1. Failing to keep in touch – with clients, with anyone. Maybe you’ve missed an email or forgot to return a call, and before you know it, you’ve gone months without talking to your prospective clients. You might not see the harm in this at first, but over time, this behavior can and will spin out of control. At the end of your day, spend an extra ten minutes and clear out your voicemails. Email a piece of relevant news to a specific client. Schedule time in the week to catch-up with someone. Hand-write a thank you note for a referral. Clients are the best source of business in both repeat and referrals. So treat them like gold.
2. Not prospecting each day and just grinding it out. Some people make cold calling look so easy. To an outsider, they just seem lucky – but it’s not luck. It’s practice. These people made time at the very beginning of their careers to get comfortable with prospecting new clients. Everyone understands that picking up the phone and making a cold call is intimidating – especially for beginners. It comes with the territory though – put in the work now and it’ll get easier over time. Doing this over and over throughout time will pay dividends for you in the future.
3. Poor time management skills and not spending time on the right things. Time is all we have in the service business. Spend it wisely and on the right things and people. Time management skills allow people to organize their work and personal life efficiently. For example, a person who manages time well will finish tasks ahead of deadlines, without last minute scrambling or sacrificing work quality.
4. Not utilizing social media. Like much of this business, it has to be consistent and stuck with over time to be effective. Don’t just write anything though – make sure your information is relevant and helpful. Play around with what content you post, setup a content strategy and stick to it. Treat the first few months as trial-and-error and learn what resonates with your specific audience.
5. Not focusing. You should pick an area of commercial real estate (be it landlord rep, tenant rep, office, industrial or retail and really learn it before expanding.) Don’t try to know everything – just make yourself a solid resource for one area.
6. Not spending some time on self-improvement and training. Don’t rely on your firm to give you all the tools you need. Be proactive. Find educational opportunities. The second we stop improving is the second we start declining. As soon as we stop, someone else will pass us by. Make a list of what you want to learn and seek out a mentor. You can always talk to your firm and say what you expect in terms of training, and speak up if you feel you’re not getting the training you need.
7. Not working hard enough. Often times, people think they can dial in and just become successful over time. These days, it’s not enough to be talented. New associates must put together the skills and talents they have. You have to work and work hard. This is about spending your time wisely, working hard and sustaining it over the long run.
Building a career in real estate is exciting. Although carving out a career in this industry is tough, if you avoid these mistakes, you’ll be far ahead of the competition.
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