If you are going to reach the elite level in real estate, you're going to need systems in place that will allow you to leverage every part of your job. If there are any weak links in the chain, it's very likely that you are not going to be performing as well as you could be.
Technology within the real estate industry is growing at a rapid rate. Find out how PropTech has revolutionised the real estate industry here.
An outdated CRM is a common way that many real estate agents could be getting held back, without realising it. Here are just a few of the ways that your current CRM might be slowing you down.
If your current CRM isn't intuitive, or lacks automation features, you're likely spending more time than you need to on simple administrative tasks. For example, if you are manually inputting client data or sorting through leads, you're wasting valuable time that could be spent building relationships, prospecting, and ultimately securing new listings. Your CRM should be doing the heavy lifting for you when it comes to tedious, bulky tasks. A CRM isn't designed to replace agents, but to give them more time in their day to focus on human tasks and building connections in the field.
A quality CRM should serve you, not frustrate you. Outdated CRMs can be clunky, and take more time to load or save data than it might to do things manually. This is a huge red flag when it comes to your CRM. If you are constantly frustrated at your tech because it's not working properly, and you're spending more time on the phone to support teams than you are actually working, then it's time to consider a new CRM.
If your CRM isn't automating tasks like follow-up emails or lead scoring, you're missing out on valuable opportunities. Automating these tasks not only saves you time but also ensures that you're being proactive in your approach.
You can configure your CRM to follow up with leads, or to trigger a series of automated emails that will help you to nurture leads over time. Using automation helps to create a proactive approach, and can make all the difference in the world when it comes to closing deals and will allow you to reach more people than ever before.
If you're using an older CRM, it may not be able to keep up with your growing business needs. As you add more clients and leads to your database, your CRM needs to be able to handle that growth. An outdated or low quality CRM may not have the capacity to handle larger volumes of data, or it may not be able to integrate with the newer tools and technologies that can help you grow your business. This could limit your ability to take on new clients or expand your business.
Take note of how often your CRM is issuing updates and bug fixes. Perhaps your CRM was best-in-business five years ago, but has not made any changes since that time. The tech industry changes quickly, as do the needs of real estate agents. In order for you to grow, it's important that your CRM provider also sees growth and innovation as a priority.
There are a number of important factors to consider when it comes to picking the right CRM, including functionality, customisability, and the ability to integrate with the rest of your technology stack. One factor that real estate agents often neglect is the customer support. If you're having issues with your CRM, you need to know that you can easily get the help that you need, when you need it. Having access to helpful staff in a timely manner is invaluable when it comes to the technology that runs the back end of your business. Look for a CRM provider that offers comprehensive customer support, including phone and email support, and bonus points for online tutorials, and a user community that can help answer your questions.
Finding the right CRM for your needs will not only help your business flourish, but can also help you cut costs by removing cluttered technology that no longer serves you.
When you’re trying to find the right CRM for your business, start by evaluating your current needs. What are the problems you're having with your current CRM? What features would you like to see in a new CRM?
Once you have a clear idea of what you're looking for, start researching your options. There are a lot of CRM providers out there, so it's important to do your due diligence. Look for providers that offer free trials or demos so you can test out the product before committing.
It's also important to remember that your needs will change over time. What worked for you a few years ago may not work for you now. It's a good idea to reevaluate your CRM needs every few years to make sure you're still using the best product for your business. Don't be afraid to switch providers if you find that your current CRM isn't meeting your needs anymore.
An outdated CRM can hold you back in a number of ways and ultimately hurt your bottom line. By finding a CRM that suits you and your needs, you can free up your time and focus on what really matters – building relationships and generating listings.
As we settle into 2023, it’s vital that you act quickly and start thinking about the year, and look to find ways that you and your business can continue to improve.
Here are four things you should be doing to better prepare for the new year and set yourself up for success.
You’re not going to be able to improve unless you take the time to understand your past efforts. At the turn of the new year, one of the most important tasks you can do as a real estate agent or business owner is to review your year and analyse the areas that went well, but also the areas that need improvement.
A great start is to begin looking at where most of your leads are coming from, and then look to find ways to do more of those activities. You can also review how your team has performed, how efficiently your time has been spent, and also if your technology tools have been making your life and business better.
