As any practicing real estate agent knows, market conditions can (and do) ebb and flow throughout the year. What’s important, however, is that your business is prepared to weather all types of markets so it can survive the negative effects that plague unprepared agents.
Whether you’re entering a buyer’s or seller’s market, consider these tips for adjusting your business plan.
#1. Monitor Your Business Plan
With fluctuating markets comes the opportunity for your transaction volume to change. It’s not enough to set your business plan at the beginning of the year, put it in your desk drawer and pull it out when the next year rolls around.
Savvy agents need to be able to adjust their business plan throughout the year to account for buyer’s and seller’s markets and other market fluctuations. This helps agents project their revenue, adjust marketing plans as needed, and consistently (and consciously) know what they have in their pipeline. Here’s a great article on how to “check yourself” throughout the year.
Pro Tip: Schedule time in your calendar for business plan review — the same way you’d schedule an open house or floor duty. Review it at least quarterly to ensure you have plans in place depending on the market conditions.
#2. Set Client Expectations
Fluctuations in the market will have a great impact on both your buyers and sellers. Clients may need to be educated on market conditions in order to set expectations. As such, it’s always a great idea to have regular check-ins with clients to ensure they’re aware of market trends.
Of course, this can mean keeping sellers abreast of recent comparable properties and having the “pricing conversation” as needed. For buyers, this can also mean a conversation about urgency and how to approach offers that are more appealing to sellers in a market where they have the power.
Pro Tip: Consider adding some buyer’s and seller’s market content to your drip campaigns to help educate your sphere on market conditions. If you have your CRM segmented with “buyer” and “seller” buckets, this can be very helpful for sending appropriate content to your sphere.
#3. Consider Your Marketing
While there are certain marketing activities that require year-round effort like your social media and website presence, there are some that can be implemented in advance of market fluctuations to keep your business flowing. If your market is shifting to a seller’s market, for example, the months prior are the ideal time to send out market reports to potential sellers in your sphere to showcase the value of their home.
Your marketing should ebb and flow with the market trends (ideally, in advance of trends) so your pipeline is always stocked with ready and able buyers and sellers.
Pro Tip: The summer is too late to start marketing to buyers looking to move before the school year, for example. Map out the highs/lows of the previous year and use those to help you compose your marketing plan for the next year so you can always be ahead of trends.
Mastering Your Business Plan
For more information or to learn the ins and outs of a great business plan, sign up for our AgentEDU course on Creating a Business Plan today.
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