Any new agents starting during Covid-19?

Question

The title says it all! The title says it all..

I’ve been a stay at home mom for 1.5 years and had been mapping my way “to my forever career”..

Now what? My courses at the in person school has been cancelled.. yes I could study online but no exam will be held...

I literally have all my eggs in this basket to start , website done , professional headshots, CRM, dialer

Tim Swierczek · Answer

@Ford Wagner Yes now is a great time to set up your agent business. When people usually become agents they are excited to work with people, and for good reason but they don't set up their systems. The first step is to list all your friends, family, and acquaintances. I would start digitally because the next step is to gather all of their contact info. Find cloud-based CRM, Contactually comes to mind but there are more, you want one you can manage from your phone. You will want to let them all know that you are a new agent, several different ways and find at least 12 ways to touch them and preferably 48 ways in the next 12 months.

You also want to brainstorm all the ideas that you can add value online. Then start creating videos and posts on social media with value. Join FB groups where homeowners may interact and comment on their posts with value.

One last thought, your broker may offer you a free CRM, and email.  DO NOT use them.  Brand yourself, get your own domain and brand yourself from the start (legally- you still need to list your broker).

This is not a full list but this should keep you busy for a month or more and they are important but not urgent things all new Realtors should be doing but rarely do or they do it half A**.

Tim Swierczek · Answer

@Nigel Ford I would not say it includes all of your broker's resources but you want to brand yourself, and it certainly means your email and your phone.  Do not ever send one message from your broker branded email or a phone number controlled by your broker.    As a new agent, you will be building your database of clients and prospects and many months and years down the line you may not work for your first broker.  If you leave your clients may not realize it and then they will have your wrong contact info. The database is different.  The tough part about a database is getting it up and running, and the data entry.  The monthly payment to use it (if it's not free to start) is easy.    If you spend months setting up your database now and then a few years entering client info what will that do you your ability to switch brokers in the future and what will it cost you in time (money) when you do switch.  My bet is it will be more than the aggregate of all the months of payments you make from now until then.

The fact is that the odds of you retiring with the broker you start with are similar to if not worse than your odds of winning the Powerball.  You need to treat your branding and your data is yours.  If you want to send a mailing or two from your broker provided resources that is not the end of the world, but its probably very generic stuff with not much value so its good for staying in front of your clients which is important but that generic stuff has no personality and will not stand out int the crowd of Realtors.

Ford Wagner · Answer

In Minnesota, I recently finished school and passed my tests to start a career in real estate. I know were in the midst of some crazy times....but honestly I couldn't be anymore excited. It's almost as if my back is against the wall right now, but me personally I thrive for challenges like this in life and this will be nothing short of that. I've realized that if I'm able to grind through the next 2 years of this recession then I'm going to come out one the other side absolutely exploding. Never have I been more excited about a career venture...successful sales people are successful in any economy, average sales people complain in a weak economy and really every economy. You just have to have a strong mindset!! First couple years are going to be an absolute grind! I wish you the best of luck!!

Nigel Ford · Answer

It seams difficult to prospect for new leads right now with social distancing. How are you doing it these days?

Ryan Alexander · Answer

@Janae Estill

Hey Janae, I would continue to learn, read everything you can in regards to real estate to gain a wealth of knowledge during this unknown down time. The industry will come back and market should come back strong. Check out prep agent videos on YouTube to learn and study as well. Those videos were a big help when I was studying for the exam. Good luck to you!

Nigel Ford · Answer

@Tim Swierczek

Its nice to see people being optimistic at this time. What would the downside be of using the brokers CRM and emal? does that include all of their branded marketing materials?

The reason why im asking is because I have a broker in mind for when I get the license in the mail (and who knows when at this point), that provides all of that for a fee.

Nigel

Abel Curiel · Answer

Good point and good question Nigel. New York's governor banned cold calling 5 months ago and said it would be banned all the way through to September. This restricts Agents from 'circle prospecting' and prospecting 'Expired' leads.

That restriction, however, doesn't restrict you from calling:

- 'For Sale By Owner' leads

- Past leads - i.e. someone you cold called 6 months ago is considered to be someone you have a past relationship with and thus is no longer a 'cold' lead

- Personal circle/sphere of influence

- Incoming inquiries - i.e. Zillow/Realtor.com leads

Best of luck to you on your journey!

Abel

Deon Goodman · Answer

I got my license in the middle of covid. Prospecting has been a little more difficult than I anticipated, but I still think it was a good time to get started

Kobe Xin · Answer

@Nigel Ford I agree with Tim's advice. I wouldn't use my broker's personal CRM and Email. You want to keep your leads as your own especially as a new agent. Some states require you to include your Broker's info on any marketing you do, but you definitely would still want to brand yourself. If the Broker is offering a third party lead gen/crm tool then that's a different story, that way you can still transfer your leads into your own crm if you happen to leave that broker.

Tim Swierczek · Answer

@Nigel Ford I'm a lender who works with Realtors daily and in my 17 years, I've worked with thousands.  The successful ones set up systems and routines/habits.

Any new agents starting during Covid-19?

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