Starting over in real estate: a 30 day, step-by-step guide

Starting over in real estate: a 30 day, step-by-step guide
What would you do if you had to start all over in real estate?Recently I experienced this when I moved from a market where I built a real estate business selling over a hundred home the year in Southwest Florida to a market that I’ve never been in in Charlotte North Carolina. This forced me to take a deep look into all of the elements that contributed to my success over the years, and document those steps. Whether you are a new real estate agent, starting over in a new market, or just want to hit the reboot button in your business, you can use follow these steps outlined day by day for 30 days to rapidly boost your sales production.. Days 1 & 2 The first two days in this journey is the most important. This is where I focus on the only two aspects in my life that will make or break the next 30 days. First, is my mindset. As someone who has suffered through addiction and depression, I know that I am nothing to anyone else until I am in alignment with who I am and who I need to be for my family. By no means is this an easy obstacle to overcome, and dare I say, I will never have mastered the art of protecting my mindset completely. Rather it is an intention and dedication that I set forth where I fully commit myself to pushing through any obstacles that get in my way of achieving my goals. Yes, I know I will fail at times. We all do. And, yes, failure sucks. But it’s important to understand that every failure is an opportunity for growth. Learning what not to do next, and embracing short term failure, is what is what makes me different than the status quo. Most fail and get so discouraged that they quit before they get to the good stuff, the breakthroughs. So, needless to say, this is where I make certain that I have my morning routine, meditation practices, breathing breaks, water intake, exercise, and all the other rituals that I need to thrive, scheduled. Now that I am right with myself, it’s my duty and responsibility to be right for my family. My wife Jessica and my two kids are everything to me. Jessica is my cheerleader, my rock, and my constant focus. She inspires me to be a better person and pushes me to my limits, which is usually a good thing. Without Jessica, I would not be anywhere close to the man I am today. She flat out makes me better. Jess and I will make a plan that will accomplish the following
Focusing on mindset and family gives me the confidence that I need Days 3 & 4 YES! I am grounded and ready to conquer the world. At this point I am so pumped to get the wheels in motion. To be successful is to be well-planned. And this is my focus for the next 2 days. Where most people would only focus on the next 30 days, BIG thinkers understand that life will continue to happen after the 30 days have passed. That is why I do a 12 month plan. By doing this, I know that everything I am achieving in the coming weeks, will ultimately be in alignment and working towards my annual goals. Here is what that looks like. Set Goals for the following
Other elements of focus during the planning process
Most people lack accountability and are confused as to what they should be doing next. By spending 2 days on this process I am developing self accountability and creating clarity in regards to my outcomes and next steps. Great! I know what I need to do, and I am ready to hit the ground running Day 5-6 Reserved for mapping out the plan, selecting my ideal clients (sources) in my new market, and identifying what those client want, what they are getting, and what they really need.
Boom! Locked and loaded with plenty of knowledge and currently inside the heads of the prospects I will be working with. Day 7-8 Gotta get systemized baby! It’s time to set up the software, tools, resources, system, process, and checklists that I need specifically. The reason I wait until now to do this, is because there is no need to waste time and money on anything that I don’t need. Software/Tools
Checklists/Systems
Something that is important to note is that in everything I do, I am always looking to Leverage my time and to only focus on Income Producing Activities ONLY. If it is not one of my strengths and if it is not something that will produce income, I look to offload the task to someone else in a lower pay grade. Days 9 – 16 Time to do what I do best; get on the phones and make all the magic happen. I’ve been patiently waiting for this day to arrive with the understanding that if I skipped any part of the first 8 days…It would turn out to be a shit show and I would be a mess each day. Without laying the foundation, I would be operating in reactive mode trying to piece things together as they come. Time Block Prospect 4 Hours, lead follow up, admin work, and then go on appointments and do drive bys and pop bys. Note: These are all work “IN” my business activities because I am ramping up and need to be working “IN” my business as much as I can. The “ON” my business activities will need to be scheduled outside the hours of 7:30AM and 6:00PM. 7:30AM – 8:00AM Affirmations, Roleplay, be “Change Agent Ready” 8:00AM – 11:00AM Prospecting with 5 minute mindset breaks 11:00AM – 12:00PM Aggressive Lead Follow Up 12:00PM – 1:00PM Admin and Emails 1:00PM – 2:00PM Prospecting with 5 minute mindset breaks 3:00PM – 6:00PM Appointments or Neighborhood Canvas Days 9 & 10
