It’s that time of year again. Everyone is getting into a mad rush to try and make things happen before Christmas. What is the most important thing for you to be doing today?
This time of year most people stop prospecting and focus on selling existing stock. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on selling stock, but now is actually the time to start prospecting for next year.
I recommend that most agents should take their holidays earlier in December, specifically from December 10 through January 5. That way you can come back into the market in early January, really hit the phones prospecting, and get lots of listings stocked and ready to go.
A lot of the agents we work with write down six properties that they want to list before they come back from their Christmas holidays. That way they can stay focused because they know what they’ve got to do in November, and then continue to build all of their listing stock for December, January, and February.
What I’m going to suggest to you is that every day you need to be calling out for business. One of the great secrets that I learnt very early on is that the first hour of every day should be spent on marketing. Focus on marketing to your potential customers who are in the marketplace, and start to build a better relationship with all of the people who are already sitting inside of your business. One of your greatest areas to build upon is your past market appraisals.
Most of the people who are sitting in your past market appraisal list were either at the orange or the red light when you last spoke with them. The challenge for most of us is that we frankly don’t know how to follow through with those key people. Here are a few simple questions to ask them:
· What are the next steps for you?
· What does your best outcome look like?
· How can I help you make that happen?
· What do you hope will change by the time we get to that definitive day?
· If a buyer came forward now, what would you like for me to do?
These questions will help your client make their next decision, and then take action on the things they know they need to do.
It’s vitally important for you to maintain your focus on the prospecting side of your business right now. Look for all of the listings that are left for this year, and then immediately start listing stock for next year so that you have a great start to 2013.