Real Estate Sales Tips and Techniques

Most real estate agents, if not all, want to make it big and become successful in the industry. Being an agent, however, is not an easy task. Selling properties and listings can be very difficult due to the consistent fluctuations in the economy.

Being in the real estate industry can be very discouraging and demoralizing at times. The returns are often slow and people will tell you "no" a lot of times. Pursuing a career in real estate is filled with a lot of obstacles and challenges, but the rewards and opportunities are endless. Once you close a sale, a sense of financial stability starts to kick in. Now imagine closing another sale, and another one, and another one.

The real difference between regular agents and successful agents is that the successful ones never stop learning. They always seek to expand their knowledge and build their repertoire in such a way that they don't get left behind. They try to think one step ahead and place themselves in a good position to close deals or generate sales.

Being an agent isn't just about finding buyers and closing deals. It's much more complex than you may think. A lot of other factors need to be considered before entering the industry.

Success comes to those who work hard and make the right decisions.

Here are a few sales tips and techniques you can use to further develop your career and increase your sales.

Don't Just Sell

As anti-climactic as it may seem, an agent's job is actually not to sell, but to give professional advice and guidance to clients and help them pick the right home. Clients go to agents in hopes of getting assistance in picking the best property for them. The whole process should revolve around the client and their needs.

If an agent starts selling instead of guiding and facilitating, then the transaction now revolves around the agent's needs. Agents must put the needs of the client before anything else and keep them focused on the goals they've presented.

For instance, if a client tells an agent that they want a red house and nothing else, the agent must find the best deal possible on a red house. The agent should not pitch the idea of buying a blue house to the client. The agent must stick to the needs of the client no matter what.

Find Your Ideal Target Market

Having a lot of prospects ask and inquire about your listings is well and good for the business, but if they don't end up renting or buying any of your properties, then you may have been wasting your time and effort all along. Identifying the right prospects for you is crucial before you begin placing your listings on the market.

See to it that your listings are targeted towards the right clients and buyers. Find out their demographics, occupations, preferences, and so on. Once the data is collected, the next step is to filter and analyze the data. There are lots of free software on the internet which you can use to effectively manage and organize the gathered data such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. You can use old-fashioned methods such as writing the gathered data on a piece of paper and plotting them out on a whiteboard. Do what works for you, as long as you're able to find the market suited for your properties and listings.

Pinpointing the right audience is an essential aspect of selling properties and listings. While it's not really a bad idea to sell your listings to the general public, it seems like a waste of time when you can narrow down to the appropriate target population and increase your chances of finding prospects and potential buyers. For instance, an agency selling retirement homes should be marketed towards families with old people. Selling retirement homes to teenagers and young adults seems like a bad idea and a waste of time.

Use the Power of Social Media To Your Advantage

Back in the day, clients and buyers heard of properties through listings on the street or word of mouth. A person living in the US would probably never be able to see listings available in the Philippines. Marketing and advertising was slow and inefficient.

Social media has given us the power to view properties from all around the world. A person living in the US can now buy properties in other countries simply by searching for listings on online platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

As an agent, posting quality content on your social media accounts could potentially attract more buyers and customers. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter drive traffic from millions of users all around the world.

Apart from posting your properties and listings, you can add a little flavor by uploading educational and informative posts regarding real estate. Keep in mind that social media is a very powerful tool you can use to rake in prospects and potential buyers.

Keep An Eye On the Competition

Always keep an eye on them. Monitor them when in success and in failure.

If you become successful, don't be too overconfident. Being satisfied too quickly with what you have could backfire and catch you off guard. Your competitors could outperform you at any time, which is why it is extremely essential to keep tabs on them.

Find out what strategies and techniques they use, then try to replicate them and use them to your advantage. One of the most effective ways to gather information from your competitors is to communicate with them directly through their customer service channels. A few examples could be inquiring of their services via Facebook, calling them on the phone, or sending them an email.

Use ERP Systems

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, simply put, is an application which automates and manages business processes on a daily basis. You may be wondering how an ERP system may help in generating sales and profit.

First, an ERP system extracts real-time data and shows you your sales, how many properties are available, and so on. This allows you to make decisions and plan courses of action ahead of time.

Second, since ERP systems automate most of your business processes, this allows your team to be more productive and focus other tasks such as developing marketing strategies, sales planning, and many more.

Offer Straightforward Answers To Client Questions

Keep in mind that you, as the agent, have the responsibility of making sure your clients are well-informed and know everything they need to know. Oftentimes, clients are overwhelmed with all the documents, processes, and formalities they need to understand. Inevitably, they will ask a lot of questions.

Instead of giving them complicated responses, give them direct answers. Avoid using technical terms which are hard to comprehend. Make it clear and understandable. Making them understand everything is essential and helping them achieve their goals, which in turn is crucial in closing the sale.

Avoid Being Stagnant. Activity Generates Sales.

Being active will always be better than doing nothing. Even if you get rejected, keep going. The more calls you dial, the more events you attend, the more emails you compose, the more messages you write, the better your sales will be. On top of that, you can track your activities and clearly determine that the sales you generate directly correlates the amount of work you do.

While meeting with your team and discussing business plans is well and good, the activities which directly generate income will obviously drive more sales. It is essential to allocate more time and effort towards those tasks rather than giving emphasis on passive activities.

Be Human

Most agent trainings is usually focused on looking for prospects, signing contracts, and closing deals. They don't teach you how to be human and how to treat your clients as human beings instead of transactions. Your ultimate goals as an agent must be to serve the client and to establish a relationship with them.

When we put our goals and needs before theirs, it destroys trust. It drives the clients away from us.

When we put their needs before anything else, it builds trust. It allows the client to reach their goals. Inevitably, when we serve them and put their needs first, success follows.

Strive To Be the Best Instead of Settling for Less

No matter how successful you become, there will always be someone better than you. Developing a hunger to be the best will keep you determined and passionate, which is what clients want to see in an agent.

While it is true that being the best in the world is not something that can be achieved by everyone, having a mindset to be the best certainly does wonders for both the client and the agent. Striving to the best in the world could potentially boost your productivity and allow you to generate more sales and income. Also, nobody wants an agent who lacks energy and passion.

However, this does not mean that you have to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There's a difference between striving to be the best and driving yourself crazy. Work hard, but rest when you need to.

In conclusion, being an agent isn't just about making money and signing contracts. There's so much more to being an agent than just that. The most successful real state agents build relationships and their network, expand their knowledge and repertoire, and focus on serving instead of cashing in.