How to Grow Your Real Estate Business: 7 Practical Tips to Beat Your Competition

2. Leverage Digital Marketing and SEO

Every business is leveraging digital marketing to enhance its online presence and increase patronage. As a real estate agent, how do you ensure that your online marketing efforts are better than those of your competitors?

Here are some practical tips:

1. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that 97% of homebuyers use the Internet in their home search, with 51% using mobile devices. To leverage this data, ensure that your website and social media are top of the search when clients are seeking your services. You achieve this through search engine optimization (SEO).
   SEO is a long-term game with long-term returns. Hire a professional and watch your investment give back results long after your competitors give up. In a saturated online space, stand out with professional SEO help so you can concentrate on what you do best – closing real estate transactions. 
2. Enhancing your online content for mobile users is another great tip on how to grow a real estate business. Most searches now happen on a mobile device. Ensure your content on websites and social media is easily navigable and readable on a phone. This will place you ahead of other agents who do not optimize their online marketing for mobile users.
3. A report by the Social Media Examiner showed how real estate agents grow their business using social media to generate 33% more leads compared to those who don’t. Study your target audience and show where they are online. If your clients are businesses mostly using professional sites like Linked, optimize your posts and marketing on the platform. If your target is young first-time homebuyers in urban areas, leverage sites like Instagram and join groups where your buyers are.

By understanding the online behavior of your target audience, you can employ digital marketing and SEO tactics that get you results. Additionally, don’t do it all yourself. Budget for professional help, especially with SEO, to avoid wasting time on distractions that take you away from the core of your business. 

3. Get Mentoring or Coaching From a Succesful Local Realtor

Every successful veteran started from scratch, battling through mistakes, bad decisions, and countless lessons to gain the knowledge and insight they have now. But you don’t have to. You can leverage their experiences to shorten your learning curve and advance faster. 

How? Through mentorship and coaching. Mentors walk with you each step of your career, pointing out pitfalls and opportunities to take advantage of and offering feedback to improve your skills.

Coaches do the same thing, leveraging accountability to help you curb your self-sabotage and keep going even when markets are bleak, and your peers are ready to quit the industry. 

There are many avenues to get mentorship and coaching. You can approach a senior industry professional you admire and ask them to mentor you. Alternatively, your brokerage could have a mentorship program that helps agents navigate the local market and learn how to get clients to a yes faster. 

Another effective way to get ahead of the competition is to enlist the help of a coach. Find a local expert who offers coaching services and benefit from their wealth of knowledge and extensive network. The resources you spend on coaching sessions will save you years of mishaps, wasted time, and money. 

4. Work on Customer Experience and Personalization

Customer service and personalization are key to attracting and retaining clients. You could be the best at negotiations, but how you make your customers feel will trample over everything else. 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. 

This means that an agent with the best listings but poor personalization will lose to another agent who has better customer relations. 

Improving customer experience is easy. For instance, in one of Ryan Serhant’s Netflix episodes, an agent has a tradition of gifting buyers a pair of customized keyholders for their new purchase. This may seem like a small gesture, but it doesn’t take much to stand out from the hundreds of agents who don’t go the extra mile for their clients. 

Find an inexpensive gesture that will keep you at the top of your client’s minds so they will return for more and bring their family and friends along. 

The greatest advantage of customer service and personalization as a marketing tactic is that you don’t have to spend money. Additionally, it pays ten times more without much effort from your side. 

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5. Networking and Referrals

Real estate is a people’s business. In this space, your network is your net worth. Smart agents don’t wait years to build their own but rather leverage existing communities. Think professional bodies, networking events, community activities, and more.  

Eventbrite statistics show that attending networking events and business functions can increase your qualified leads by up to 40%.

