Getting listings as a new agent can be a challenge, especially in this low inventory market. But securing listings is key to long-term success in this industry. So how do you land seller clients when you’re a rookie agent without a long track record to lean on? Here are 6 strategies for new agents (or any agent!) looking to get more listings.
1. Tap Into Your Buyer Clients
One of the best ways to start getting listings is to contact the buyers you’ve worked with in the past who might be ready for a move. Focus your initial efforts on those buyer clients who have experienced a recent transition and might be looking to sell in the near future. Pay attention to engagement and baby announcements and job changes or promotions (social media is great for keeping up with these details!). If you keep track of home buying anniversaries (which you should!), be sure to renew your connection with contacts who have owned their property for 3-5 years.
2. Strengthen and Expand Your Sphere of Influence
Your sphere is the single most important source for listings that you can cultivate. If you are a newer agent, focus on building and then maintaining authentic relationships within your sphere. Now is the time to expand your SOI in any way you can. Get involved in your community –find ways to volunteer, join neighborhood groups, attend networking events, participate in town clean-up days, and get to know your local business owners.
Basically, roll up your sleeves, meet people, and find ways to connect, engage, and—most importantly—to stay in touch. Make note of their birthdays, anniversaries, and special life events, and send them a thoughtful message, a card, or a gift. Follow or friend them on social media and engage with them regularly. Show that you care about them as a person and want to be part of their life. Get them to know, like, and trust you! You can’t do that if you just send out a form letter or blast email once a quarter. The best connections are formed and strengthened by multiple touches throughout the year. Focusing on your sphere now will reap you listings galore in the future!
3. Choose a Specific Area or Niche to Farm for Leads
“Farming” in real estate is a marketing and lead generation strategy that positions an agent as the go-to expert in a specific geographic area or in an industry niche (i.e., new development, condo resales, co-ops, multi-family units, rentals).
The first step in actively farming an area or niche is gaining in-depth knowledge about it. Read, research, and analyze every bit of information about the hyper-local real estate market in the area or niche you want to farm. Be sure you know which houses sold, how fast, for how much, and the average cost per square foot. Know the unique desires, needs, or features of the niche you want to focus on.
Next, you need a plan for farming this area to generate leads that will lead to listing presentations and hopefully, to listings! The key to kickstarting this chain of events is to develop a plan for consistently communicating with homeowners within your farm area. Offer valuable information and insights; send regular postcards, letters, door hangers, and go door-knocking. Be sure to include farm-centric content on your website and social media platforms. It is helpful to create a lead-nurturing process ahead of time so that when those homeowners respond to one of your communications by visiting your website or calling you, you’re able to capture their contact information and follow up regularly.
Putting the time in to do the research on your farm area will pay off when you start booking listing presentations!
Amp up Your Marketing to Attract Listing Leads
It takes a bit of elbow grease to attract leads. Use a mix of old school and new school marketing tactics to attract new listing leads.
- Set up a daily prospecting hour – set up one hour every day to make phone calls to reconnect with your sphere or touch base with leads. Here at Redwood, we dedicate 10am-11am as our prospecting hour, and feature a daily leaderboard for conversations and appointments made.
- Send regular postcards/mailers—send a mix of informational postcards, home valuation offers, “Just Sold” notices. These can be set up to send to your farm automatically.
- Host events in your farm area – host an annual event in your target area and invite the community. These events are a great way to meet and connect with the locals to start building a relationship.
- Set aside time for door knocking – this is an old-school tactic that still works! Focus on your farm area and make door knocking part of a comprehensive outreach plan. That way, by the time you knock on someone’s door, they should already be familiar with you. Face time goes a long way in building a relationship with potential sellers.
- Use Open Houses to your advantage – open houses attract both buyers and people who are considering selling. Help a colleague by helping with their open house and use the time to make connections with the visitors.
Make Sure Your Listing Presentation Is on Point
It’s never too soon to work on elements of your listing presentation! One of the best ways to learn is to shadow a successful listing agent in your brokerage. For your first few presentations, consider partnering with an established listing agent and ask them to mentor you. In exchange, offer to split your commission if you secure the listing!
Sellers have more resources and options than ever before, so they can be more selective about who they work with. To get the listing, you will need to show that you have the knowledge, the know-how, and the hustle to get the job done. Think of your own business marketing as a chance to showcase your skills to future listing clients. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or try new tactics. If you put in the work, the listings will come!