If you don’t have good data on things like your source of leads or where your time is going, you know that your first job this year is to start tracking these metrics so you can have a baseline to work with and improve upon.
You’re going to find it very difficult to continue to grow and succeed in business if you’re not setting goals. Goals give your business focus and direction and are crucial in measuring your success.
Start the year by sitting down with your team to discuss and start setting goals. Keep in mind that while it’s great to have big goals around profits and money, it’s more important to set progress goals that will guide you to your larger scale growth goals.
You want to target things that are in your control so that you know if you achieve them, you will be well on your way to hitting your financial goals as well.
A great example would be how many prospecting phone calls you and your team make every week. You might know that if you make 100 calls per week, you will get 10 leads, which culminate in one listing. Use your analytical data to work backwards and try and hit your financial targets with process-driven goals.
Most successful people are very stringent with their daily routines. They often do the exact same things every day at the same time which this allows them to be laser-focused in what they are doing.
If you haven’t established a routine for your week, then it’s likely that you’re losing a lot of time simply by lack of structure. Start now by planning out your calendar in advance and don’t forget to book in breaks and things like family time.
You can work backwards from your list of process goals to outline how many hours each week you need for various tasks that will allow you to maximise your time and grow your revenues.
If you’re going to grow and reach the elite levels of real estate, you’re not going to be able to do it alone. The earlier you can build a team and incorporate technology into your business the faster you're going to be able to grow.
The first place to start is usually by adding well-integrated technology tools like a quality CRM that allows you to reach more people and maximise your time.
After that, it’s time to start thinking about adding team members. You can start with a virtual assistant and then look to expand with people who can help with the backend and admin worth, before trying to add more sales associates.
Your goal when building processes is to try to remove yourself from as much of the day-to-day work as you can. So you can put all your time and attention into the activities that generate the most revenue for your business.
The auction process is a fantastic way to sell property as it is both incredibly transparent and also allows for strong results from vendors.
As a real estate agent, it's important to understand how to get the most out of an auction campaign, and what some of the best tactics are.
In some ways, the main job of the real estate agent is to bring in as many potential bidders as you possibly can. For your vendor to get the very best result, you should be looking to have at least two active bidders so they can potentially drive the price higher. To do this, an agent must cast their net far and wise to attract as many people to the property as possible, in the hopes they'll be prepared to bid on auction day.
Whenever you are preparing to launch a new campaign, the first thing you should be looking to do is to bring in as many potential buyers as possible. Find people who have been to open homes who are looking for similar types of properties.
Use your CRM to automate emails and text messages, firstly to reach out to them to show them the property. Then continue to follow up with all the various people to keep them informed throughout the process, and don't forget to remind them about open homes and of course the say of the auction itself.
You can also utilise social media to create targeted ads. Products like PropTech Group's Social Eazie make this possible, and easy to set up, you can easily target potential buyers in your local area within minimal work.
Well before you start the auction campaign, you should have a clear plan put in place that culminates with having the auction on the right day and at the right time as well as in the correct location.
While most auctions will occur at the property, it's important to work backwards to determine the right day, and even the best time of day. You can often consult with the auctioneer on this part of the process, as they will understand the market and also how the different time slots will suit your particular property.
As an agent, you should be an expert in the location where you're selling the property as part of your personal brand. You should understand the buyers and the sellers, and what they're both wanting at that point in time.
You should also understand what the current market is like and which side is more in control of the market. The more expertise you can bring, the better you can work for your vendor while also assisting buyers to make them as comfortable as possible. Expertise is also one of the key factors in building trust with clients.
Remember that most people are first-time bidders at auction and this can be a very daunting process. Many may have never seen an auction take place, so be sure to help your buyers and give them the information the might need to move through the auction process.
It's important that you work with an experienced auctioneer who has a track record of getting strong results in your area. Auctioneers are masters at understanding the crows and how the auction is playing out.
They know how to adjust the bid increments and when, and they should also have the seller's best interest at heart. They can also be a valuable partner in planning out the action campaign.
When auction day arrives, it's important that as an agent, you're bringing positivity and energy. An auction can take a life of its own and the day itself is usually filled with excitement and anticipation.
