Break out of your slump!

Seven ways to jump-start your real estate career

by Melissa Matthews-Woolard   Sometimes we get so stuck in the monotony of just completing one day after another that we lose sight of what we’re actually trying to accomplish. Do you feel like you’re running in place? Like nothing you do seems to make a difference? You don’t have to work that way.

Get out your year-to-date spreadsheet, or if you don’t have one, take a simple piece of paper and write down every transaction you’ve completed this fiscal year. While business principles, marketing strategies, and work philosophies are all subject to interpretation, numbers don’t lie. Have you reached your goals? Have you earned as much as you wanted to? If the answer is yes, then pat yourself on the back. If the answer is no–or not even close–don’t worry. Here are seven strategies ranging in cost from nothing to expensive and in difficulty from easy to difficult that will give this year the punch in the arm you’re looking for.

Re-evaluate your business plan (or get a business plan quick)

Cost: Zero - Moderate
Difficulty: Moderate - Complex

Every real estate agent should have a personal business plan. Simply defined, a business plan is a map that gets you from where you are now to where you want to be in a specified amount of time. There are many marketing companies and business consultants who can write a plan for you, but it can cost you anywhere from $500 - $2,500 or even more, and it takes research to find someone you can trust.

You can save your money and write your own business plan. Writing your plan yourself keeps you immersed in the process. It’s not hard. First, set your goals, such as number of transactions you want to complete over the next year. Next, list your assets: marketing dollars, prospecting tools, list of contacts and former clients, business partners, etc. Third, plan your activities or strategies: monthly newsletter, weekly ads in targeted publications, quarterly speaking engagements, etc. A well-thought-out, honest business plan should light the path that leads to the successful completion of your goal.

It’s important to re-evaluate your business plan at least yearly–preferably every six months. Are any of your goals, assets, or strategies unrealistic, impossible to accomplish, too expensive, or just plain ineffective? Be honest and replace what isn’t working with more of what is. If your business-plan goals and your actual numbers do not match up, your business plan needs modifications, because, again, numbers don’t lie.

A list of business-plan resources can be found on the United States Small Business Administration’s Web site at www.sba.gov/hotlist/businessplans.html.

Try a new advertising medium

Cost: Moderate - Expensive
Difficulty: Moderate - Complex

Marketing works. Super Bowl commercial airtime sells for more than a million and a half dollars per 30-second slot not because companies love to spend money, but because millions of viewers will tune in. You can benefit from the same philosophy without anywhere near the investment of a Super Bowl commercial. It’s a simple three-step process:

1. Identify your target market. There’s a reason beer and shoe companies make up the majority of commercials during sportscasts. Who are you trying to capture? Use specific demographics such as age, income, neighborhood, and gender.

2. Look for advertising media that hit your target. For instance, is there a billboard that sits on the outbound road of your farm area? Is there a civic organization, church, or club many of your prospects belong to, and does that organization have a newsletter or a speaking opportunity? You need to find out if your target consumers are listening to the local pop-music radio station or talk radio or easy listening. Call those media outlets and ask them for their demographics. Usually, this information is free and very helpful, but be wary of anyone too anxious for your advertising dollar.

3. Develop and produce the marketing. For this step, it is important to hire a professional agency or a great freelance contractor. Agencies should be able to tell you if they’re in your price range or recommend someone who is. Job estimates should always be free. Be a part of the process and demand to see production at every stage, but trust a professional to do the right thing with your money. We’ve all seen bad advertising. The last thing you want is your name leaving a bad impression with those you are trying to reach.

Join a new organization or take up a new hobby

Cost: Free to Inexpensive
Difficulty: Easy

Expanding your sphere of influence is always a good idea. Why not join a new organization or take up a new hobby? Find one that requires the right amount of time and involvement with other people. Dwight Hale, chairman elect of the San Antonio Board of REALTORS®, suggests, "If you’re going to get involved in a community or civic organization, make sure your involvement is something visible. If you end up behind the scenes, no one will know you are there." Once everyone knows you, and you’ve made a valuable contribution to the group, take the roster and add it to your prospecting list.

Hire some help

Cost: Moderate to Expensive
Difficulty: Moderate

Paperwork, errands, administrative tasks–these are the kinds of little details that can add up quickly to waste time, sap productivity, and drive agents crazy. But these tasks are part of your job and if ignored or done incorrectly, can lead to serious problems. When you’re putting a lockbox on a house, you’re not out selling. So why not hire someone to do these things and free you up to concentrate on profitable activities?

