In March of this year, the world took a pause as we were told of a new virus that was taking the world by storm. Businesses were told to close down—to stop producing and stop serving the public, all of which put the business owners at risk for financial disaster. Among the industries that were told to stop production was the real estate sector, but only for a short time—moving into a home is a human need that we luckily continue to provide for the public. However, buying and selling homes in this new market looks different from what us as agents and team leaders were used to. We were pushed to our limits in order to survive. We soldiered on and were able to succeed despite the circumstances. But what did real estate team leaders and agents do to successfully transition to the new policies and procedures, and which ones look like they are going to stick around?
The pandemic has been a spectacular time to re-evaluate, re-tune, review what we’ve been doing and get digital—the internet has hard data that shows that consumers look online during the home-buying and selling process. But at this point, most agents let their company handle these types of lead sources and haven’t advanced their own skill set to best utilize marketing for their business. Some agents still don’t have a web presence, do not execute a social media marketing calendar, do not invest in a digital footprint and don’t embrace the latest technologies to support their clients—all of which are vital to success in this new normal. If you are a team leader, forget about success unless you have these advancements for your agents.
We suggest to “get with it” and become a master of virtual real estate by having:
– Video connection (let them connect directly with you, even if it simply means a recorded video)
– Real-time responses (bots and admins can help here)
– Truly engaging and not just automated content and advice
– Virtual services in your arsenal
– Personal touches with each new step to your processes
Take this amazing opportunity to re-tune what you’ve been doing and start embracing new ways to connect and convert more prospects to profits. People will always need leadership when it comes to finding housing. Great leadership occurs when there is a pivot in the “normal,” like the pandemic. A true leader shows confidence, resilience and an attitude of “looking for the gift in the problem.” It’s easy to look at the roadblock, but leaders see the roadblock and get creative and fascinated with finding a new way to survive and thrive. No matter what your business is, showing authentic solutions helps to build confidence when people are suddenly thrown into a hard change like the pandemic imposed. You can take the opportunity in our changing industry to harness new ideas, creative thinking, and new strategies to move forward.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting, and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com.