As the selling agent, this is exactly what you want. You want buyers to be excited and eager to place bids. The more hype you can generate around the property on the day, the better the result.
After seeing some of the strongest price growth so far this year, both Perth and Adelaide have now joined the other major capital cities with declining prices.
The latest data from CoreLogic shows that property values across the country fell 1.8% last month, led by a 2.3% decline in Sydney prices.
Brisbane prices dropped 1.8%, Hobart and Canberra fell 1.7% while Melbourne was 1.2% lower. Darwin was the only capital city market to record price growth last month.
Source: CoreLogic
CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, said Brisbane’s market had finally started to slow down after almost two years of growth.
“It was only two months ago that the Brisbane housing market peaked after recording a 42.7% boom in values,” Mr Lawless said.
“Over the past two months, the market has reversed sharply with values down -1.8% in August after a - 0.8% drop in July.”
According to CoreLogic, it’s not just the capital cities that are experiencing declining prices. Regional markets are also starting to turn down after what has been a record-setting few years of price growth.
Regional home values were down -1.5% in August compared with a -1.6% fall in values across the combined capitals. Between March 2020 and January 2022 regional dwelling values surged more than 40% compared with a 25.5% rise for the combined capitals.
“The largest falls in regional home values are emanating from the commutable lifestyle hubs where housing values had surged prior to the recent rate hikes,” Mr Lawless said.
“Over the past three months, values are down -8.0% across the Richmond-Tweed, -4.8% across the Southern Highlands-Shoalhaven market and -4.5% across Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.“
The annual trend in housing values is rapidly levelling out. After moving through a peak annual growth rate of 21.3% in November last year, the annual growth rate across the combined capitals has eased back to just 2.2%. Values across Sydney (-2.5%) and Melbourne (-2.1%) are now below the level recorded this time last year.
Despite the recent weakness, housing values across most regions remain well above pre-COVID levels. Home values in all capital cities and rest-of-state regions, bar Melbourne, remain 15% or above the levels recorded in March 2020, implying most home owners have a significant equity buffer before their home is likely to be worth less than what they paid.
“A 15% peak to trough decline would roughly take CoreLogic’s combined capitals index back to March 2021 levels,” Mr Lawless said.
“Additionally, many home owners would have had at least a 10% deposit and paid down a portion of their principal, the risk of widespread negative equity remains low.”
Mr Lawless said he expects the downturn will continue to play out through the remainder of the year, and possibly into 2023.
“It’s hard to see housing prices stabilising until interest rates find a ceiling and consumer sentiment starts to improve,” he said.
“From current levels, interest rates are likely to increase by at least another 75 basis points and there is a good chance advertised stock levels will accumulate through the spring selling season, providing more choice for buyers and adding further downwards pressure on housing values.”
According to Mr Lawless, higher advertised stock levels are mostly the result of less housing demand rather than a rise in the number of new listings being added to the market. Nationally, CoreLogic estimates the number of home sales over the three months to August was -14.8% below the same period a year ago, but larger declines were evident across some cities including Sydney (-35.4%), Canberra (-18.9%) and Melbourne (- 16.5%).
“Between winter and spring we typically see a 22% rise in the number of new capital city listings based on the pre-COVID five-year average,” Mr Lawless said.
The flow of new listings this spring season may not be quite as active with the housing downturn dissuading some prospective vendors, but we are likely to see more listings added to the market than in winter.
“At the same time we are expecting to see less buying activity as higher interest rates and low sentiment continue to weigh on demand. Should this scenario play out, the net result will be an accumulation of advertised supply that could further weigh down values.”
Rental rates increased a further 0.8% in August according to CoreLogic’s national rental index, down from 1.0%.
The slowdown in rental appreciation comes after annual rental growth reached double digits (10.0%) for the first time since at least 2006 when CoreLogic rental statistics commence. The slowdown was most evident across regional Australia, where the annual rate of rental growth eased from 12.5% in November last year to 10.1% over the 12 months ending August. Growth in capital city rental trends look to be easing a little as well, with the combined capitals recording a 10.0% rent rise over the past year, while the monthly trend eases from a recent peak of 1.1% in May to 1.0% in August.
