There are many real estate agents – some good and some bad, who would willingly lure your clients away if they could, so it is up to you to ensure that your clients have an excellent experience and feel that their interchange with real estate is in safe hands. If you were going to buy or sell your own house, you would want to be reassured that your realtor is committed to the task at hand and has a confident and assured approach to sales. By putting yourself in your client’s shoes, you can then ensure that you offer an excellent service too.

When you first meet a potential client, you only have approximately 20 seconds to impress them and to start to build the foundations of rapport with them. This may seem incredibly pressured but if you can take those first 20 seconds and use them wisely, then the rest of the time that you are together, you can build upon those early foundations. But how do you tell them that you are the best person for the job without actually saying the words?

Communication is more than just verbal. You can say a lot with your body language too. Sitting upright or leaning forward towards your clients show that you are engaged in the meeting. Mirroring and matching their movements sends subconscious positive signals too. Leaning back in your seat – in a slumped position will also tell your clients that you are more than relaxed. It will tell them that you are not really interested in their business. Similarly, once they have decided to hire your services, if you don’t communicate regularly with them to give them those all-important updates or if you don’t bother to return their calls, they will soon dispense with your services.
You can have the best houses in the area on your books but if you don’t have clients who believe in your services, then you will soon be a very poor real estate agent. Some brokers wait until a set time each day to call their clients back but it is far better to call them as and when you are free and this sets a good precedent for your being organised and dedicated.

To be good in real estate and to outgun the competitors, you need to show that you will do everything in your power to make the process a success and this means, really going the extra mile. If you don’t bother, you will soon find that you lose out in the long run. Remember that real estate is a business, your business and if you don’t look after it, it won’t be much of a business in the end.
Another cardinal real estate no-no is to force a client into using specific affiliate or lending companies. Many real estate agents have gone this route but have started to realise that clients do not like being bullied into any deal. Clients are not stupid; they know that when you tie into anyone particular affiliate or lending company, then there is a sweetener in it for you. Avoid these classic mistakes and you will be able to make your real estate business a successful one.

There are a lot of things within real estate that doesn’t make you money directly. So as much as these jobs have to be done, always keep your eye on the goals that create your income. If you are working for yourself, you may find it hard to keep yourself motivated and self-discipline can be difficult at the best of times, but you will need to tie in these qualities with your success goals.

You need to develop the skills required to creating qualified leads from your prospects and you can do this by making sure that you prequalify your prospects because this will save you a great deal of time and energy going forward. If pre-qualifying is not high on your list of priorities, then you should make it so because it will confirm that your appointment is genuine, any potential issues and whether you have any competition.

Price setting is paramount. You must be able to set a valid price for any property so that you are able to promote it. The price is a huge part of being able to sell a property so you need to ensure that your pricing skills are top notch. Don’t get greedy, be realistic.

Over-coming objections in a confident manner is also important. This doesn’t mean brow beating them into submission either. Often an objection is an indicator that your client is actually interested but needs to be convinced. By listening carefully, you will be able to ascertain what their real concerns are and to be able to reassure them.

Showing a property off to its full advantage is a skill that you will need to learn because it will make a big difference between your being able to sell those houses and earning yourself a nice wage. It’s not just about giving a guided tour; it’s about selling the qualities of the house and the individual rooms. Talk about the views from the window, the ambiance, the proximity of local schools or whether the local transport is sufficient for their needs. Take it a step further, ask them to picture their furniture in the room, personalise the viewing for them. Get them to consider whether they really could live in the property.

It’s best to not show your clients more than three properties at any time because this can simply muddy the waters and give them too much choice. Obviously they would have been able to see your sales literature anyway and to choose the houses that had most appeal for them. If you are intuitive you can sell the benefits of any property just because you have listened to their wish list and this sets you up to be able to highlight the things that are most relevant.

Unless you have an amazing memory, you are unlikely to remember everything that your clients want in a property, so always take copious notes when you meet them initially so that you can really get a good feel as to what they need. They will appreciate that you are listening intently and that you really want to match the right property for them.

Finally, make sure that you offer a consistent service so that your clients know just what to expect when they come to see you. Learn to control your thoughts, paint a smile on your face and to provide 100% service irrespective of how you really feel. If you take these tips on board, you will soon be increasing your business and revenue.

Even if you have top product knowledge, you still have to meet new people and make building rapport seem entirely natural after all; you are the person representing your real estate office. If you are a little shy or find it hard to interact with others, then it’s probably worth your going on a course to help fine tune your people skills and helping you to be more assertive in your approach. People make up their mind within 15 seconds of meeting you and this is not long to be able to make a good first impression. With this in mind, presentation is everything. You need to look the part of a professional real estate agent, even if you are quaking inside.

