To thrive as a real estate agent, you need connections. And what better way to earn them than networking? In our real estate agent’s guide to networking, we lay out exactly how you can work towards that.
Start by fixing your mindset
The first advice we can offer in our real estate agent’s guide to networking is to work on your mindset first. You see, many people tend to put down their ability to network. Concerns such as being too shy or just plain horrible at networking are common. However, consider this: real estate agents do their jobs by relying on their ability to socialize and convince buyers to commit to a purchase. Do you think you could do your job without the ability to socialize and thrive in social situations in general? So, you need to spend less worrying and more time preparing. It is just your confidence that is lacking when faced with an unfamiliar challenge, after all.
Lay proper groundwork
While it may sound counterintuitive, establishing your online presence is the first step to ensuring your networking goes well. Nowadays, many people tend to check out a person's site or social media before committing to anything to get a relative handle on their personality and success. Having little to no online presence can make it harder for people to decide they want to work with you. Some might even outright reject working with you since a lacking online presence is sometimes seen as a lack of professionalism, especially if you don’t even have a site or a social media page for your real estate business. By building a solid online reputation, you get ahead of such things and make your networking easier.
Give yourself something to work with
While it can be hard to manage your time as a real estate agent, you need to give yourself enough leeway for a hobby or a fun activity. Maybe even pick up some sort of sport! That is because, ultimately, networking depends a lot on your interactions with people. Without an exciting conversation topic to fall back on, you might hit a lot of dead ends. No one wants to spend all their time around a person obsessed with nothing but work. Besides, having a hobby will help you relax and unwind, better preparing you for the rigors of your job.
Try to connect with a business that would go well with your own
Even if you think nothing of the rest of our real estate agent’s guide to networking, remember this: you need to find businesses you can cooperate with. Now, what do we mean by that? Many companies can perfectly cooperate with a real estate agent since no conflict of interest is at play. We are talking about businesses like cleaners, packing services, and movers. You can help your clients by recommending genuinely good businesses to them, such as assisting them in finding moving quotes to find the best options for relocation or recommending reliable cleaners. In return, those same businesses can recommend you to their customers through a referral. Therefore, allowing everyone to grow together!
Spread the word of mouth
Word of mouth is a powerful tool in a real estate agent’s arsenal, and you need to leverage it. The way to do this is relatively simple: ensure your clients are satisfied. If you know how to keep real estate clients coming back, word will eventually spread and make any networking much easier on your part. After all, people want to work with reliable real estate agents. Reputation counts a lot in the industry, and once you’ve established yours both online and in the real world, people will take you a lot more seriously.
Don’t be needlessly pushy
As the marketing experts from Pro Movers Miami like to point out, you’ll never get far by being pushy with your clients. Well, the same logic perfectly applies to networking. If you try to force a connection between you and the representatives of various businesses and even clients, all you’ll do is come across as rude. And no one wants to work with a pushy, irritating real estate agent. They need someone reliable and focused on their work. And intrusive behavior gives off an opposite impression. Therefore, learning to politely and quietly accept a refusal is as essential as anything else.
Picking the right sort of events
Picking a suitable networking event is just as crucial as all your other prep. First, of course, there are various industry events and even workshops. That provides a perfect setting for meeting many people in the same industry as you. Second, there are local community events. Organizing charity work, galas, and other events bolster the community spirit you want to feature prominently. Then, there are events and seminars you can visit and personally host. Finally, there’s volunteer work, which will put you at the forefront of your community and offer you a lot of chances to make connections.
Have the right tools for networking
In a real estate agent’s guide to networking, we would be remiss, not to mention that you need some prep work before you’re ready to mingle. Namely, you must look at the part and have all the requisites to properly network. Start by getting yourself some nice clothing you can wear to events, and then print out some lovely business cards. People might not have a pen and paper, and entering data on your phone can sometimes take too long. You want to get yourself some valuable referrals, not drive them away by forcing them to bend over backward to get your info down!
Improvements and a good work ethic
We hope you found our real estate agent’s guide to networking useful! Remember, however, that networking takes a lot of time and effort. You’ll slowly get better at it, but even when you are much better established, you do not want to stop trying to make new connections.
Written by: Lisa Roberts with US Moving Experts