- Strive to gain traction and momentum as quickly as possible.
- A slow or non-existent pipeline will kill your business.
- Like any start-up, work your tail off for two years to build it.
In this article, we will discuss five realistic, time-saving, career-saving, dream-manifesting lessons for getting on your feet in real estate.
If you read a few of my blog articles, you’ll start to see a pattern with this advice. The success basics stay the same.
Here are five lessons that are paramount to beating the odds and joining the success club as a brand new real estate agent.
1. Know the importance of conversations
You are in the business of talking to people about real estate. The person with the most conversations and a good conversion rate — wins. Nail this.
Part two of this lesson is that your conversion rate (convert a conversation into a lead, convert a lead into a client, convert a client into a contract, convert a listing consultation into a signed agreement, handle an objection, etc.) is directly related to the amount of time you practice what to say.
2. Practice
Plan on spending a minimum of five hours per week your first year simply practicing what to say; 10 hours is better. Do yourself a favor: Get your calendar out right now and book this appointment with yourself.
Do not gloss this over. Nail this. Your ability to sound like a pro and have the confidence to match will be key to gaining any traction in your new business.
3. Focus on your pipeline
You are building a pipeline. For the majority of new real estate agents, it takes six to 12 months to gain traction and momentum. It might take you less time to gain traction if you are consistently talking to more people than everyone else.
The key here is the consistency — two to five hours per day of simply talking to people about real estate. Do the math: that’s 10 to 25 hours per week building your pipeline.
Less than that, and you’ll never gain traction. Get your calendar out right now and book this appointment with yourself. Call that appointment “lead generation and follow-up.” This is the foundation of your business.
You are the national sales manager of your real estate business, and your job is the health of this pipeline.
4. Forget part time
Part-time is tough. There are some highly successful agents out there who started out part-time.
They are the exception, and they worked their tails off for a year with a definitive jumping-off point.
If you start part-time, then you are working two jobs — not one primary job and real estate on the side. Real estate on the side is dangerous to your clients and your broker.
This business takes a tremendous amount of time to stay on top of your clients’ needs and to stay current, smart and savvy.
5. Soak up positive energy
Confidence — there is a pattern. Success leaves clues. I have consulted with and trained some of the top first-year agents in Austin, Texas. I have interviewed top rookie agents from coast to coast.
I have worked with some of the top real estate coaches around the country. I study first-year-agent success.
What about these agents who knock it out of the park their first couple years? They are all really confident. They are not shy. They command attention.
Most of them have a determined, fast walk (seriously, they do). They quickly connect with the top talent around them. They are strong, mature and professional.
Find one way or another to bring that type of energy to the table. And make sure you are hanging out with these types because energy attracts like energy.
You can join the success club. Start by mirroring the successful.
Julie Nelson is the chief success officer at The Nelson Project, Keller Williams Realty in Austin, Texas. You can follow her on YouTube or Twitter.