When you have made that first contact and it’s favourable so far, you then need to build on those foundations and take time to listen to the client’s needs. One of the worst things that you can do in real estate is to assume that you know what the client wants or needs. Really listen to what the client is saying and to what the client isn’t saying. This might sound odd but in real estate terms, a client can be unsure as to what they are searching for and if you can be a little intuitive, you will be able to read between the lines and point them in the right direction.

Some agents make a big mistake by not keeping in contact enough with their clients. Don’t make this cardinal sin because if you don’t look after your client, they will lose faith in you and will go across to your competitor. You have to be available for your clients. Make sure that they have your mobile number, work number and your email too. If they contact you, reply as quickly as you can- certainly on the same day. If your clients have concerns or a problem, then do not be afraid to offer your professional opinion. You need to be able to help them find any solutions.

Many real estate agents do a sterling job but lack the confidence in selling themselves to others. Don’t be shy. Your service helps others to realise their dreams and this is huge. Give your clients an excellent customer experience because you will find that they naturally talk about your service which is a great recommendation and endorsement of your business.

You might be chomping at the bit to try and get the deal done and dusted, but don’t. Your clients will not want to be forced into anything; they need to be reassured that you are just as keen to get them the right property or buyer depending on their situation. You need to keep working on your relationship with them right up to the end. Let them feel as if they are in control as such after all, they do have to make the decisions as to their next step, all you can do is to guide them through the myriad of real estate legislation.

Finally, never make promises that you can’t keep. If you have a deadline to meet, make sure that you do and always keep the communication airways open so if there is any problem, you can get straight onto it. Remember that you are the expert and that your comprehension of the industry will enable them to progress through their property venture and have a successful conclusion.

The old school of sales thinking was to talk fast, blind with science and to not let the customer get away and it was sale, sale, sale all the way to the bank.  The face of sales has changed however. Aggressive selling is not the way forward. In real estate, you can be determined, enthusiastic and confident, but if you are an aggressive agent, you are more likely to offend or to put people off than to have them hire your services. Building long-term relationships and securing the potential for additional business further down the line is important. Your potential clients want to be reassured that you are supporting their endeavours and not propelling them forward at the speed of light resulting in their making a decision that could be costly.

It’s not just being pushy that is off-putting, steam-rolling your clients into making a quick decision is a definite no-no. The old school style is gone; instead it’s about encouraging others to make a leap of faith and to trust in your expertise. Sales techniques these days is more about selling the benefits to clients and to instil trust and this is a much more effective way than to drag them kicking and screaming to sign on the dotted line.

Aggressive sales techniques is about instilling your will onto others, this takes time and energy from the sales agent and will no doubt mean that you encounter resistance as a result. When you meet resistance, it is likely to be head on and this can cause conflict. There is a more seamless, less bullish technique that will help you to motivate and encourage instead.

If you feel that you may be guilty of being a little over-zealous within your own sales techniques, and maybe you have had feedback to suggest that this is the case, you need to consider what it is that you do that could be perceived as aggressive.  Have you stopped listening to your clients because you are too busy considering your own end goals? Do you watch their body language or are you blind to their panic as they edge towards the door? Do you take no for an answer or do you keep pounding away until submission looks likely?

If you are a little too over-familiar with your client in the early stages, this could be deemed as being aggressive or at least, pushy. Sometimes you have to learn to take no for an answer and to not be too over-zealous with your objection handling. If a client has pulled out of selling their house with you, they may have a genuine reason for doing so, but if you are ringing them a few days later to get them to change their mind, this probably isn’t going to do you any favours.

Your intentions might be good. You care about your job, you care about the outcome and you are prepared to go the whole mile to achieve your goals but do you care about the customer experience? Your actions might be innocent but if you pressurize the client, you are likely to lose out in the long run. If you encounter someone who is meek and who might be mouldable then you will feel triumphant but will they come back the next time that they are doing a property search? Will they recommend your services to another?

Word of mouth is hugely important and because buying or selling a house is such a big undertaking for anyone, a client is going to trust the experiences of those that they know. Sadly, a dissatisfied customer is likely to be heard much more than someone who is grateful for your commitment to real estate. Bad experiences travel much further than someone who says how great you are at your job.

Whilst your main focus may be on the cut and thrust of buying or selling properties and guiding your clients through the complexities of mortgages, trying to ensure the pathway to their perfect house is as smooth as possible, it makes sense to get some additional residue revenue too.

