With Omicron a daily headline, it hasn’t exactly been the start to the year many of us would have liked. But don’t let your newsfeed distract you.
Despite all that’s going on, the best agents are focusing their attention on implementing solid real estate practices and grounding themselves in a back-to-basics approach that sets the tone for success in the year ahead.
What do I mean? Well, here’s a quick list of what the best agents will do in 2022.
Declutter
When it comes to selling a property, we often advise our clients to declutter. But when was the last time you looked at your work processes and eliminated the extraneous?
The best agents are kicking off the year with decluttering, and it works like this:
Remove all activities that are unnecessary, including inefficient technology, and focus on the primary activities and tech tools that will enable you to thrive.
The mantra is “less is more”.
The best agents do not allow the distraction of the next shiny toy to impact their workflow.
They use only the necessary and proven tools that allow them to do their job more effectively and more efficiently with their clients front of mind.
To put it simply, decluttering is another way to describe getting back to basics with a focus on getting stuff done.
Superior market knowledge
The property market will see major shifts in both pricing and sales volumes in 2022. In many cases, you can already see this happening.
To be relevant to the marketplace and invaluable to their clients, the best agents are taking a deep dive into general market conditions and local trends and are carefully watching exactly what’s happening in their specific area.
They are setting themselves up to have this information at their fingertips and are using it to consistently position themselves as a true market expert.
Build their immediate A-team
An A-grade team is critical to business success, and this is likely to become more important over the year ahead.
The best agents are adding team members to their business who will expertly cater to all the moving parts of the real estate industry.
Whether you’re scaling up, diversifying into areas like project management, or seeking to do more of what you’ve always done, seek out team members who compliment you, support you and, most importantly, ensure you consistently provide stellar customer service.
Invest in personal branding (big time)
The way you brand yourself and market yourself to your existing and potential clients will be a huge differentiator in the marketplace this year.
Those agents that are prepared to invest in themselves and create a personal brand will capture more leads by growing their audience and attention in the marketplace.
Make no mistake; this will require an outlay. But remember, the costliest mistake an agent can make is to fail to invest in self-promotion.
A tribe of mentors and advisers
Look to any great agent and they haven’t embarked on their real estate journey alone. They have armed themselves with a supportive tribe of mentors and advisers, ranging from coaches to expert professionals in specific fields.
From the business perspective, expert professionals might include a mortgage broker or a property adviser for investor clients.
From a personal perspective, this supportive tribe includes a circle of other successful agents who they regularly catch up with, a sales coach, a personal trainer and a mindset coach.
Most importantly, it will include fellow colleagues and a network that understands the current landscape.
This network will be something solid that an agent can lean on no matter the state of the market. The tribe will be on hand to support the best agents as they navigate the next 12 months and beyond.
Proactive not reactive
There’s no doubt that Omicron and the spread of the virus have made a dramatic impact as we enter 2022.
A key factor that’s been different in this instance is that this variant is affecting businesses through staff absenteeism and supply chain issues.
While no one can predict what will happen in 2022, the agency that will thrive in the current landscape will be adaptive to change, ahead of the curve, anticipate challenges, and address them before they impact their business.
Manos Findikakis is the chief executive and co-founder of the Eview Group.