sales Archives - CENTURY 21 MarketLink Realty

Crushing Your Sales Plateau

January 25, 2021 By C21 Communications

To be honest, like many others in this business I was never good at goal setting, but I am changing that. While I help clients and customers reach desired outcomes, I’ve experienced a plateau before and have been at the same amount of sales for many years. With encouragement from those around me, it was time to leverage goal setting and begin the process of having more conversations, selling myself to more people, with greater frequency, in order to get my sales to a higher level.

Create a system to track and measure your efforts. The first thing I did was create a spreadsheet to manage and hold myself accountable for the number of conversations and touchpoints necessary to overcome the plateau. It’s keeping track of phone calls, community events, talking to people at local stores, and geotargeting a new neighborhood to become the local market expert for that area.
Use your results to determine what technique works best for you. There are many sales techniques and many ways to generate business but, what I have found that works for me, is to first build a personal relationship, and then sell myself and my unique value proposition. I want clients to hire me because they want to, whether it takes one conversation, two conversations, five conversations, or meeting in person a few times. I think it makes the relationship smoother and stronger, and it makes the goal of getting them the outcomes they desire a lot more effective.
Apply your technique and engage your sphere. Ultimately, it’s important for agents to find their own rhythm. Every person has something they’re good at, and they’re going to attract certain people and certain personalities. For me, most of my conversations are in real estate settings, like open houses or industry-related events. When I analyze and look at where my business is coming from, most of it is coming from the sphere that I built and manage. Not only that, I’m reaching them with weekly personalized emails, many times with video, about their local market. Obviously, we want to engage them, but the information must be relevant. Don’t bore them with the same old stuff. It’s difficult to find topics that people are or should be, interested in.

Selling yourself as the local market expert to your sphere can be key. This can help you build the relationships your business needs to grow. In real estate, there will always be change, so staying ahead of it by knowing your market can be the value proposition you’re looking for. For me, it’s what helped me to get over my sales plateau to grow my business and take it to the next level.

^{Note: This material may contain suggestions and best practices that you may use at your discretion. The views, information, or opinions expressed in any user-generated content are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Century 21 Real Estate LLC.}

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We Asked, You Answered: Advice for First-Time Homeowners

November 3, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Buying a home for the first time is exciting, but it can seem overwhelming because there are so many factors to consider. Potential homebuyers must excogitate the price of the home, the mortgage costs, neighborhoods, safety, and more. We posted on our Facebook page asking CENTURY 21 ® Agents for their best advice for first-time homebuyers.

Here are seven pieces of advice:

1. “After you get your mortgage approval, sit down and make a list of needs, must haves and wishes, work with a realtor who can find you your dream home.” —Denise F.

2. “Work with an agent that is experienced with first time homebuyers. There is a lot to know and navigate. A good agent is essential to making the transaction as smooth as possible.” —Toni M.

3. “Put together a really good Real Estate Agent, Mortgage Broker, Attorney team that will take the time to explain the entire process to their client. If they can explain it; they can do it.” —Ronald S.

4. “Work with a knowledgeable agent who cares about his or her clients, not just dollar signs. See your banking institution 1st. Ask a lot of questions. Consider the location. Hire a reputable home inspector! Arm yourself with knowledge and really think before you leap since it is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. It is a key in avoiding buyers remorse!” -Cheryl C.

5. “Choose a quality agent, practice self-restraint, look at the quality and condition, not just how pretty it is, know your budget and your comfort level and, for heavens sake, if you are going to listen to everyone else’s opinion besides your agents then they should be with you on every showing, not just the house you want to buy!” -Paul S.

6. “I’m not a realtor but I wish someone would have told me to make practice payments. I jumped from $1500 per month to $2400 per month on my first house. The extra $900 wasn’t the big deal as much as everything else, utilities, yard maintenance, etc. I think making 6 months of increased payments while you are still renting, saving that money and putting it as a down payment would have helped me. I try to tell every person wanting to buy a new home that.” -Darin P.

