21 TRUTHS FOR NEW AGENTS – DAY 5
It’s Saturday as I write this. It’s typically my day off and certainly my workload is reduced in the midst of this virus ‘pause’ but I have things to do. My schedule is a lot more fluid. I haven’t been late to anything for over 2 weeks, as the Facebook meme says but I want to keep posting. On to Day 5.
Truth No. 13 – You need to be the best agent in the transaction. Unfortunately, that’s not hard. This what we teach the agents in our office. My experience is most agents are looking for shortcuts, the easy path, and the quick close. Most deals aren’t found on that path. You need to do certain things to make sure you’re the most knowledgeable in the deal. It will make negotiation better, representing your client better and your income better. The next 3 truths will go a long way to helping you achieve this goal.
Truth No. 14 – It’s on you to read and understand the contracts. You are not an attorney and you should not give legal advice but you can explain most of the details of your contracts. In our state of Georgia, contracts are written as ‘fill in the blank’ forms with extensive special stips examples written for us to cut and paste if we need to add something. I’ve used these my entire time and I’d say it works for me. If you don’t understand what you’re reading then you need to see your broker. They might have a class you can attend or a book you can read. We have something called The Red Book, written by the attorney who wrote the contracts. It’s up to you as the agent to know this stuff.
Truth No. 15 – It’s on you to know how to use your MLS and it’s tools and reports. Most of your work will be done in your MLS website and tools when it comes to understanding, using and sharing detailed information regarding the market. You can find out your inventory levels, absorption rates, sales price to list price ratios and a lot more. If you know your numbers then you will be seen as an expert. I use this information when I am interviewing an agent to give a referral. I start by asking how many months of inventory there is in their market. If they tell me it takes an average of 90 days on market to sell a house, I move on. It’s obvious at that point they don’t know what they are doing. Know your MLS and it’s tools.
Truth No. 16 – It’s on you to know how to use your chosen CRM. Customer (or client) Relationship Manager (CRM) is the software you use to track your database. There are lots to choose from and I see new agents posting the question or what they should be using. The right answer is “it’s the one you’ll use consistently”.
Just starting out, with no money, I’d suggest you use the one your brokerage provides for free or use Gmail Contacts if there is nothing else. The key thing to keep in mind is your data must be exportable so you can move it to another platform if you decide there is something better. The key things to put in your CRM are Name, Address, Cell Phone Number, Email Address and Permission Status.
Permission status needs a little explanation but basically it measures the level of permission or relationship you have. I will dig deeper into this but I’d recommend Permission Marketing by Seth Godin for a basic understanding of the concept.
That’s enough for today. Check back for the next post tomorrow. We’ll keep going but I want to offer something extra to you in this ‘interesting’ time.
If you’re struggling and need to talk to someone, I’m here and I’ll talk with you.
I mean it.
If you want to schedule a 30-minute call you can click on this link. It will take you to a calendar where you can request a 30-minute time block. I’ll accept and we’ll get on zoom to talk face to face.
It’s free and it might just help if you’re stuck. No strings, no pitch, just someone to listen and maybe get you unstuck.
I’m here if you want to reach out.
I hope you will.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-616-1578 Direct Line