Social distancing. Consumer fears. Government guidelines. The usual pace of our industry may be temporarily changing, leaving agents more time in their days. Staying productive during this historic time is one great way to not only keep morale up but also prepare for when restrictions are lifted and normalcy is regained.
Amy Somerville, RE/MAX SVP of Professional Development and Education, shares her top four things agents can do while getting through this difficult time.
Now is the time to strengthen your network
Amy Somerville
We are in a relationship business, and now is the time to nurture those relationships. In good times and in bad, never forget about your customer. Reach out to your network. Check-in on them. See how they are doing. Take it one step further by tapping into technology and seeing how you can make that connection even deeper. Could a phone call be a FaceTime instead? Could a voicemail be a video message? Even during a time of social distancing, we don’t need to lose that face-to-face experience.
Focus on future development
Coming off a strong December, January, February and even March for many – there hasn’t been time to take a step back in business and focus on future development. You can do this in a number of ways.
Reset the business plan that maybe you weren’t able to truly focus on at the beginning of 2020. Work on developing professional skills that help you deliver value to your customers, like staging or honing your negotiation tactics. Get caught up on your Continuing Education credits or finally get the certification you’ve been wanting to but never had the time to get. I also think this presents everyone with an opportunity to ensure they have brushed up on their unconscious bias training and taken courses like the National Association of Realtors’ “At Home With Diversity.” Bottom line: now is the time to concentrate on your education and professional development.
Be the expert
Agents can choose to react to the current situation with a freeze, flight or fight response. It’s important not to freeze. Just because you may need to adjust how you do business, it doesn’t mean you can’t continue offering value to your potential clients or to your community as an expert in the space.
Stay on top of the industry by studying the data, learning about interest rates and using whatever tools your brokerage of choice offers you to stay informed. From there, take that knowledge and share it through your preferred method of putting yourself out there – social media, newsletters, podcasting, etc. The consumer is in a potential fear reaction right now. The more you can be out in front of the community showing them that you are not going anywhere, the better. Build their confidence – and yours – through information and data.
Create and stick to a routine
Finally, one of the best things that agents can do for themselves is to take a moment to create a routine. As the workplace shifts from being on the go to being in one specific location, you will need discipline to stay productive and retain some sort of boundaries between work and home. Look at your routine from the beginning of the month and figure out how to modify that to bring it into the new landscape with video and tech. Be sure your routine involves professional development and outreach to your sphere. But whatever you do, commit to it because that routine is going to make all the difference.