Though veteran real estate professionals may feel as though they know all the ins and outs of their business and local markets, it never hurts to hone the skills that lead to long-term success. Winter may be the perfect time to revisit those efforts. 

Even agents who have been in the industry for years may still have a thing or two to learn about the best practices in the modern real estate market, whether that means doing research on some of the changes taking place in their regions over the past year or how best to communicate with clients, according to Skills You Need. These areas are usually the tools in any agent's utility belt that make them stand out from the competition, and with business, a little slower at this time of year, a bit of work to make sure everything is up to snuff can go a long way in the spring and summer. 

Where to Begin 

One area where many veteran agents may be able to start their winter research is to see if any state or local rules and regulations have changed in the past year because that review is just the sort of thing that can go by the wayside in spring or summer when sales activity is far more hectic. Small changes in this regard can end up having a big impact on an agent's sales efforts going forward, so learning the ins and outs of whatever may have shifted is a great way to kick-start the retraining effort. 

After that, additional effort to brush up on some of the finer points of social media communications or make connections with the owners of new local businesses could help to lay the groundwork for a successful spring and summer. 

A Focus on Social 

For some agents, there hasn't yet been a huge shift to marketing on social media, but experts say finding footing on those platforms is a great idea at this point, according to McKissock Learning. That's because the average American spends 40 minutes on Facebook alone every day, and social sites tend to drive a huge percentage of all web traffic. To that end, it's a smart step for agents to learn how to market themselves on the site with both organic efforts and paid ads. Even if the latter isn't used heavily, it's still wise to know the best practices for developing effective ads. 

Moreover, any agents who haven't set up their own professional accounts, and have instead been using their agency's page or personal accounts, might want to build an individual professional page. That's another great way for would-be clients to start putting a face to a name and differentiate an agent's personal life from their professional pursuits.

Even the most seasoned professionals can always stand to learn a little more about how to succeed in their fields. That fact may be especially true in a sector like real estate sales, because so much is changing all the time.

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