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Here’s what you can do now to keep your business on track during the slow season
By Bridget McCrea
When the slow season takes over the real estate market in Champaign, Max McComb does what any enterprising REALTOR® would: he plans a pizza party.
But this isn’t just any pizza party, it’s one where his “family” of clients and contacts converge to enjoy a slice, drink a beer and reconnect.
McComb hires a photographer for the event, which won’t take place until the summer and – aside from being an overall fun time – it helps him generate multiple business referrals during the busy season.
He varies the event’s theme and food every year, so two years ago he decided to take advantage of the “downtime” that the slow season afforded him. In January, he reserved the space, planned the menu, hired the photographer and developed a list of invitees.
“When you can get out in front of it and get all the pre-planning done in advance, all you have to do in June is follow through on what’s been put in place. All the work has been done.” says McComb, a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Realty Associates.
Here are more ideas ideas that will help you maximize seasonal or other market downtimes and ensure that you’re ready to hop back to it when business normalizes:
Tackle projects that fell off your agenda last year
This is a big one for Max McComb, who says he typically winds up with numerous projects on the backburner after a busy year.
Whether that means scrubbing your customer database, organizing your financial files (tax season is right around the corner!), or cleaning out your desk, these are all important tasks that will help you be more productive once business picks back up.
“Downtime is a great time to catch up,” says McComb, who comes away feeling more organized after tackling a couple of those projects. “Just knowing some of those little things have been crossed off my list is a great motivator.”
Pick up the phone and call your sphere
Knowing that newer agents may be wringing their hands during the slow season, thinking that business may never pick back up to the way it once was, McComb tells them to hit their spheres of influence particularly hard right now.
Work your database of past clients, reconnect with friends that you haven’t seen in a while, and talk to your family members about your real estate aspirations for 2020. Don’t come across too “salesy” during these interactions, he warns, but do make the point that you are an agent who is looking for buyers and sellers to work with.
“Just pick up the phone and make some calls,” says McComb. “Talk to them about what’s going on in their lives, and then remind them that you’re a real estate agent.”
Create a realistic business plan for the year ahead
It’s easy to get overly ambitious with your business plan, only to get discouraged when you can only implement 10 percent of it, says Naja Morris, a broker at Naja Morris Real Estate in Chicago.
Use the slow season to reassess last year’s progress. Highlight what was or wasn’t implemented from your previous business plan and then come up with solid goals for the year ahead.
“Use the winter to develop your plan of attack and to get ready for the spring market,” says Morris, who is using downtime to develop and launch a farming strategy for a specific neighborhood.
“I’ve been number one in this neighborhood for the last four years, but I’ve never farmed it,” she says. “My 2020 plan includes doing some old-school farming, including knocking on doors and mailing out postcards in order to build my business in that area.”
Drop by your clients’ and prospects’ homes or offices
There’s nothing like a hot cup of coffee or cocoa to warm your clients’ and prospects’ hearts during the cold winter months.
Knowing this, Natalee Barracks-Dismuke uses the seasonal downtime to ramp up her “pop-by” strategy, which includes dropping by current, past and future clients’ homes or offices to say “hello” and deliver a warm drink or tasty treat.
“It’s really easy to go out and buy a few boxes of Fannie Mae chocolates and drop them off at someone’s front door with your business card,” says Barracks-Dismuke, vice president of operations at Realty One Group Excel in Aurora. “Just ring the doorbell; it’s a nice surprise for your clients.”
Don’t stop there, says Dismuke, who tells agents to keep making impromptu visits throughout the slow season.
“Your hard work will pay off in the spring, when business returns to normal,” she said.
Fill up your listing pipeline with some gift giving
When Roxann Bohstedt’s listing pipeline dried up in late-2018, she knew how to get it back on track.
It coincided with the holiday season and she knew how happy all of her past clients and contacts have been to get pies she handed out at Thanksgiving for the last 18 years.
It was the perfect segue for Bohstedt to send a simple message: I’m out of listings and I need your help.
“I took a light-hearted approach to it and wasn’t begging,” says Bohstedt, broker-owner at Your Home Team in O’Fallon, “but I’ll be darned if we didn’t get five new listings within six weeks.”
With holidays around the corner, Bohstedt suggests other agents use a similar approach to “giving back” while also reminding their spheres how valuable referrals are to your business.
Legal Note: Make sure the gifts are not considered something of value – or compensation – in exchange for referrals.
Work on your business (versus just in it).
Busy with the day-to-day responsibilities of running their businesses, REALTORS® rarely get a chance to take a step back and assess their longer-term goals, challenges and opportunities.
The slower season is a good time to take a breather and do exactly that, says Debbie Pawlowicz, a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Action in Lisle.
“It’s a great time to work on your business instead of just in your business,” says Pawlowicz, who uses the time to earn new designations, update her listing presentation, polish her website and test out new software applications.
This year, for example, her company is adopting a new customer relationship management program, and Pawlowicz is working with her team to learn how to use it before the spring selling season hits.
“When business is brisk,” she adds, “there’s just no time to dig into a new educational opportunity or piece of software. That’s why we’re doing it now.”
Don’t forget to take some time for yourself
It’s all too easy for REALTORS® to push themselves hard year-round and to take little or no time for themselves.
The winter should also be a time for self-reflection and for spending time on your favorite activities and with your family and friends.
“We have a granddaughter who we don’t get to see as often as we’d like to,” says McComb, “so we’ll carve out more time for weekend trips to go visit the kids.”
These trips—plus a little more time spent on his favorite hobbies and pastimes—reinvigorates this REALTOR® and reminds him of what’s most important in his life.
“It’s fairly easy to stay motivated from a business standpoint when things are happening and deals are closing, but it’s also really easy to get worn out and run down,” McComb warns. “By taking some time for yourself during the off months, you can avoid the ‘oh my gosh, I’ve done nothing fun for 12 months’ syndrome and come back refreshed and ready to jump in for the spring.”
About the writer: Bridget McCrea is a business, real estate and technology writer in Tampa, Fla. She can be reached at [email protected]
