Real Estate Agents: Recipe for Success
A guide to maintaining your best performance
for the customer.
Let’s Start with Credibility
Our field of expertise is one where we all focus on making dreams come true for customers when it comes to buying or selling their home. It’s our duty to take the necessary steps to make ourselves more credible and reliable as we guide people toward major life decisions. Here at Universal, know the profound difference that credibility can make—and we’re always happy to lend our credibility to those you are working with.
For real estate agents, the fast-paced work environment, tending to the little things, and working long hours can easily lead to burnout. That’s why it’s important to prepare yourself in the right ways to better support yourself and your local community. Our team has a few tips to help you maintain a high-level of performance for your customers and also keep you feeling healthier and happier with your work. Don’t be shy to partner with our team to start building a more credible and reliable process for your customers.
Solidify Your Process
Our first suggestion is to solidify sturdy groundwork for your process. This is a great way to improve and refine your approach to how you handle listings and purchases. Here are some tips that could streamline your transaction and keep each member of your team on the same page.
Make a cheat sheet you can fill in for each transaction. Maybe this is a checklist that you put on the front of a physical folder, an excel spreadsheet of all ongoing transactions, or a fillable form you keep in the digital file. Create some sort of easy method to quickly glance at a transaction and know all the crucial details like sale price, closing date, and client contact information.
Write a step-by-step of items that you need to check in on during a routine transaction. You can make this as simple or extensive as you want, as long as you have a rubric for your team to be mindful of when considering the client’s timeline. Some example steps may include a listing appointment, photography session, and weekly engagement report for the seller side or even showing follow-up emails, housing market updates, and vendor recommendations for the buyer side.
Keep an up-to-date and reliable database of vendors you prefer to work with for easy reference. If you have to research the best contractor or mover in the area every time you or a client need to utilize their services, that is time better spent working on the transaction. Having a list, spreadsheet, or business card holder of your preferred painter, inspector, settlement company, etc… can save you time and make sure everyone on your team is using the most credible vendors available.
Working on a set process for your transactions might seem overwhelming at first, but having the general details ironed out ahead of time will keep you organized and on-task. It will likely improve work ethic and customer service experience while taking some of the mental load off of you.
Power in Balance
Most of the professional working world could benefit from the next recipe item—which is to be more mindful about work boundaries and work-life balance. Are you familiar with burnout? It’s when productivity drops significantly, and work ethic and energy is low due to overworking. If you’ve experienced burnout, you know it’s not a fun way to live your life. Don’t worry, we have a few suggestions to help:
Set some boundaries. It’s important to outline what you can and can’t do. Focus on setting a realistic schedule for yourself.
Be flexible and forgiving. If you work overtime one day, give yourself an extra hour off later that week. If you have to meet a customer early, end earlier that day. Give yourself the grace to manage your time.
Carve out time for activities that fuel your soul, whether it’s a fun event, gathering, or physical activity. Make sure something like this is embedded into your routine.
We know that these steps can be really hard to reinforce and follow through with as a real estate agent. We often joke that real estate agents are on call ALL THE TIME, but it's important to take time for your mental, emotional, and physical wellness. Burnout does not look so pretty, especially when it reaches your customers. So, be sure to remember YOU—and give yourself free time to relax and recharge routinely. When you can count on that time, you can put more effort into your daily work which ultimately means a better all-around experience for those you work with.
Healthy Body & Mind = Healthy Work
It’s hard to overstate just how important our physical and mental states are when it comes to the quality of our work, especially in real estate. We are here to serve our communities and to do that, we must be adaptable, approachable, and welcoming in most of the settings we work in. However, maintaining that standard is not always so easy and can quickly be put on the back burner of your focus. Review our tips below on maintaining a healthy body and mind.
Staying Physically Healthy
Eating healthier can have positive effects on your daily energy levels and positively affect your work ethic.
ALWAYS have a water bottle with you. Staying hydrated is more than just necessary, it can mean a clearer mind which results in a fresher and happier you.
Limit fast food. We know a lot of agents work and live out of their car and it can just be easier sometimes. It’s good in a pinch but shouldn’t be the norm.
Exercise when you get the time. Keep a yoga mat, weights, or running shoes in the car. It doesn’t matter how you get more active but it’s worth it when it comes to your health and career!
Staying Mentally Healthy
Try meditating. Even simple, quick reflections of your day or work week can prove fruitful in improving your outlook on your work.
Consult a therapist. Therapy isn’t only a crisis thing. It can be used to simply maintain a good mental health level that benefits both work and personal life.
Keep personal life and working life separate. Melding these lines can cause conflicts of interest or unnecessary mental burdens.
Do other things you love too. You are in real estate because you love it. However, be sure to still pursue other hobbies and interests as these are beneficial to maintaining a healthy and active mind.
How you decide to maintain your physical and mental health is up to you; however, we wanted to make sure you get the idea that it’s one of the most important parts of the recipe for success.
We Can Help You Fine Tune
This recipe is a good starting point. Take some time to reflect on our suggestions and start improving the experience of your daily work life, your community, and those you work with. When you put all these ingredients together, you’ll end up with open doors and opportunities that only a happy and healthy agent can tap into.
When you want to build a more reliable process, connect with our team, and tell us about your goals. Universal is not just here to make money, we’re here to help real estate agents, buyers, sellers, and everyone in our community thrive…AND we’d love for you to partner with us in our mission.