“This trend is reversing as tenants become more willing to rent in higher density situations, especially in Sydney and Melbourne where unit rents are now rising at a much faster pace than house rents,” Mr Lawless said.
“Potentially we are seeing the first signs of smaller rental households that formed earlier in the pandemic reverting back to larger households or utilising higher density rental options to combat worsening rental affordability.”
Source: CoreLogic
The outlook for the housing market remains intertwined with the trajectory of interest rates. Forecasts for the terminal cash rate generally range from the mid-2% to the mid-3% range, although financial markets are pricing in a peak cash rate of just over 4% by August next year. Mr Lawless said the range of forecasts for the cash rate highlights the sheer uncertainty associated with inflation, wages growth and monetary policy.
“As borrowing power is eroded by higher interest rates and rising household expenses due to inflation, it’s reasonable to expect a further decline in consumer confidence and lower housing demand,” Mr Lawless said.
Mr Lawless said that while interest rates are hurting property prices, it is also helping with affordability in many areas.
“The wash up is that lower housing prices and higher incomes should make home ownership more achievable for non-home owners, but headwinds remain in being able to save for a deposit and demonstrate the ability to service a loan amid such a high cost of living,” he said.
“With spring upon us, advertised stock levels are expected to rise. Inventory was already higher than average across some markets at the end of winter (Sydney/Melbourne/Hobart) and, although the flow of new listings may not be as high as previous years, we could see advertised supply accumulating through spring due to a lack of housing demand.
“Amid higher advertised stock levels, vendors will be competing across a larger pool of available supply for fewer buyers. While this is positive news for buyers, sellers will need to be realistic in their pricing expectations and ensure they have a quality marketing campaign in place.”
Although housing values are on track to record a significant drop, the risk of widespread negative equity remains low, considering the substantial rise in housing values between September 2020 and April 2022. Nationally home values rose by 28.6%; so even a 20% decline in housing values would result in housing values remaining above their pre-COVID levels.
Property prices are continuing to soften with both Sydney and Melbourne leading the falls across the country.
According to the latest data from CoreLogic, national property values fell 1.3% in July, with Sydney down 2.2% and Melbourne's values dropping by 1.5%.
The previously rampant Brisbane market also dipped into negative territory for the first time in nearly two years, falling -0.8%, while Canberra (-1.1%) and Hobart (-1.5%) were also down over the month.
Perth's growth in values has seen a sharp reduction, but it still managed to achieve a small 0.2% gain, while Adelaide (+0.4%) and Darwin (+0.5%) also showed positive growth.
Source: CoreLogic
CoreLogic's Research Director, Tim Lawless, said rising interest rates are likely to cause price to continue to soften.
"The rate of growth in housing values was slowing well before interest rates started to rise, however, it's abundantly clear markets have weakened quite sharply since the first rate rise on May 5," Mr Lawless said.
"Although the housing market is only three months into a decline, the national Home Value Index shows that the rate of decline is comparable with the onset of the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008, and the sharp downswing of the early 1980s."
"In Sydney, where the downturn has been particularly accelerated, we are seeing the sharpest value falls in almost 40 years."
Regional markets have also weakened, with the combined regional index recording the first monthly decline (-0.8%) since August 2020. Dwelling values were down across Regional New South Wales (-1.1%), Regional Victoria (-0.7%), Regional Queensland (-0.7%) and Regional Tasmania (-0.6%), while values continued to trend higher in Regional SA (1.1%) and Regional WA (0.1%).
Overall, regional markets are still outperforming their capital city counterparts, but this month's figures show major regional centres are not immune to falling home values.
"Dwelling values across CoreLogic's combined regionals index were up 41.1% from the pandemic trough to the June peak, compared with a 25.5% rise across the combined capitals index," Mr Lawless said.
"The stronger growth reflects a significant demographic shift towards commutable regional markets, which is likely to have some permanency as more workers take advantage of formalised hybrid employment arrangements."
Most of the regional centres adjacent to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (including Geelong, Ballarat, Illawarra, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, the Southern Highlands & Shoalhaven, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast) recorded a decline in home values over the three months to July, marking the end of nearly two years of significant capital gains.
