Articles about standing out as a Realtor tend to be a dime a dozen. While the advice of making sure your social media is on point, your website is up to date, and that networking is important (which we will discuss) is valuable, it’s also widely known. So, what do you need to do to truly stand out from the crowd? We’ve put together a list of surefire ways to market yourself well, deliver results, and become the go-to Realtor in your area.
Know your Audience
Niche marketing comes into play here. Obviously, we aren’t telling you that just because you’re great with investment property buyers to ONLY work with investment property buyers. But we are saying it to hone in on where most of your business comes from. Then you can customize a portion of your marketing to that specific group of people. By starting with the market that makes up the bulk of your business, you’re saving time and energy since it comes naturally to you!
Expand your Audience
Once you’ve taken care of the parts of your business that are already flourishing, you can move to growth in markets you may not have as much experience in. For example, if you tend to stall out whenever you work with first-time home buyers, take some time to really dig into what first-time home buyers are looking for, how to best market to them, and how to empathize with the good and bad that comes with buying your first home.
More than anything, people want to feel heard and validated. Just doing that will put you in a class of your own. Then, by being the person who can make buying or selling as seamless and simple as possible, you’ll be well on your way to standing out in the real estate world!
Delegate
No matter where you are in your business one of the keys to success is knowing what your strong points are and knowing what to take off your plate. As a Realtor, you are on call 24/7. Whether by phone, email, or showing, there’s almost always someone who wants an answer to something. This can make it hard to find a work-life balance. Add in the day-to-day tasks that come along with being a Realtor along with all the responsibilities you have in your personal life, and something is bound to fall through the cracks. By surrounding yourself with people who can help you complete tasks, it elevates you in the areas you excel in, and keeps you focused on your goals.
Here are some simple ways to delegate in both your professional life:
- Hire an assistant. While there are many calendar apps and organizational tools out there, sometimes it’s most beneficial to have a gatekeeper. An assistant can help with both personal and professional tasks, can manage your calendar, and can keep you on schedule. They can even be the middle person between you and anyone trying to get ahold of you, making sure you’re taking care of things and people who are top priority first.
- Build out your team. If business is booming and you’re beginning to feel overwhelmed, it may be helpful to begin building out your team. This can include:
- A transaction coordinator (someone who handles the sales and paperwork to make sure closing is efficient and easy)
- A listing manager (this team member will communicate with clients and get contracts into agreements)
- Team members whose jobs are to help at showings, ensuring that everything goes smoothly, and everyone has the information needed as they walk through the home.
Of course, in addition to these possibilities, it’s also necessary at some point to begin bringing on other agents for buying and selling of homes.
- Hire a social media manager. We put this one separate from building out your team because to some people, it’s still fairly new. As we discussed in the beginning of this article, you already know it’s imperative to have a social media strategy and updated website, no matter your business. But frankly, staying on top of social media platforms, everchanging algorithms, and SEO can be exhausting. Hiring someone to do this, or even offering an internship to a college student may bring you some relief and skyrocket your business! A great social media manager can also help with digital open houses. Facebook and Instagram Live became a lifeline in 2020, and that has continued into 2021. Your social media manager will be able to partner with you to make sure showing homes on a digital platform is as successful as possible.
- Take care of business via text. There are so many ways to add SMS messaging into your business that will allow you to expand on leads and help clients before you ever even interact with them personally! Here’s an article that will show you just how text messaging can expand your business.
Customer Service
If there’s one thing that will set you apart from everyone else in real estate, it’s how you treat people from the beginning. Whether it’s a new lead or someone buying their third home with you, it’s important that people feel comfortable and cared for. We all know for every good thing we do in business, about three people are told. But if we miss the mark? Well, that tends to be told near and far! In this age of online reviews, word travels fast, and the Realtor world is no exception.
- Educate clients. Many people love the idea of buying a home but don’t quite understand the process. By offering your advice and knowledge up freely, people are much more likely to buy or sell with you, and to then refer you to a friend. The more you take the time to educate your clients on what’s happening in the market, as well as how the process of buying and selling truly works, the more likely you are to not only make the sale, but to have a loyal client!
- Keep in touch. As we stated above, not everyone knows what they’re getting into when they decide to buy a home. By keeping in touch with your leads and genuinely caring about their lives outside of the home buying process, you will be set apart from someone just trying to make a sale.
- Cater you closing gifts. This one is so simple and so beneficial. Get to know your clients and then cater your closing gift to them. If you know the newly married couple buying with you loves the outdoors, you probably don’t want to give them a candle and recipe book. They may, however, love a new hammock for the beautiful oak tree in their new backyard. This will make them feel special and show your gratitude and care for the people trusting you with the biggest financial investment of their lives.
- Find and recommend people you trust. From appraisals to electricians to mortgage lenders, the more you find your go-to people to send clients to, the more you’ll be the go-to Realtor.
Let’s look at a couple quick tips to delegate in your personal life:
- Cleaning person. Sometimes things are going well professionally, but there aren’t enough hours in the day to keep your personal life in order. What can you take off your plate to make things easier? A cleaning person may feel luxurious, but if you sit down and look at the time you spend keeping up with housework when you’d rather be closing a sale, it may be worthwhile to have someone come in once or twice a month to deep clean your home. By doing this, the daily clean up feels easier, and you don’t have the added stress of knowing your kitchen is needing to be mopped!
- Meal delivery service. Whether it’s a delivery service where you cook the meal, or one where everything just needs to be thrown in the oven or microwaved, there are many delicious and healthy ways to feed yourself or your family with minimal effort on your end. Coming home at the end of a long day and not needing to cook may be just what you need to ease stress and focus on standing out as a Realtor.
- Grocery delivery. If cooking brings you joy, then go for it! But go ahead and opt out of spending an hour or two of your week at the grocery store. With so many affordable grocery delivery services out there, it just makes sense to have your groceries at your door when you get home!
The less stress you have be it at home or at work, the more you’re able to focus on what matters, helping clients buy and sell homes.
At Churchill, we pride ourselves in practicing what we preach. We would never give advice on how to stand out from the crowd if we weren’t doing it ourselves. We give our clients the best of the best, and we recommend the best of the best as well.
We strive to be the team Realtor partners and clients can choose to get the best financing with the highest customer service and education. As you work to be in a league of your own as a Realtor, make sure you connect yourself to people with the same mindset. We’re ready when you are!