You can start slow and hire someone part time. Look for stay-at-home parents who want to get out and work a little or retirees not content with full-fledged retirement. Often, your own family and friends do not make the best choices. That said, you have to trust your hire implicitly and you must learn to delegate. Being a bad manager and making a bad hire can cause more harm than good. On the other hand, finding someone to do the menial tasks can make you more productive and free you up for more profitable activities.

When asked why she started her successful San Antonio team, top producing agent Diane Craig says, "There reaches a point where the physical and mental demands of being successful in this business becomes too much for one person. After that, you have to hire one or more people to help you. The first step is an administrative assistant to help keep you organized. The second step is the buyer’s agent. In theory, this frees you up to take care of your top customers and turn them into quality leads and referrals."

Start a collaboration with an office mate

Cost: Low - Moderate
Difficulty: Moderate — Complex

Forming a team is a great way to take your business to the next level. The reason teams are so successful is simple math: Two heads are better than one. Three people can do more than two, and so on. There are several ways to form a team, so make sure you negotiate an agreement that works for you. One common way to form a team is to hire another licensed agent who is new to the business and doesn’t have a well-established clientele. Tasks this agent might be responsible for include following up on all sign calls, taking pictures of new listings, picking up signs and lockboxes, marketing, and other duties that will free you up
to bring in more business.

Another kind of collaboration forms when two well-established agents join forces to split office and labor expenses. By doing this, you may be able to cut your overhead and your workload. Two agents can more easily afford a part-time unlicensed assistant to handle administrative tasks and errands. Often, two agents who choose one another wisely can complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This kind of team can better serve customers and clients than either of the agents by themselves. Also, having a team of two or more can free up agents to take time off without leaving clients hanging or losing prospects.

Take a new class or get a new designation

Cost: Moderate
Difficulty: Moderate

Look at a top producer’s business card and you’ll probably see a string of letters behind their name–ABR, GRI, CRS. According to Hale, who is also the chair of TAR’s education committee, these designations aren’t just for show. "A great way to expose yourself to new people and new ideas is to expand your designations," he says. Hale suggests getting out of town when you pursue this additional education. "If you stay in one city, you miss out on what Dallas is doing, what Houston is doing … ." You can find educational opportunities by checking with your broker, your local board, and through the Course Search at TexasRealtors.com.

Time, energy, and money are always an issue, so start slow and use these tactics to get the most out of your education: Take one or two classes and take notes on every new idea and strategy. Consolidate those notes into a bulleted list. Compare it to your business plan and highlight the two or three ideas that will work within your current agenda. Spend the next three months executing those ideas along with everything else you already do.

Also, check with respected peers and ask them which classes and designations have benefited them most.

If you need one, take a break before you completely burn out

Cost: Zero — Expensive
Difficulty: Easy

Many agents think they can’t go anywhere because it’s summer or because they have too many clients who count on them or not enough clients so they have to work or any number of other excuses. That’s only true if you buy into that excuse. Even if you aren’t part of a team, you can find someone to cover for you–you take a week and then they take a week. A break can do you good.

Maybe it’s time to take Hale’s advice and hit the road. The world will not crumble. Your numbers will not fall into oblivion and, if you work out a good relationship with another agent, you won’t even lose any business. It’s worth it to give yourself the mental and physical rest that your body needs. Real estate is a high-pressure, intense field. Every day you are faced with stress and performance measures from which there is no reprieve. If you’re like most agents, your cell phone starts ringing early in the morning and doesn’t stop until well into the night. The only way to get downtime in this business is to take it. Think beach. Think mountains. Think theme park with the family. Think mimosa. Think fishing. Think about anything that isn’t work for a good 72 hours, at least. You don’t even have to go anywhere. Just turn the cell phone off and disappear. You’ll come back a new person with a new perspective, and your mind, your body, and your productivity will thank you for it.

Professional athletes say it all the time because it’s true: The best way out of a slump is to get back to fundamentals. Break it down and build it back up–and add a few new tricks to change up your routine and refuel the fire. Pretty soon, that slump will be nothing but a distant memory.

Melissa Matthews-Woolard is a San Antonio-based freelance writer with more than nine years of marketing experience.

Photo © Rubberball Productions.

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