If you’re a realtor, you’ll know it’s possibly one of the most competitive industries you can be a part of - and that’s probably at least part of the reason why you enjoy it. There’s something exciting about all that competition and trying to become the best that can motivate some people, and although it will depend on you and your personality, if it does suit you, then selling properties could be the ideal career choice.
Of course, there’s no point in fighting to become the best if you never stand a chance of rising above the competition, which is why you need to have a strategy in place to get ahead, stay ahead, and have an excellent reputation for being the ultimate realtor in your area. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help you get started and formulate your plan.
Know Your Local Market
The first step to becoming the best realtor in your local area is to have an in-depth knowledge of that area - you need to know it back to front and inside out. This includes knowing the neighborhoods (and which ones are the best to buy in), property values, schools, amenities, any future plans and development, and so on. It’s crucial to keep yourself updated with market trends and to gather as much data as you can so you’re able to answer clients’ questions easily (and accurately) and always know precisely which properties are going to be best for them.
This all means you’ll need to regularly carry out market research so you can stay ahead of the competition, and you can never assume you’ve got all the information because there’s probably going to be a lot more to discover - plus, things change, and it’s wise to remember that.
Networking With Local Businesses
Another idea that can help you become the best realtor in the area is to network with local businesses, including mortgage brokers, home inspectors, contractors, interior designers, and perhaps specialists in home staging storage too. When you’ve got these connections to hand, you can offer your clients loads of added extras, and even if you can’t give them any discounts, you can still give them advice about the best businesses to use - when you do that, hopefully you’ll find the advice reciprocated, so you get more clients over and over again.
Remember that being a realtor means working with people and forming connections because your clients need to know they can trust you. That’s why working with other local businesses is a great idea because it shows you’re serious about what you do and you’ve got the knowledge and insider information to help as much as possible.
Build Strong Relationships
Following on from the point above, building strong relationships with your clients (and with like-minded businesses, come to that) is an excellent thing to do and it can really help boost your business over and above anyone else’s. If you’re planning to make this happen, communication is key; you need to be available for your clients at all times, whether that’s via the phone, email, or in person - or any other means of communication that works for you and, more importantly, them. Make sure you always listen actively to what they have to say and what they’re asking you to do, and then you’ll be able to provide them with what they want; that’s going to make a huge difference to your success and, ultimately, to how well you can get ahead of your competition.
As well as communication, you’ll generally need to go above and beyond to ensure your clients get the very best customer service possible - they’ll certainly appreciate that, and it’s going to get you a great reputation, as well as plenty of sales that you might have lost otherwise. Be responsive, professional, and empathetic at all times, and remember that buying and selling houses is an emotional thing for the client, not to mention a big financial decision, so making things as smooth and stress-free as you can for them is really going to make a big difference.
Come Up With New Ideas
There are many things you can do to help you stand out and be the best realtor in the area, and you’ll probably have to put them all into practice to ensure you get legitimately hold that title, but something that’s worth investigating is how to offer new ideas to your customers. If you can show that you’re modern and you’ve got a wide range of new and exciting solutions, that could sway people over to using your services, and once they’ve chosen you, your excellent customer service will do the rest and keep them as happy customers.
So what do we mean when we talk about new ideas? Technology is definitely going to come into play here, and there are all sorts of things you can put in place to help the client sell their home and ensure others want to buy more. Virtual tours are one of these things, and another is using drones to capture images of the property from every possible angle. You might always want to put 3D floor plans in place so that people get the full idea of what the property’s like before they even step foot inside. After all, although it’s always best to see any house you’re intending to buy in person, sometimes that’s just not possible, and this kind of tech is the next best thing.
You can also offer a wide range of creative marketing strategies so you can reach as many people as possible to make sure you find a buyer for the house as quickly and successfully as possible. That could include live videos, stories, virtual tours, and so on. The more you can do to attract as many potential buyers as possible, the more chance you’ve got of selling the property sooner rather than later, and at the price the customer wants, and that’s always going to be something that puts you well ahead of the competition.