7. “Pre-approval is step number one. Look at homes in your price range. Nothing worse than falling in love with a home you can’t afford.” -Linda Z.

For more great tips, check out our Facebook post and buying advice on our site then find a CENTURY 21® Agent who can help you find your home sweet home.

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5 Simple Twitter Tips for Real Estate Agents

May 20, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Twitter is not just a tool for posting selfies and oversharing. It is a valuable tool for business owners. Twitter is a noteworthy resource for increasing brand awareness, sharing pertinent information, and generating business. Use Twitter to generate leads, to position yourself as a thought leader, and to ultimately close sales.

Helpful Terms:

-Profile: Your profile consists of your photo, bio, and location. A good bio explains what you do and what you are interested in – a challenging feat with only 140 characters!

-Handle: You handle is your Twitter username. Shorter handles are usually better due to Twitter’s 140 character limit.

-Timeline: Your timeline is a chronological list of all of the tweets written by the people and brands you follow.

-Mentions: If you write a tweet that contains someone’s handle, but you don’t start the tweet with that handle, then it is called a mention. A mention is visible to those who follow you.

Example: Did you read the lastest @Century21 blog post? It has lots of great tips for first time homebuyers! [link] #RealEstate #Advice

-Replies: If you start a tweet with someone’s handle, it is called a reply. The only people who will be able to see it in their timeline are people that follow you and the person or people that you are tweeting to. If someone clicks on your profile they will be able to see both your mentions and your replies.

Example: @Century21 I also recommend that homeowners light the fireplace or candles at open houses to make the home inviting. #RealEstate

-Retweets: Whenever you retweet someone else, their tweet will appear on your profile and will be visible to your followers.

-Favorites: A favorited tweet is the equivalent to a Facebook “Like.” Favorited tweets won’t appear on your timeline, but others can view what you favorite by clicking on the “Favorites” tab on your profile.

-Hashtags: Hashtags are keywords used written with the # symbol to track and find specific topics, phrases, events, and more. Click on them to see what other people are saying!

Here are five beginner tips to get you started!

1. Write a descriptive profile: What do you want your audience to know about you? Use this space to give a short yet clear description of who you are and what you do.

2. Use Twitter search for social listening: Use social listening as a focus group. Learn what other realtors and potential clients are talking about. This will also help you to determine what you want to discuss when you start Tweeting. You may want to search terms like: real estate, realtor, interior design, home, sell your home, moving, and homeowner.

3. Use relevant hashtags: Now that you’ve learned about what people are talking about, join the conversation! Write Tweets about new listings, blog posts you’ve written, articles you’ve enjoyed, and tips for other agents. You can use the same search terms as hashtags. For example: #realestate, #interiordesign, #home, #sellyourhome, #moving, and #homeowner. Search hashtags by clicking on them in someone’s tweet or entering the hashtag into search (#realestate).

4. Follow and engage with industry influencers: Twitter makes it easy for you to learn from others in your industry. You can find people to follow by using search or Twellow. Twellow is essentially a Yellow Pages for Twitter! Click categories and choose a category you are interested in.

Once you choose a category, you’ll be able to see a list of people that you might be interested in following. Read the person or brand’s bio, see their follower count, and look at their location. If you like what you see you can follow them directly from Twellow!

5. Share relevant content that is not your own: A good rule to follow is the 80/20 Rule. According to the 80/20 rule, 20% of what you share should be related to your brand and 80% should be engaging with other brands, influencers, and Twitter users or sharing content that is not your own. Share your listings, blog posts and resources on your site 20% of the time and focus the rest of your time on engagement and sharing other industry relevant news. This approach will not only help you learn more, but it will also help position yourself as a thought leader.

Now you are ready to set up an account! One added benefit is that this approach will help you to reach Millennials. Millennials use Twitter for news, tips, resources, and conversation. Millennials are also often first time homeowners and, if you market yourself on Twitter effectively, they are likely to turn to you when they are looking to buy a home.

Stay tuned for more social media tips and advice.

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