6 Habits Of Successful Realtors

All successful real estate agents/brokers share many common attributes and this is what makes them successful.  When I teach new Realtors how to get started in real estate brokerage I tell them “Look at other successful agents and follow the habits that make them successful.” Successful agents aren’t better than you are; they just do things that need to be done to get the business. Here is a tip, the things that you don’t like to do: cold call, seek out people whose house has recently expired in the MLS, talk to FSBOs and convert them to listings. They provably don’t like to do either, but that’s what makes them successful.

If you talk to successful Realtors here is what they will say that makes them successful:

HABIT #1: Invest Money in Advertising. You must get your name into the public. “Top-of-mind” mentality is what it takes to get people to call you before the call your competitor. The average agent spends 10% of every commission dollar to new business. On every deal you close, you should place 10% into a marketing account and never touch that money for ANYTHING other marketing yourself.

HABIT #2: Use Multiple Sources for Advertising. Know where to spend your advertising money. Print, web, radio etc. are just a few ways to make you know. It may take some time to determine the best method of advertising for you, your client and your properties.

HABIT #3: Track Your Results of Your Efforts. “Know from where your leads come” is the mantra you should be chanting when you spend your marketing dollar. Knowing where each dollar went and what it produced is more important, if not more than the marketing itself. Spending money that brings ZERO leads is worse than spending no money to get the same ZERO leads.

HABIT #4: Set Clear Sales, Listing and Production Goals. Becoming a success at any area of your life is only determined by you as person and no one else; however, for you to recognize that success you must compare to a preconceived notion of success, i.e. goals. Annual income, total number of properties sold, dollar value to total properties sold, respect by your peers etc. are all commons ways to measure success in the Realtor world.  To make this comparison you must know what your end points are to be. Setting goals is the biggest predictor of success in ANY field, as determined by most all success people you talk too.

HABIT #5: Keep Up with New Technology. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, etc are words that didn’t even exist five years ago. As more communication channels emerge, there are more avenues to market your properties and yourself than ever. New technology to get more information, much quicker and with better consistency to your client is being created everyday. Keeping up with what’s current and hot is a tough job, but necessary to make the smart consumer happier and more comfortable with you as a whole. 

HABIT #6: Stand Out from the Crowd. When consumers are asked to asked name a real estate company, over 75% could name at least 3 major companies in there area. However, all consumers stated that they were working with their particular Realtor for some specific reason, either strength in knowledge of the area, “recognize”ability in their market or a leader is a specific “niche” market. In all cases, it was due to that particular agent stood out as being the one to go to. You need to become that “go to” person. Make yourself a celebrity in your field for some reason: knowledge, expertise, dedication, etc.

Those are the key habits-ones with a proven impact in producing a successful Realtor. In challenging times like these, knowing you can adopt simple and proven techniques to succeed is strong and reassuring.