique the way you approached prospective clients. Look back at some of the quantitative, and qualitative aspects of your prospecting. How many prospecting meetings did you hold in 2016? How many calls to you attempt vs. complete, and how many prospect letters (not emails) did you send?
There are three elements of presence, or personal marketing. Personal, physical, and digital. C Categorize your efforts within these days and look at the distribution of resources. Look back at your calendar. This is vital to growing in 2017. Personal is meeting people, and yes that can and should include door knocking an cold calling. Physical marketing efforts consist of tangible items you have mailed, gifted or sent. Digital is the tweeting, the blogging, the LinkedIn groups, Facebook interactions, that you actually participate in. E-mail blasts, and newsletters fall into this element too.
As noted, the first step in any process of change is always the biggest. Reviewing your transactional history, prospecting efforts and personal marketing activities will take you some time, but there’s so much to be said for it in ensuring you have a better year in 2017 as a realtor. Using an online real estate lead generator like realestateleads.ca can help by leveraging the power of surveys in digital advertising to provide you with then qualified real estate leads in your area.
