Tips to Get You Out of a Slump
You may be a new real estate agent, or a seasoned agent who has lost momentum during the pandemic, but either way: you’re here today because you’ve found yourself in a slump. Before you give up and leave your dreams of a successful real estate career behind, consider following these 7 Tips to Get You Out of a Slump. Applicable to any agent who needs a boost, these tips are meant to be a lifeline to give any motivated, hardworking agent a path forward.
1.) Review Your Business Plan
Do you have a detailed business plan that serves as a road map on your journey to generate business? If you do, excellent! Sit down, review your actionable steps, and make sure you’ve been following through on as many as you can.
If you don’t yet have a business plan, now’s the time to get serious about creating one that will have daily tasks, weekly tasks, and monthly benchmarks you intend to hit. Consider including tasks like posting dynamic content on social media consistently, hiring a digital media specialist to promote your brand across search engines, following every lead with all you’ve got, calling expireds, and expanding your sphere of influence.
By investing time improving your efforts across a broad list of goals, you’ll almost certainly be rewarded with successful transactions.
2.) Create a Daily Routine that Supports Your Goals
If you have found your routine slipping a bit this last year, you’re not alone. However, without a consistent routine, you’re unlikely to succeed as a real estate agent, so this is the right time to refresh your focus and discipline.
Create a daily routine that provides you with consistent hours for work, tasks related to your own life, socialization, and connection with your own family. Real estate agents spend a lot of time interacting with their clients, responding to emails, and posting on social media. Maintaining this kind of momentum requires a robust, healthy mind, which can only result from an organized, balanced life.
A routine that carries you to success will likely require tweaking over time, so try not to become rigidly attached to a routine that is no longer serving your goals.
3.) Take Your Work Hours Seriously
You may be able to set your own hours as a real estate agent, but without taking yourself seriously, you can be assured that others won’t, either! Whether or not you feel like showing up to work, you’ve got to remind yourself that you simply have to. You’ve chosen real estate as your career, and it’s time to dedicate yourself to it.
You will only reap the harvest after you’ve done the grunt work of planting those seeds. Say it over and over: “I’m planting seeds to harvest leads.”
4.) Invest Time Creating or Expanding Your Network of Leads
Rather than focusing all your attention on people who are actively ready to buy or sell, it only makes sense to keep scrupulous records about every lead you’ve encountered. If someone says they want to sell their house next year, make a note! Set reminders on your calendar and check in with this lead in 6-9 months. Not only will you generate more business this way, but you’ll also impress your potential clients with your follow-through and attention to detail.
Continue to write down every lead, no matter how distant it seems, or create digital notes with accompanying reminders. You don’t want any leads to slip past you because you forgot or got distracted with other business.
5.) Become More Visible in Your Community
Networking isn’t something that only happens on social media. In order to become an agent your community trusts, it’s helpful if your community sees you creating positive effects in real life.
Assist with fundraisers, volunteer to work with seniors, or even find out how to create community events! Choose at least one community-centered task to work on quarterly. By giving yourself to your community, you’ll likely experience your community giving back to you.
6.) Cultivate an Attitude of Persistence
We’re not suggesting you become a pest or a nuisance, but it’s important that you don’t give up at the first hint of resistance. This career is not for the shrinking violets, after all, so keep calling, knocking, and emailing!
Above all else, you must promise yourself that you’re not going to give up on your career when you have a few rough months, or even a rough year. It happens to every agent at some point, but only those who pick themselves up and keep going have success to show for their efforts.
7.) Dedicate Time to Your Self-Care
The best agent is a happy agent, so treat yourself as a valued part of your own business. Get plenty of sleep, eat healthily (most of the time!), and get enough movement in your day. Indulge now and again, sleep in on a weekend here and there, and take vacations when it makes sense to do so.
Remember, if you burn out, you risk losing your momentum, so take time to take care of yourself. Your success depends on it!