After seeing a slower rate of growth during the past few years, unit values are now holding up strongly compared to houses, with values down -1.0% compared to -1.5% for houses.
"This trend is most apparent across the three largest capitals as well as Canberra, where housing affordability challenges may be deflecting more demand towards the medium to high density sector," Mr Lawless said.
"Additionally, firmer interest from investors should favour the unit market over houses where demand has historically been more concentrated."
Listings continue to trend higher across much of the country, however, there is a growing divergence between the major capital cities and the smaller locations.
In Sydney and Melbourne, total listings are already 8 to 10% above five-year averages, however Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are recording advertised supply levels that are more than -30% below the five-year average, suggesting a faster absorption through the growth cycle to-date.
Notably, CoreLogic's estimate of sales activity over the three months to July was -16% lower relative to the same period in 2021.
The national figures are heavily impacted by an estimated -39.8% drop in sales across Sydney and a -26.3% fall in Melbourne sales, relative to the same period a year ago. Stronger markets such as Adelaide and Perth have recorded a rise in activity, with the estimated volume of sales up 21.6% and 7.2% respectively.
"It's important to remember the context of these statistics," Mr Lawless said.
"While national home sales are falling from record highs, they are still 9.2% above the previous five-year average for this time of year.
"There is a good chance the number of properties sold in the second half of this year and into 2023 will continue to trend lower as higher interest rates, a more cautious lending environment and a reduction in household confidence continues to weigh on housing demand."
Source: CoreLogic
Rents continued to trend higher through July, rising 0.9% nationally over the month to be 2.8% higher over the rolling quarter and 9.8% higher over the past 12 months.
The trend in rising rents is evident across each of the capital city and broad rest of state markets, led by Brisbane with a 4.2% rental rise over the three months to July, to a 0.3% rise across regional NT.
Mr Lawless said rental markets are extremely tight, with vacancy rates around 1% or lower across many parts of Australia.
"The number of rental listings available nationally has dropped by a third compared to the five-year average, with no signs of a lift in rental supply," he said.
“On top of already tight rental supply, it’s likely demand will continue to increase as overseas arrival numbers climb."
“Such widespread and rapid rental growth is likely to remain one of the key domestic factors pushing up inflation, along with construction, food, transport and energy costs.”
While some of these can be attributed to global supply chain issues, the rental situation is a domestic one, caused by a combination of tight supply and amplified demand, according to Mr Lawless.
“Logically, we will probably see a reversal of the pandemic trend towards smaller rental households as tenants look to maximise their occupancy and spread rental costs across a larger household.
“To this end, rental values are rising fastest in the more affordable unit sector as tenants seek out cheaper rental options.”
Source: CoreLogic
The outlook for national property markets remains uncertain as the RBA continues to move forward with higher interest rates to combat inflation.
“As borrowing power is eroded by higher interest rates, and rising household expenses due to inflation, it’s reasonable to expect a further loss of momentum in housing demand,” Mr Lawless said.
Mr Lawless said this interest rate hiking cycle may be short and sharp, with financial markets and some economic forecasters now factoring in interest rate cuts through the second half of next year.
“When interest rates start to stabilise, or potentially reduce next year, this could be the cue for housing values to find a floor,” he said.
“Similar to the trajectory of the upswing, this downswing phase could be a short but sharp one, depending on how high and fast interest rate settings go.”
The spring selling season will test the depth of housing demand where historically the flow of new listings has surged through spring and early summer, typically reaching a peak in late November Mr Lawless said.
“The rise in freshly advertised stock may not be met with a commensurate lift in buyer demand, resulting in higher levels of housing inventory.
“By late spring or early summer, we could be seeing advertised stock levels trend higher than normal,” he said.
“Vendors are likely to be more competitive across a smaller pool of active buyers, which would drive clearance rates lower across auction markets, and could result in longer selling times and larger discounting rates for private treaty sales.”
Each year, we all become more reliant on technology than we ever have before, and that certainly includes the real estate industry.
Industries that have traditionally always been ‘people’ focused, centring around building relationships, can sometimes be overlooked when it comes to adopting technology but that would be a huge mistake. Technology has the ability to make us better at our jobs and more efficient.
