Virtual open houses, digital closings, conversations from behind face masks — what productivity looks like for real estate agents this summer covers new terrain for all of us. All June, Inman surveys the New Productivity: the tools, skills and insights needed to make it work now.
The last few months have been challenging, to say the least. The way the industry has handled things varied from market to market and agent to agent.
I’ve found that in times of pressure — like, a global pandemic — most people, if not all, revert to their strongest-held beliefs no matter how much they may be trying to do things differently. One of my core beliefs or behaviors is to seek more knowledge.
So, when I saw that a leader I trust, Craig Reger, was offering up a relatively inexpensive (because I can be cheap, too) course during the midst of the pandemic, called “How to Win in Today’s Market,” I was intrigued. I couldn’t help but sign my entire team up for the six-week class. Here were our top takeaways from the course.
1. Our mindset and energy matters!
Think back to when the shutdowns started. How was your mindset? I know mine probably wasn’t the best, and I’m glad I had Reger there to lead us through this. After our first session (and every one after), it was clear to me that our mindset and energy levels matter so much because they drive everything else we do in our businesses.
In difficult times, it’s important to pause and take stock of where our energy levels are and what our minds are focused on, and take the necessary steps to raise the energy scale.
2. Knowing the market by tracking the numbers
In early to mid-March, it felt like the world was coming to a screeching halt. So that must mean that real estate sales are, too, right? While I think it’s safe to say that’s true in some markets more than others, one thing I learned from Reger is that we need to look at the statistics. We need to closely examine the numbers — now more than ever.
So, we tracked things like new listings, new pending listings, canceled listings and price changes. We tracked them week by week, dating back to pre-pandemic time so we could get a real glimpse into the truth of the market rather than just falling victim to just the feeling of it.
What many of us learned was that things were not nearly as bad as we thought. By taking the time to look at these numbers week after week, we’re able to convey the reality of the market to others (especially to clients who are still very interested in buying and selling during this time).
As Joe Oubre of Group 46:10 Network eXp Realty said, we sometimes can get “too caught up in the momentum of the story, rather than what the statistics say.”
3. Communicating to our database
Personally, I think we should always be doing this, but even more so now. If we’re going to survive this slowdown, we must be more visible to our database. And because we are in uncertain times, we need to bring as much value to those relationships as possible.
During the first week of this course, we decided we’d all commit to calling three clients, family members, our sphere of influence or allied resources and ask them if they were staying safe and sane. Then, we’d simply listen and let the conversation unfold.
Most times, it was just a chance to catch up and reconnect. Other times, we’d find an opportunity to help someone. Reger also shared different scripts and ways to engage (or reengage), but we kept it simple. And you know what? We ended up generating a lot of referrals, even though we weren’t calling to ask for them.
“Sometimes we need to slow down to speed up,” said Stephanie Pieper of Group 46:10 Network eXp Realty. “Take the time to make the call. Listen, and then help.”
4. Keeping tabs on our habits and activities
A few things we covered were simple, yet so profound. Like, keeping tabs on our daily habits and the activities we did day in and day out. Or how we were communicating, not just with our clients, but with our team.
We also learned how to say accountable as a team. Thinking back to our dedication to reaching out to our database, we kept an open line of communication and accountability for everyone on the team to see how we were doing. I think that’s why we made as many phone calls as we did.
The bottom line? One of the recurring themes we learned from Reger and his team was to stay focused on the fundamentals that work, like being consistent with schedules, dedicating at least an hour to extremely focused lead gen and maintaining accountability.
Final thoughts
A crisis doesn’t have to stop us from succeeding. The pandemic has been a reality in our lives for months now, and we’ve seen how the market has responded to it. We’re also starting to see them bounce back and return in a lot of markets. While we’re definitely not back to pre-pandemic numbers, we’re trending up.
But most importantly, pandemic or not, there are always going to be opportunities in the marketplace, and we need to track our numbers to find those opportunities. If we pay attention to those numbers and take care of our mindset and energy, everything else will take care of itself.
Kevin Kauffman is an agent with eXp Realty and the host of the Kevin and Fred Show, a podcast for the real estate industry.