For these 2 days I focus only on expired and cancelled listings. What I know about Expired & Cancelled
Who & What I need to be for them
Day 11-12
Time to incorporate another source of business into my prospecting. For the next 2 days I focus on FSBO/FRBO and Expired/Cancelled listings. What I know about FSBO & FRBO
Who & What I need to be for them
Day 13-14
I’m ready for another source of business. For the next 2 days I focus on all three sources What I know about OLD Expired & Cancelled
Who & What I need to be for them
Day 15-16
Finally firing on all cylinders and diversifying my sources of outbound lead generation. For the next 2 days I focus on all four sources. What I know about the Absentee Owner
Who & What I need to be for them
Days 17-30
Day 17 Time to start implementing some systems that will cut down my time on the phone with prospects and move towards incorporating workflows and automation to “Leverage my Touches”. This will save me so much time and reduce the need of any outside assistant support. And since it’s all a number’s game, and I am incorporating so many more “Touches”, I will start seeing more leads convert in the short term AND in the coming months and even years. I will set up email and text message “Nurture Sequences” that I can trigger based on the current stage of my prospects and “Workflow Automation” for my internal process. Day 18 Weekly video newsletters are necessary to building a brand of leadership, knowledge, and authority. And by being sincere and authentic, people know you actually care and aren’t full of shit. This day will be where I set up my template in mailchimp and pre-record 30 days worth of 2 minute videos that are relevant, educational, and entertaining. Once I have this set up, it only takes less than 30 minutes every week to execute. BTW, None of that “how to bake a pumpkin pie” crap. This should be all stuff people want to hear. Don’t make it about how much you know, how cool you are, how great you are… This needs to be about the client and what they want to hear. Day 19 Most agents don’t focus on this, but property management is a widely overlooked tool that should be in every real estate agents arsenal. Now I am not saying that every agent needs to be an expert in property management. Honestly, most agents should not be doing property management, but what I am saying is that by not knowing the following 3 strategies to incorporate property management in your business; you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Damn, right? And guess what, if they want to rent out their property, refer them to the PM company you selected and get paid a referral and get the client back when they are ready to sell.
Days 20 & 21 Identify which Communities to farm
“Community Profile” overview (The 7 “A’s”)
Day 22-23 By now I have 3-5 listings, a strong pipeline for lead follow, and buyer’s are starting to call me on my listings. I need to focus on my service and delivery systems. Listing report card – Grading system for each listing
Weekly communication
Day 24 Here is where I stack on more future business by developing and implementing a plan to get even more referrals. Agent Referrals and Past Client Referrals Agent Referrals
Past Client Referrals
Day 25 It’s not what you know; it’s WHO you know. That’s why I take an entire day to focus on building strong relationships.
It’s important to note that when the market shifted in the “Great Recession” no one wanted to handle property management or short sales. During that time, when other agents were losing their homes, I grew my business by 31% annually on average over the course of a 5 years period. *THIS WAS ALL BECAUSE OF REFERRALS FROM OTHER AGENTS* Day 26-27 Put in more solid work on my systems, CRM, and automation. My Database is the key to a consistent and steady flow of income for years to come. Past clients, centers of influence, and other referrals is what will allow an agent to live a life of independent wealth and freedom. Day 28 Now that I have my “Client Profile”, “Community Profile”, actual Listings to sell, Buyers calling me, and new listings calling me… I guess I can develop my “marketing plan”. *Having a Marketing Plan does not equal Getting More Listings* This is because, in the mind of consumer, all marketing plans consist of the same 85 point plans of action. What I do
Day 29 By now, I will need to start looking for an assistant. The goal for the year is 100 transactions, and there is no way I want to do any paperwork, lockboxes, signs, photos, drop off packages, pull numbers, pre-listing paperwork, blah, blah, blah….. My Hiring Process
Day 30 What’s better than CRUSHing a goal? Doing it earlier than expected. Kapow! Now I can take this day to reflect on how awesome I did, and celebrate with my family. The future is bright baby! |
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