Technology can help streamline existing processes and reduce the inefficiencies within the real estate industry – here are some of the areas that agents or agencies can adopt to improve how they perform within an increasingly competitive industry.
While a lot of what an agent does on a daily basis involves building relationships and working with people, there are still a lot of small repetitive tasks that can be eliminated.
Things like tracking potential clients with a CRM, or getting rid of paperwork with smart apps are just some of the examples of how technology is already improving the lives of many agents.
Having access to the data you need, when you need it, will help real estate agents make smarter, more strategic decisions within their business everyday.
For more information on the top five tools you should be looking for in your real estate CRM, please watch this on-demand webinar.
Any task that is repetitive and does not require a person to physically do can potentially be removed with automation and technology. That frees agents up to focus on the big picture items that have the most impact and generate the most revenue. There’s also the potential to continue to streamline the entire sales process, which could see things like settlement times significantly reduced.
While traditionally buyers have always needed to view properties in person through home opens, over the last few years, this has changed.
With the advent of technology like virtual reality and 3d tours, it’s possible to get a real feel for a property without ever needing to visit. This is especially important for investors who would be willing to purchase a property without ever setting foot in it. As the quality of this technology continues to improve, there will likely be more avenues to get people to view a property.
While an agent on the ground is still very good at estimating what a property might be worth, the advent of technology such as AI is really helping to generate very accurate prices for properties.
As the ability to access data only increases over time, so will the accuracy of how a property might sell. Agents need to understand how to market a property based on the level of interest it is likely to attract and using tools that can assist them will help going forward. You can also choose to integrate your CRM with data providers such as RP Data or PriceFinder, to get accurate valuation estimates without leaving a single platform.
We all know just how good the likes of Facebook and Google are at finding potential customers for advertisers. Their whole business is built around using data and matching would-be buyers and sellers to all sorts of products and services. This approach is incredibly targeted and has changed the way marketing is done within a generation.
As machine learning and AI continue to evolve, these platforms and others will continue to be able to provide incredibly targeted ads to customers. There will also be the ability to better build your brand through using the various social media platforms and their targeting algorithms.
Similarly, enhanced marketing tools that integrate with your real estate CRM, can help you generate higher quality leads at a much lower cost. This on-demand webinar will give you many more tips on how to generate more leads for your real estate business.
With cost-effective technology increasingly available, it’s critical that you keep on top of the latest trends and most effective platforms to market your properties or you’ll be a step behind the competition.
Want to learn more? Book a chat or demo with one of our tech stack consultants, we would love to help!
New listings are the lifeblood of a real estate agent and when they start to dry up, it can make for a tough time.
Fortunately, there are a number of things agents can do to make sure their pipeline is always full and there are always new listings on the horizon.
Here are three things you may need to improve on if you find you aren’t winning listings on a regular basis.
Most agents understand that closing a transaction is the very end result after a long process, which begins from the first time you come in contact with a would-be vendor.
If you aren’t winning listings at the moment, it’s most likely that if you look back six weeks ago, your prospecting wasn’t at the level that it needed to be. A lack of prospecting back then will mean fewer listing presentations, fewer listings and ultimately fewer sales.
To ensure your pipeline remains full, you need to be consistent in your prospecting every single week to make sure you don’t run into dry spells down the line.
Whatever marketing strategy you are currently pursuing, consistency is the key, while always looking to do more of what is working and less of what’s not.
Real estate agents tend to be in either boom or bust mode where they either have too much work to handle or a lack of listings. The top performers always ensure they have a steady stream of new business as they focus on prospecting every single day and put systems in place to manage their pipeline. Consistent prospecting is key.
It is well known that real estate is a relationship business, however, it’s important to understand that in order to win a listing, you will need to work very hard to build a relationship with a vendor well before a listing presentation.
This ultimately comes down to your marketing process and what you are doing to increase the number of touchpoints with potential sellers.
Top agents work hard to get their name out there as much as possible and then continually follow up with both buyers and sellers. This continuous contact helps build relationships well in advance of a vendor ever wanting to list their home. So when the time comes to list, the agent that has put in all that groundwork is likely to have a good chance to win the listing.
Focus more on giving value to people and building relationships and less on trying to win new business.
