Author: Special Contributor

Supercharge relationship-building by mastering your CRM

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By Marki Lemons-Ryhal

As real estate professionals who spend A LOT of time having conversations and building relationships, there’s no way we can remember all the details we accumulate without a little extra help. So, is there a simple way to keep track of everyone we connect with?

Yes, a customer relationship management system (CRM) allows us to do all this and more. Why is a good CRM so necessary? How can we use the information we have to make us unforgettable?

Build rapport by identifying the F.O.R.D. of your ideal client. F.O.R.D. is an acronym for family, occupation, recreation and dreams.

Every day people share their F.O.R.D. with the world via social media, email and text messaging.

The key to growing your real estate business is understanding your clients’ pain points and desires. Successful marketers don’t have to tell us what they’re doing. Instead, the results they get in business are evidence of a foundation of value, systems and intention.

Add each person’s F.O.R.D. to your customer relationship management system daily.

Idea: On Facebook and LinkedIn, spend one hour Monday through Friday identifying each person’s birthday, promotions, accomplishments and favorite activities. Implement an 8 x 8 campaign where you make eight people feel special by 8 a.m. daily via email, messaging or mailing them something special.

To earn $100,000 per year, you need to add 2,880 contacts to your customer relationship management system if your average price point is $250,000. These actions statistically will net you 20 closed real estate transactions. In real estate, it’s so easy to get bogged down by distractions, inefficiency and a lack of boundaries. When we’re not getting the results we want, our daily work routine is the first area we need to examine.

To accomplish your six-figure earning goals, you need to add eight new contacts to your CRM or connect in a meaningful way to the contacts that are already in your system daily. Separate the essentials from what’s not moving the business forward to become effective and unstoppable.

Every time you generate a new lead or communicate in a meaningful way one-on-one with a contact, add or update the contact in your CRM and place a check mark in the box below that corresponds with the week and day of the month.

Many real estate agents believe that they have to be open 24/7 to succeed in our profession. They’ve bought into the lie that building a competitive business requires agents to give up all their time. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be true for us.

It’s possible to have a thriving business without 80-hour weeks and burnout by choosing to work by relationship and referral. Agents who grow by nurturing their database dictate their schedule, work manageable hours and are better equipped for market shifts.

  • Why your social circle isn’t doing business with you

If we want our friends and family to do business with us or refer people to us, we have to get them to see us in a real estate context.

  • How to choose the right CRM

You need a place for your information to live so you can take care of your people; it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.

  • The limiting belief agents have to overcome

We don’t have to be available 24/7 to make our clients feel like we’re doing a good job. But if we prove ourselves to be valuable, people will respect the schedules we set.

Marki Lemons-Ryhal, the owner of ReMarkitable LLC, is a licensed managing broker, best-selling author and inducted into the REBAC Hall of Fame. She holds a Bachelor of Science in management from Chicago State University, a Master of Business Administration from Saint Xavier University and 64 real estate-related licenses, certifications and designations.

3 tips for dealing with burnout

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By Ashley Harwood

It’s only February, yet many agents are already struggling with burnout. Without consistent rest and recovery time, of course these agents are exhausted. Who wouldn’t be? We’re humans, not real estate-selling robots. So, why is there so much guilt around taking a day off? As small-business owners, we experience a very common “hustle and grind” mentality in this industry. “Work hard, and you’ll be successful.” “If you’re not meeting your goals, put in more hours.”

Yes, hard work is important, but what’s even more important is strategically doing the right activities (lead gen) and balancing those activities with plenty of rest. Now, rest doesn’t necessarily mean taking a nap, although it absolutely could mean that. The definition of rest is allowing your brain to unplug and your energy to recharge.

It will look different for each of us. It could be taking a walk, reading fiction, binging a Netflix show, going on a little road trip to explore a new area or having a long lunch with a close friend. You choose your own adventure. The point is to do whatever it takes to step away from the details and stress of real estate and allow the brain to focus on something else for a day.

Consistent rest has several benefits: It allows the brain to tap into creative problem-solving and better handle stressful situations in a rational manner, it helps us be more patient, it’s vital for our physical health and building a healthy immune system (yes, getting enough sleep at night is a big part of this, too), and it simply makes us nicer people and better agents. When we are well rested, we are able to keep our clients and co-broker agents calm.

Taking days off is easier said than done, yet it’s critically important to building a sustainable career and avoiding burnout. Extreme burnout can lead to getting physically sick, which will force you to take time off anyway, and you’ll lose valuable momentum. And wouldn’t it be more fun to take a planned day off than a sick day?

So, here are three tips for taking days off consistently:

1. Use the buddy system.

Taking days off is easier for agents on a team — there’s always someone to cover. For solo agents, it can be challenging, and for solo agents without the budget for an admin or a virtual assistant/transaction coordinator, it can be extra difficult. So, partner up. Find another agent in your office who’s in a similar situation and cover for each other. Make sure you include their contact info in your email auto-responder and change your voicemail message.

2. Pick a day of the week strategically, and plan it in advance.

For most agents, weekends are busier with showings and open houses than weekdays. Look back over the past few weeks and decide which day of the week is typically slower for you. That’s a good day to choose as your day off. Of course, the day can change, and it doesn’t have to be the same day every week. But choosing your day off in advance, getting it on the calendar and protecting that time is key.

3. Realize there are very few real estate emergencies.

Most things can wait a day. They really can. When you have a solid, trusting relationship with your clients, they won’t fire you because you didn’t answer them for 24 hours. For anything that really is time-sensitive (like an offer), well, your colleague in the office is covering for you. No problem. There’s no science behind this, but most agents find that whenever they go on vacation or step away from their business, that’s when referrals tend magically to pour in.

If you’re currently feeling exhausted or burned out, I’d highly recommend scheduling a few days off ASAP. Find someone to cover for you. Tell your clients you’ll be unavailable but that they’ll be in your colleague’s extremely capable hands. Then, when you come back to work, you’ll have fresh eyes and a renewed spirit, and your productivity will skyrocket. Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Ashley Harwood is the founder & CEO of Move Over Extroverts, a coaching/training company for introverted agents. You can reach her at Ashley@MoveOverExtroverts.com and check out her website at www.moveoverextroverts.com.