Building a Consistent Real Estate Business
There are approximately 30,000 active real estate agents in Colorado, with new agents graduating from one of the local schools every couple of weeks. There is a great attraction to real estate. The mystical lure of easy money and a schedule full of free time brings people into the industry. But new agents quickly discover building a real estate business is a lot of work. Being more difficult than imagined, upwards of eighty percent of new real estate agents will fall out in the first two years.
The Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster
Beyond real estate, the plight of the entrepreneurial roller coaster crosses all forms of small businesses run by sole proprietors. The roller coaster is simple. Market like crazy to get new work. When the work comes in, stop marketing and focus on getting the work done. When the project is complete, start marketing all over again, because there is nothing in the pipeline.
For the agent, it starts out by focusing solely on marketing, actively looking for their first client. Without clients, there isn’t much more to do. As the marketing efforts begin to pay off, the agent now finds servicing their new clients takes top priority, and the marketing activities become secondary. Without consciously working to maintain their daily marketing, it likely will stop all together.
After cycling through all of the work and closing the transactions, the agent suddenly finds nothing in the pipeline, because their marketing stopped several weeks prior. Now they are back onto the daily marketing regime, looking to rebuild a spent pipeline. And the cycle continues, like a roller coaster of feast and famine. Looking for work, overwhelmed with work, and looking for work again.
Getting Off the Crazy Ride
While the answer seems obvious – just keep marketing – it isn’t always that simple. Having more than a couple of active clients at one time can become time consuming and quickly take over your day. To keep the pipeline churning, block time every day for prospecting. Set a time every day dedicated solely to marketing activities. Early mornings are good for this, since your will spend most of your client contact time in the afternoons and evenings. This of course takes discipline, but in a short period of time, the habit is set.
The other option is to hire some of these marketing functions out. There are a lot of designers and social media experts out there that don’t charge a lot for their services and they can keep the marketing activities in motion for you. Avoid the companies that provide cookie cutter solutions. They tend to be too vague and nationally focused, which don’t connect well with your client base.
Focus on Daily Activities
Spend a little time each day doing marketing activities that build your pipeline. Being consistent will help flatten the track of the roller coaster you keep finding yourself on, and business will begin to come at a more even pace. Keep the critical one-on- one contact with your sphere and hand off other activities that don’t require your direct involvement.
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Jim Brown is a Realtor® and agent success leader at Private Label Realty in Denver, Colorado. He advises, assists and mentors agents at all levels to help them succeed and grow their real estate business. www.JimBrown.me