In some ways, the agents who need the business the least are likely to be the ones that ultimately win the listing.
While success does breed success, it’s important to have a mindset that is focused on helping vendors and doing the best you can for them.
While it might be tempting to make promises of a high sales price to a vendor, this will often not serve you as an agent or the client. It’s far more important to have a longer-term perspective and try to help the vendor solve their problem and do what’s right for them.
If you’re thinking longer term this will help you win business down the track. Imagine if you told a vendor that their property was worth a certain figure, only for it to sell at a significant discount with little interest. That vendor is highly unlikely to recommend you to their friends or family and that will mean your listings and sales will suffer in the long run.
By thinking long term and doing what’s best for the vendor, you’ll be far better off and so will your clients.
PropTech Group CEO Joe Hanna gives an overview on The PropTech Group and describes our approach to technology and how we help real estate agents and agencies.
In real estate, your name is your brand and unless your brand presents itself as trustworthy, it’s going to be difficult to continue to grow your business.
In years gone by real estate agents have had image issues with trust, which stemmed from a small minority of agents using dubious tactics to win listings and equally questionable sales tactics.
More recently, the industry has changed a great deal, and with data on property prices readily available to both buyers and sellers, the way real estate is conducted is more transparent and fairer than ever before.
With more data and technology at the fingertips of both agents and clients, the agent themselves becomes the differentiating factor within competition. For this reason, respect and trust within agents is more important than ever. Furthermore, it is often the most important factor a vendor contemplates when deciding on an agent.
Here are some things you can do to improve your trust with clients.
Being completely honest with a vendor is one of the most important elements in building trust.
Vendors want to know how much their property is actually worth and what the current market is like for their property. While it might be great in the short term to win a listing by telling a vendor that you can achieve a record price for their property, that will likely only lead to both parties being disappointed with the end outcome.
By being honest and having integrity on all matters, you’re going to be building a reputation for yourself that will resonate within the industry. In the short term, it might cost you a listing, but in the long term, honesty will build trust and set you up for a long career.
Vendors need to know what’s happening throughout the entire process of selling their property. Most really do appreciate all the small details and it’s important that you keep an open line of communication with them at all times. They certainly shouldn’t have to wait more than 24 hours for you to be calling them back.
While different vendors will prefer different forms of communication, be sure to keep them in the loop. That way they feel a part of the process and you are also building your relationship along the way.
Actions speak louder than words, and given the previous reputation of real estate agents, it’s imperative that promises are kept.
Nothing can hurt trust between two parties more than saying you’ll do something and not doing it. Not following through on your word can often be interpreted as a false promise or lying, and in business this can be a deal-breaker.
If you make a promise to a client, ensure you deliver. If you can’t, get on the front foot immediately and let them know why, and what you’re going to do about it.
A vendor doesn’t expect perfection, but they do expect you to be proactive and to stick to your word.
We all know that real estate agents are busy and are often on call seven days a week. Regardless, it’s still important that you always act promptly when someone reaches out to you. Even if you can’t resolve the issue that is being brought to you at that time, acknowledge the vendor and their problem, and provide them with a timeline of when you can get back to them with more capacity for problem solving, or perhaps even come back with a solution.
Simply getting back to someone's SMS, email or phone call gives the impression that you genuinely care and are proactive. From a vendor's point of view, they want an agent who is there ready to rally as many buyers as they can for their property.
With so much focus on making sales and winning listings, it can be easy to forget that you are dealing with real people who have genuine problems and are often going through big life changes.
Listen to what your clients are telling you and then do your best to solve the problem for them. Just the act of listening to someone immediately builds rapport and trust because so few people genuinely listen to others in a meaningful way.
For fast-talking, busy agents it can be tempting to throw down your sales pitch, but you’re far better off learning to take a step back and working on your listening skills. By listening to your vendors instead of talking at them, you will be able to better understand their needs and then fulfil those needs.
By building and maintaining honesty and integrity with your vendors, you are much more likely to create positive experiences which will improve your reputation as an agent.
PropTech Group COO Bill Nikolouzakis gives an overview on The PropTech Group and describes our approach to technology and how we help real estate agents and agencies.
