ALT-1 How to Generate Referrals as a Real Estate Agent
As a real estate agent, one of the most important aspects of my job lies in referral generation. New agents, especially, will need to spend an enormous amount of time building a client base that will help ensure future success. There are five primary lead generators that I use on a regular basis to build and maintain my own business.
First and foremost is advertising. Whether it is newspaper ads, real estate periodical pages, or telephone book listings, the money you invest in eye-catching advertisements will be money that you will see multiplied many times over. Do not be afraid to make that initial investment. It may seem like a lot now, but the future rewards are without limit!
If you are not the creative sort, consider hiring someone who is to design your ad work. With the amount of advertising bombarding people today, you will need to make yours stand out to really be effective.
Monthly marketing is another great opportunity. Mailing lists and labels can be obtained from most title and escrow companies for no charge, as they look forward to your future business. Setting a few hours aside each month to create fliers and postcards is another means of getting your name and picture into the hands of your community.
Even if you are a newcomer to the exciting world of real estate with no listings of your own, you can hold open houses. There is usually no shortage of agents who will be happy to allow you to hold their listing open, as it impresses most sellers to have this done occasionally. Some established agents will even pay another agent a small fee to perform this task for them. Although many sellers believe otherwise, open houses are not known for leading to the sale of the house being held open. They are primarily a tool for gaining potential clients for the agent.
"Floor time" or "desk time" is a tool for generating business that you will want to use as much as possible. Especially for this reason, choosing the company that you are going to hang your license at is more important than you may think as you start out. For example, I work with one of the most well-known real estate businesses world-wide. Because of this, our office takes more listings, spends more on company advertising, and thus gets more phone inquiries than our competitors. This greatly impacts the effectiveness of the time I spend at the floor desk.
Finally, once you have begun accumulating a clientele, comes the most important part of all, outstanding customer service! Keep in mind that you are assisting your clients in decisions that effect what is probably the largest single investment they will ever make. Treat each person with respect and consideration, never as "just another transaction" and you will get repeat business, referrals, and possibly a new friend.
