6 Sad Reasons Agents Fail, by Laura Duggan

It’s this Thursday 2/10/11 at 3 PM EST and it’s sure to max out, so grab a spot now!

6 Sad Reasons Agents Fail, by Laura Duggan

1. They don’t know their numbers
Real estate is a numbers business. Knowing the statistics of your market will give you the data to talk intelligently to consumers and the credibility to outshine the competition regardless of your age or tenure in the business. Highly successful agents track the sales statistics in the market so they can use them in pricing their listings, negotiating contracts and establishing themselves as real estate experts. Among other data, you should track the numbers of homes currently for sale and the number of homes that have sold each month by area and price band. Calculate the days on market for each band. What is the average time it takes for the market to “absorb” these homes? What was the average sales price? What was the average list to sale ratio? How do these numbers compare to the same time as last year? Create a monthly Market Report using Google Charts and Graphs to share with your clients. Top agents also use these statistics to target market segments and price ranges that are selling.

2. They focus on the buyers instead of the sellers
The pros will tell you that you have to list to last. When you control the inventory, you control the business, and that is why companies of all sizes focus on building their market share with listings. When you have the listings, the buyers follow. The top agents in every market have significant listing inventories and generate more business because they have greater name recognition with the signage and marketing. Without listings you don’t get sign calls, email inquiries or visits to your website. Buyers come to your site or your company’s site to see your listings. The more listings you have, the more buyers you have. Working with buyers can be very time-consuming, can keep you from being able to control your schedule and can take you off your focus of generating the inventory. Top agents concentrate on building their listing bases with laser focus.



3. They don’t prospect consistently
Prospecting is the life blood of any successful real estate business. Top performers block off time every day to prospect—that is making phone calls to their database, sending out emails, following up with prospective clients, sending handwritten notes, meeting with prospective buyers and sellers and calling clients. They don’t wait for the business to come to them. They systematically prospect daily, track their communication and set appointments. Everything else is delegated. A Daily Activity Record will keep you focused and help you track the number of phone calls you make, the number of notes you write, the number of client follow ups you make and the number of appointment you set. By time blocking this prospecting time into your schedule, you won’t be tempted to fill your time with activities that are not dollar-productive. Set your weekly prospecting goals, then let the Daily Activity Record keep you accountable.

4. They fail to hire staff
Highly successful agents know how to delegate. If a task is not dollar-productive it should be delegated to a staff person. Passive prospecting activities like preparing mail outs, producing listing books, generating brochures, implementing your expired listing campaign and all of the other jobs that are necessary to keep your business productive must be delegated. Every top agent will tell you that hiring their first administrative person was the first step in taking their business to the next level. If you can’t hire a full time person, hire a part timer. You could hire a student from a local university or an intern. Virtual assistants are also a good value because they already know the software systems and tasks required to grow your business.


5. They fail to implement systems
If you do a task more than one time, it should be part of a system. Systems are checklists that save you time, give you consistency and a road map to follow for each segment of your business. Many popular real estate software systems (Top Producer, Agent Office, Real Pro) have their own checklists that can help get you started. We are constantly revising our checklists to add new tasks and make our business more productive and efficient.





6. They don’t write a business plan
A written plan gives direction. Top performers write a yearly plan for reaching written, measureable goals. They define their profit centers and look at where their business came from. They plan how they will reach those people in the coming year. You should know the average price of your sales and how many listings and how many sales will it take to reach your goals. Break it down by month. Your Daily Activity Record will help you track your progress. A well written business plan is your ultimate road map to success!


Both Laura & I are looking forward to this Thursday so grab your spot now before they’re gone:
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/962804758