It is not enough, however, to just attend these events. How real estate agents grow their business is through standing out and actively pursuing industry professionals who can help them scale. Here are some practical tips to get the most out of networking events:

1. Target the Right Network.

Attend events with professionals who can have a maximum impact on your career. These include mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys, home inspectors, and other agents. Additionally, identify key players in your local area and aim to connect with them. 

2. Work on Your Pitch

Make a good first impression. Practice how you want to present your business or yourself so others may want to connect with you professionally. Create a compelling elevator pitch and practice it until it flows naturally. Then, practice it on different people to build your confidence. 

3. Engage Actively During Events and Promptly Follow Up

Be proactive in your networking efforts. Stay active, work the room, and stay engaged by maintaining eye contact and listening to understand, not to respond. 

After the events, follow up on new connections to keep the conversation going and find opportunities to engage them in mutually beneficial businesses. 

4. Give Before You Take

In professional settings, most people take and seek ways to not give back. To stand out, find ways to be valuable to your network. Offer help, contacts, and any other ways to become a valuable network addition. 

You may never need their help, but if you ever do, your contribution to their successes will be in your favor. Offer of your resources and knowledge before seeking to take. Of course, discernment is key to avoiding burnout or diluting your value by overgiving. 

Moreover, networking significantly increases your chances of getting referral business. Referrals account for 30-50% of real estate transactions, emphasizing the value of building a strong network and maintaining client relationships. 

6. Leverage Local Market Knowledge

75% of buyers and sellers prefer working with an agent with in-depth local market knowledge. Most agents in your area may have general information on who’s selling what and any upcoming developments. So, how do you stand out?

Dive deep into neighborhoods by researching and understanding their unique characteristics, such as community amenities, school ratings, crime statistics, and local events. Talk to unlikely candidates, such as small business owners and local leaders to get insights into major concerns of residents in specific neighborhoods. 

Another tip on how to grow your real estate business and showcase your local market knowledge is to create neighborhood guides highlighting unique features, local attractions, and insider tips. Share these guides on your website and social media to showcase your expertise.

You can also attend local government events or open meetings, especially those that address factors affecting home prices or new development projects. Check out city council meetings, zoning hearings, and other local government events to stay ahead of potential changes that could impact the real estate market.

Another way to deepen your local market knowledge is to respond to real-time local needs. For instance, a commercial area severely affected by remote work may have significant vacant office spaces. To market these units, develop solutions that address the local needs. So, instead of marketing the spaces as traditional office units, you could suggest a shared co-working space to the landlord or investors and instead market this as a business idea. 

Your local knowledge is a unique selling point that can establish your brand as the go-to authority for real estate needs in your area. By offering clients personalized services that include inept neighborhood information, you can beat your competition and gain referral business. 

7. Continuously Learn and Improve Your Skillset

According to NAR, real estate agents who participate in continuing education and professional development courses earn 20% more than those who do not. Here’s how to grow your real estate business by standing out through continuous learning:

1. Pursue Advanced Education

Earn specialized certifications such as Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR), or Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM).

These certifications equip you with niche expertise that propels you to the top of the pyramid. They also enhance our credibility and showcase your commitment to your craft, inspiring trust in your clients. 

2. Develop and Refine Key Skills

These could be vital skills such as negotiation techniques, marketing, and technology skills. Workshops and training courses are available to improve vital skills needed by real estate agents. 

You can also enroll in short courses online to refine skills or master areas such as social media, CRM systems, and data analytics. 

3. Seek Out Professional Development Opportunities

Engage with organizations like the National Association of Realtors (NAR) or local real estate boards. These associations often provide access to valuable resources, training programs, and networking opportunities.

You can also participate in industry conferences and seminars to gain insights from leading experts and connect with other professionals. Networking at these events can lead to new opportunities and collaborations.

4. Apply Your New Skills 

Practice any new skills you learn by serving your customers better and expanding your reach. Employ new digital marketing skills and leverage any new technology you may have picked up. Be creative in finding your competitive edge to ensure that your newfound skills benefit your business.

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