If you have a website, you may have thought about setting up an email newsletter too so that you can market easily to all of your subscribers. The main difficulty can be getting people to actually sign up to your newsletter in the first place, this is because at one time people signed up to everything, now the opposite is true. To get people to sign up then means that you have to supply a reason for them to do so. This can be as simple as giving away a free report that will enable them to find a potential solution to a problem, plus, people like getting something for nothing.

When you choose the newsletter provider company, take time to have a look at their sign-up boxes to see how appealing they are. If they are not that appealing or you are unable to edit the sign-up box, then you need to consider whether you wish to join this company. Don’t just leave the box as is; make sure you can add some compelling text which elaborates just why they should want to join your list.

One thing that you can do to increase appeal is to segment your subscribers by offering them different levels of information. This does cause additional work for you of course and means that to keep subscribers on your list over a period of time, you need to give them information that they find beneficial. The actual process isn’t difficult as it can be set up within the newsletter provider service, but the content is the key. Don’t offer your subscribers too many options either, it can really muddy the water when they are signing up, so an easier process is the preferred one.

It’s important that you tell people that you will never pass on their details to anyone else. Everyone gets bombarded with spam these days and it is annoying and frustrating, so simply add a short sentence to  your sign-up box saying that ‘you respect their privacy and will never sell or pass on their information’.

In the same way that you don’t want to give people too many options, you may also wish to restrict the information that you take from them when they sign up. Of course, it can help you to know where they are in the world but do you need to know, name, date of birth, family details or inside leg information? Just ask for the information that is relevant to your needs.

Some sign-up boxes are better than others but you can try different ones so that you can gauge the success of each. Try not to have the word submit on the sign-up box either as it’s calling them to action, but you can have ‘subscribe now for free’ for example. Make your sign-up box as visual as possible too, you need it to reflect the type of content that they will get if and when they sign up but having an aesthetically pleasing sign up box will certainly help you to convert more subscribers.

To keep your subscribers happy you have to supply them with some well-written and informative content but also remember that as much as you can give your information for free, you also need to use it as a sales tool and maybe to create your own sales funnel for future revenue streams.

Twitter is the place for sharing links to content and if you create the right type of links, you will suddenly find that your tweets go viral and this means a real significant traffic boost from people who are interested in what you have to say or what you have to offer.

Now, if you are new to Twitter, it does take time building up a dedicated following, so don’t expect to have droves of people coming across to your site the moment you hit ‘tweet’. It’s also not all about you but about how you interact with others as well and this means sharing tweets that appeal to you and by return, often others will retweet your comments.

The most important consideration when you are creating a list of tweets is to think about the headline. What will make people sit up and think wow? What will make people want to click on the link that you have provided and go and read your articles or blog posts?

If you take your own real estate business as an example, you will no doubt have properties that you are trying to sale and possibly to rent out and Twitter provides a perfect resource for you to publicise these properties. Don’t just put ‘house for rent’ though because people do not know where the area is or even anything about the house. Your headlines have to make it worthwhile for people to take the time to stop what they are doing and to check out your website. Just getting people to your website is a real benefit because if they like what you have to offer, they may sign up for your newsletter or contact you directly through the site and see what else is available.

If you are smart, you will provide free information about buying and selling that they can have if they sign up to your online newsletter and this provides you with a great opportunity to sell to them at a later date. If you are really smart, you will have some digital products aimed at the house sale or rental market and people can buy these from you and instantly download them. So you can see just how well Twitter can rocket your site visitors and give you the opportunity to sell to them. Don’t forget, these sales make additional revenue and once you have written one or hired a writer to provide a report on real estate for you, you can continuously sell the reports to your heart’s content.

So, if we think back to your Twitter headlines, you have to view it as the most important element because without it, your traffic will be drastically reduced. In a way, the headline is promising your followers something if they go and check-out your site. The promise could be something of great benefit such as a solution to a particular real estate problem. Make sure it is useful for your followers and if possible, contain a hint of urgency so that they click on the link immediately and it can really help if the benefit that you have provided is original and unique.

Short headlines work best and not just because of the 140 character restrictions. Short headlines will enable followers to retweet your headline and this is exactly what you want because you reach thousands of others in an instant.  Don’t just use it as a sales tool but give a little of your own personality into the mix too because you then become a brand as well as a real-life entity.

Many times you will hear the advice that you have to develop a thick-skin if you are going to be successful in business but actually is this good advice? It can certainly be hard hearing that your service is not as good as you thought it was, but really complaints can be viewed in a positive way if you determine that you have offered a sub-standard service. Are successful people in business insensitive and hard-nosed? Whilst some are no doubt that way, many successful people are sensitive and caring and if they feel that they have provided a bad service, they feel terrible.

