Top 10 Things Every Agent Needs to Do for a Successful Business

A real estate agent has the potential to grow their business into a successful business, but they have to be strategic.

Here are ten essential things every agent needs to do to ensure they have a successful business. After reading these tips, you will be able to take away some key tips and have your very own successful business:

1. Continue to provide value to past clients

The relationship with a client shouldn't end once the transaction is over. If you want to get referrals and repeat business, you need to continue to stay "top of mind" and provide value. One great way to do this is with a professionally written and designed monthly e-Newsletter that can be sent out automatically each month.

2. Provide one-of-a-kind service

Distinguish yourself by providing a truly top-notch service experience. This means going above and beyond the call of duty and using technology, such as a CRM for agents, to enhance the client's experience. A great CRM such as IXACT Contact will let you provide your clients with service reports and easily keep them updated on everything you're doing to help them buy or sell their home.

3. Respond in a timely manner

As soon as a lead comes through, you need to respond as soon as possible (preferably within an hour). Studies have shown that fast response time is critically important. If you're the first agent to get back to a prospect, you have the best chance of securing his or her business. Make sure that you get an email alert as soon as a lead comes through your website and that the lead is automatically assigned to a drip marketing campaign.

And if a client leaves a voicemail for you, be sure to respond fast as well. Your goal is to provide an amazing service experience for your clients so they'll refer you and use you for years down the road.

4. Stay in touch with your database

We can't stress enough the importance of staying in touch; it's truly the cornerstone to building a referrals-based business. Set up keep-in-touch call reminders, birthday and move-in anniversary reminders, and drip email campaigns to reach people in a variety of ways. If you do these things, you'll be able to slow down prospecting and your business will grow from referrals and repeat transactions.

5. Have the proper tools to stay organized

If you're not organized, you can't be proactive and you won't be able to provide superior service to your clients. Not all agents can afford an assistant, so it's important to make use of the great tools available today, such as a real estate CRM.

6. Know your 12-second marketing message

If you want to leave a lasting impression with those you meet for the first time, you need to have a 12-second marketing message. It's a brief overview of what you do and what sets you apart. The message should emphasize how you help clients. Here is a good example: "I specialize in helping those in the desirable Moore Park area find their dream home at the right size and price." You'll notice how specific it is. It's much more effective than simply saying, "I'm an agent with RE/MAX." The former actually gets people thinking about who they know that you can help (if not themselves!).

7. Automatically capture all leads into your agent CRM

You're likely getting leads from a variety of places, such as your website and a slew of other lead generation sites like Zillow or Trulia. A lot of leads coming from different places can be hard to manage and time-consuming to manually input into your database, so make sure all of them automatically flow into your real estate CRM. This way, all your leads will be in one centralized location and you'll be able to easily assign them all to a drip marketing campaign, or add them to your e-Newsletter distribution list.

8. Keep your word

If you say you're going to meet with someone, call them back at a certain time, or send them more information, make sure you do it. If you don't, it'll be hard to build trust and credibility down the line, and it lowers the overall service experience clients have with you.

9. Get personal

This truly means make an effort to get to know your clients and their lives so you can build a deeper, more meaningful connection. Ask them how their week is going or what's new. Over time, you'll gain an understanding of what's going on in their life and what's important to them. A great CRM provides a rich contact profile for you to fill in these details as well as make notes. Next time you're on the phone with a client, you'll be able to start the conversation off by asking about her son's baseball tournament or his daughter's upcoming wedding.

10. Ask for feedback

How will you be able to improve your service if you never ask for feedback? And while it's great to get positive feedback (which you can ask to use as a testimonial), the negative feedback is often even more valuable because it'll help you develop as an agent and perfect your skills in different areas. Explain to your clients that you build your business by providing great service and encourage them to be frank or honest with you when providing feedback. Don't take the negative feedback personally and remember to thank the client for their feedback, regardless of if it's positive or negative.

Start (or continue) doing these 10 things and you will be on your way to an incredibly successful real estate business.

To view the original article, visit the IXACT Contact blog.