By: Khalid N. Bryan

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of building confidence as a new agent and what that looked like.

Starting off with rentals, taking on all clients rather than being choosy and continuing education are great ways to start out in the business. They all lend to building experience and growing your business as a new agent. Consistency builds momentum, and once that momentum starts, it’s important to keep it going. Here’s how to do that:

Stay in Motion

I believe that if you’re not selling, you’re learning. It’s all about motion. There’s always something we can be doing in or on our business. Never go a day without doing something that moves you toward your goals or priorities. I find a daily, weekly, and yearly “To-Do and Priority” lists work best for me to stay on track. These lists make it possible for me to always remember what needs to get done, identify what’s urgent and what can wait and hold myself accountable to do at least three important tasks per day towards my goals. In this business, our work today can translate to business three months from now. It takes about that long to sell a listing or find and close a rental, or to motivate, generate and convert a lead into a client.

The opposite can also be true: a break in the winter can lead you into a financially broke spring. To avoid this drought, it’s important to never let up! Find what works for you as far as marketing and prospecting and make it sustainable. Cold calling, door knocking and social media are all great avenues, and if they work for you, keep doing them. If they don’t though, don’t be afraid to reevaluate. Maybe blogging or writing informative posts is your thing! Whatever it is, find what works and what you are willing and able to commit to for the long-term. And don’t be afraid to switch it up if something goes stale.

We must never stop generating new business, even if our schedules are already full of business.

Embrace Social Media

On the note of social media and content, it’s crucial that you find a way to show everyone what you do and that you take it seriously. If no one sees any evidence of what you do, they might assume you do nothing. You don’t want someone telling you how they just closed on a property with another agent because they assumed you left the business. When you’re in a class or out on a showing, snap a quick photo, write a quick post about your experience, call someone and let them know about an interesting moment in your day and how it reminded you of them.

Use social media to your advantage to make sure people know you’re still in the business, still growing and ready to help them with their housing needs.

Stay Top of Mind

You want to ensure you stay on people’s mind so that they know to come to you for all things real estate. From simple questions, to help getting to a closing table, your job is to stay in front of the people who might become future clients. Buy a branded hat if you must—just find a way to stay relevant out there. Most importantly, once all this business starts rolling in, don’t forget to always follow up. Make sure that when you do, you’re providing something of value. This could be a market update or a reminder to prep a home of inclement weather. It could also be an anniversary card or a birthday note, which shows you’re paying attention.

Follow up on a consistent basis—weekly, biweekly or monthly. Invest in a customer relationship monitoring system (CRM) if you can, to systematize your follow up process. So much business and commission dollars go to waste because we as agents simply don’t follow up enough. Maybe they aren’t ready just this moment but when they are ready, wouldn’t you like to be right there ready to go? Most times when they are ready, they’ve forgotten the number to “that real estate agent” they spoke to, so they go out and find someone new. So, to be clear, three things you must always have going on:

• Learning
• Lead Generating
• Following Up

Figure it out, systematize it, keep it going.

Build On Your Foundation

You started, you’ve built up motion and held your momentum. You’ve overcome challenges and objections big and small. You have a consistent flow of organic leads. You have a solid follow up system, you’re still sharpening the sword by attending classes, events and keeping an open eye for developing stories involving the market and industry. This is the time to turn your business into a company!

Zoom out and look at yourself. What makes you, YOU? What’s your thing? Do you dance in front of all your open houses? Do you always wear crazy hats or bright shirts? Do you identify with a certain animal? The next level in your journey of nonstop momentum is to build your brand. Instead of sending the same old property information like you’re used to, develop custom spreadsheets. Develop your own branded, informative content. Develop a newsletter related to your niche. Have a professional website made with the goal of lead capture. All marketing sends prospects to your website, and a good website should sort them out, capture their interests and contact info, and give it to you or your lead gen system to follow up and convert into a customer.

Most importantly, build your team. From your go-to lender, title company and contractor to showing agents, transaction coordinators, contract writers and assistants. You’ll learn that to be truly successful and achieve a certain financial threshold, we can’t do all that it takes to run this business on our own. On a small scale sure we can handle it, but if you desire a high caliber career, you’ll want to figure out how to work with others, how to lead, how to teach and how to communicate well. It’s crucial you understand you must be ready to take on the responsibility of leading the career of others.

Appreciate the busy days where you will get home tired from a full day of showings. Hungry, achy, wet from the rain, with a list of offers to go write. People wish for these days, don’t take them for granted. Remember you’re never done learning, growing, progressing and building. Hold your momentum.

Khalid N. Bryan is a seasoned real estate broker and trainer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As the proud owner and manager of The Investment Property Gurus LLC, a reputable real estate brokerage, he has been helping clients navigate the dynamic real estate market since 2014. With a wealth of experience and a passion for empowering others, he specializes in training aspiring real estate professionals to succeed in their careers. He currently serves as a Governor on the 2023 YPN (Young Professionals Network) Board with the Miami Realtors Association. Keep up with Khalid on Instgram, YouTube, and make sure you check out The Investment Property Gurus’ website.