If you care about your business and building it up, then put your heart and soul into your business but don’t make one of the cardinal sins in the business world , to stop caring.

Having said that, it can be difficult sometimes to draw a line in the sand and to stop working or to even stop thinking about work when you get home at night. You can give, give, give- in fact, give too much of yourself and of your time and if you are not careful, you can reach burnout. To be good in business, to be successful and to achieve all that you wish to achieve, you have got to recharge your emotional and physical batteries and learn to switch off. This isn’t a ‘nice to have’ element but is crucial.  Real estate hours can be long and arduous, you have to respond to queries and questions constantly and there will be many drains on your time. In the early stages, you may be on call a lot. But don’t forget to schedule in some definite time off.

We can all be a bit greedy sometimes and this is another bad mistake too. If you see the chance to make some extra cash at the expense of another, it might seem one temptation too many but honesty does pay dividends. Don’t overcharge someone; build up a reputation of being the real estate agent that really cares. If you charge a little less on commission, you are likely to win out some extra sales opportunities as a result.

It’s easy to lose your way in business and this brings us to the next habit to avoid.  Many top business icons might say that you can’t take your finger off the pulse and to keep your eye on your forthcoming targets. But it is easy to become distracted especially as you can only focus for so long at any given time. Day dreaming can kick-start the creative process too and it may be that a little mental lapse can refresh your brain and suddenly offer up lots of productive ideas. Day dreaming allows your brain to take a much needed break and as such, if it happens, don’t give yourself a hard time.

Nobody likes an arrogant individual especially in business, where the focus has to be on building rapport with your clients, but on the other hand, being too self-conscious or having a lack of confidence in your own abilities can be harmful. You must have enough conviction in your own business, and not be afraid to stand up and shout your worth. Believe in yourself and the service that you provide to others and don’t feel bad about selling yourself. Confidence has an attractive appeal.

There will be much business advice circulating but the only thing that you can do is to take on board the advice that works for you on an individual level and to not be scared to do things your own way.

There is good and bad stress of course but bad stress or at least your reaction to any situation can be dangerous if you feel stressed consistently in the long term. Stress can be a life saver but it can also take lives too so it is learning how to control stress that is the most important aspect.

You may have heard of the fight or flight reaction? Your pituitary gland signals danger which releases ACTH hormones and signals your adrenal glands to release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol which are known as the stress hormones. These hormones are there to protect you and to speed up your reaction to any dangers and they can boost your endurance, agility and strength. In the natural world, the fight or flight reaction serves to protect you from the dangers that lurk around you but in the modern society where you go to work each day and instead of battling untold dangers to get food, you battle sometimes unrealistic objectives so that you achieve monetary gain.

Learning to let go of stress and to adopt a more positive attitude towards stressful situations enable you to manage your fight or flight response and in turn this limits any bad reaction as regards your health. You have to understand that stress really begins all inside your head; this makes it no less dangerous of course because without a way of gaining control over it, your stress hormones will be released. So how you face stress and react to it can make a huge difference.

For example, if you are about to face an interview for a promotion within your real estate office, it would be likely that you are nervous. If you find interview situations difficult, you may feel actual physical side effects. Headache and nauseous for example. You may have a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, a fluttering nervous sensation which is your fight or flight reaction. Of course, even though you know that you are not going to be injured in any way during your interview, you still dread the interview with such strong emotion that your body emits the same hormones because you are worried as to the outcome.

Then assuming that you get your promotion, you may find that you have to face a lot more daily stresses which can be difficult especially in the early stages of your new career. Having to manage others, especially those former colleagues who are friends can be difficult. Having to deal with awkward or dissatisfied clients who are bent on complaining because the house sale fell through may suddenly fall at your feet to pacify the situation. Extra responsibility and expectation can have your stress levels consistently elevated to the point where you may seem as if you thrive under pressure.

You have to reach your targets so you work harder, longer and dedicate your life to your job, you dread failure to the point that you can’t switch off at night and your sleep is filled with problems or daily concerns, and with a lack of sleep becomes irritability and a lack of focus.

You can see quite clearly that stress must be controlled within the work place if you are going to succeed in your chosen career and to stay healthy. As a real estate agent or manager, it’s vital that you learn to react in a positive way to certain stressors and know how to switch off any negative reactions and this way you will be able to succeed within your role in a much more efficient way. The next time you feel stressed, seriously consider why. Do you have too much to do? Are your time management skills sufficient? Are you just having one of those days and things will seem much better the next day? Try to adopt a positive approach and don’t just ignore stress, deal with it head on because then it will have little control over you.