The Skills Needed to Be a Top Producing Real Estate Agent

Upon entering the real estate industry, every new agent has the dream of becoming a top producing real estate agent. While this is a dream shared by many, few are actually able to attain it. An overwhelming number of new real estate agents leave the profession after two years. This is because they are unable to meet their commission expectations, or are not able to fully commit to the profession. Don't let that be you.

How do you become a top producing real estate agent? This can be a daunting question at first. It is necessary to ask at the very beginning of your career if you hope to have the building blocks needed to eventually become a highly successful agent. While there are multiple elements to becoming a top producing agent, focusing on the specific skills you need to develop is a good start to becoming a successful agent. Nurturing these skills and mastering them takes an extensive amount of time. Therefore you should begin the journey as soon as you get your license.

Skills to Focus On

Skills refers to skills sets that need to be nurtured and developed in order to be successful as an agent. These skill sets are specific to real estate agents, and can be difficult or time consuming to develop at first. Stay committed, though. An intense dedication to the profession, and skills required of it, is needed if you ever wish to be a top producing agent.

Communication

Having good sales and communication skills go hand-in-hand because you truly can not have one without the other. Without amazing communication skills, you will never be able to close a sale. As a real estate agent, you need to be constantly communicating with your clients. Always keep them in the loop on everything that happens. A home is a massive purchase and home buyers want to know exactly what is going on every step of the way. Therefore, you should always give timely responses with email, text, or phone calls.

Try to always stay ahead of your clients. When they are forced to ask you questions all the time and always initiate the conversation, it leads to stress and mistrust—two things you definitely do not want your clients to feel. So you should do your best to always give them all the information you have access to. This hopefully answers their questions before they even ask them.

Sales

Many real estate agents take a consultative selling approach. You are not selling a product that nobody needs. Everyone needs a home, and your job is to help your clients make informed decisions about purchasing one. Top agents focus on discovering their clients' wants and needs, and then finding a way to meet them. Whether those wants and needs are specific to the home itself, or the service you are providing, it is essential to ensure the client feels they are in good hands. Even when using a helping approach, top agents know they should always be focusing on closing. If you are not consistently asking for the appointment, contract, listing agreement, or whatever the next step in sales the process may be, you will never get it.

How you conduct follow-ups is another primary factor when considering your sales skills. In the real estate industry, having frequent and productive follow-up encounters is a must. All the best agents know that it takes numerous follow-up encounters to turn a lead into a client. Therefore, you should always be planning multiple encounters with any leads you have. Whether that encounter be over email, social media, or in-person, successful follow-ups are vital to your prosperity as an agent.

It is also a great idea to ask the question, "How do you become a top producing real estate agent?" to any experienced agents you know. Experienced agents have years of sales knowledge to share with you, as well as knowledge of all the other skills you need to excel at in order to be successful as an agent. If others have developed tried and true tactics for closing a sale, who says those tactics can't work for you as well?

Local Real Estate Market

Clients want to be able to ask any questions about the local real estate scene, and want you to be able to give a complete and informative answer. These questions could pertain to anything from the safety of neighborhoods, to the best school districts, to the lifestyle amenities offered in a specific community. Knowing all this information off hand is obviously a lot to expect of you, but having this skill and knowledge will only prove to be beneficial. Over time, attaining this knowledge will come easier with experience. At the start of your career, though, it is best to spend a quality amount of time doing research on the area you will be servicing. Being able to articulate extensive knowledge of the area will impress your clients, as well as get you positive reviews and referrals from them.

Transaction Management

Having extensive knowledge of how real estate transactions are conducted and completed is also necessary. It is recommended that you even attain additional designations such as a CRS. It is vital to have your paperwork organized and done on time as a real estate agent. Many top producing agents even utilize a transaction coordinator to ensure that their paperwork is always done to the highest quality.

Versatility

As a real estate agent, you will be working with numerous different personality types and numerous different communication styles. It is simply the nature of the work. You are not able to be picky about who you choose to take on as a client. You must also be able to give each client an amazing real estate experience regardless of the type of person they are. That's why it's necessary that you be versatile in your communication and sales skills. Be prepared to present information in a variety of different ways, and hone the ability to add versatility into your scripts and objection-handlers.

Creativity

Versatility goes hand-in-hand with creativity. Constantly be thinking of creative solutions and ideas to implement. Interact with potential leads on social media, start your own real estate blog, or utilize video emails. Those are only a few examples of creative and innovative ideas to implement, but there are countless more if none of those fit your style. Being rigid and inflexible in your work will only cost you money.

Clients want to feel like their business is valued and that you consider them a priority. So it is always in your best interest to stay on top of the latest industry trends and continue to constantly think of your own creative ideas to ensure your clients' satisfaction.

How to Be a Top Producing Real Estate Agent

While there are many elements to being a top producing agent, focusing on the skills required of the profession should always be a priority. Your skills as a real estate agent can always be developed and nurtured, so make sure that is always of your utmost concern. Becoming a top producing agent takes time, dedication, and a commitment to continuously improving on your skills. If you are willing to put in the work, you will create a career you love and excel at.

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