Blueprint for a Seven-Figure Income

How much seed money do you have?

Every business requires an investment up front to get off the ground. This particular agent, like any savvy businessperson, had saved up a nest egg and budgeted for marketing right out of the gate. Done right, marketing can quickly build your brand. The interesting thing is that his marketing budget was diverse. He invested in online leads, direct mail, farming and many other methods. I have always taught agents to never put all your eggs in one basket. Your marketing should include a mix of online and offline strategies, carefully crafted to attract your intended clients.

Not only did he start marketing out of the gate, but he committed to investing 15-30% of every commission check back into marketing which led to more closings.

If you don’t have extra funds when you are starting out, the hill will be harder to climb. You will have to rely on traditional prospecting (phone, door knocking, open houses, community events, networking groups, etc.) to fill your pipeline.

The other route you can go is to buy leads from 3^rd party referral companies. They only charge a fee on closing so there are no upfront costs. It is harder to gain brand recognition this way, and it significantly cuts into your profitability, but it can quickly kick-start your career. There are no shortage of 3^rd party referral companies out there like Opcity, UpNest, AgentHarvest and more are coming on board every day.

What target market will you specialize in?

I preach this every day, and it often falls on deaf ears. You need to choose a segment of the market to specialize in. This particular agent chose to specialize in luxury homes. He said it gave him the ability to quickly understand his market and the factors that influence his buyers and sellers, allowing him to build deeper relationships with a select group of clients. He became a student of the neighborhoods and properties in his chosen market. He toured homes and open houses, studied past sales, researched historical market trends, and became a market expert who could communicate with clients at a very high level.

I get challenged by agents all the time who say specializing is an old-school strategy. With technology today, they can sell anything, anywhere. Why would they limit themselves to only a narrow segment of the market? My answer to that is: “If you sell everywhere, you will be known nowhere.” The proof is in the pudding. This particular agent sold $100M in his second year by specializing.

But marketing isn’t enough. He made of point of having conversations EVERY DAY with owners of luxury homes to update them on sales in their neighborhood. He circle prospected around listings to start conversations and build his database. When he had qualified buyers but no listings to sell them, he used it as an opportunity to call luxury homeowners to see if they would consider selling. He is living proof that these strategies work…if you work them!

Focus on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses

As his business grew, he understood he needed help. He added a transaction coordinator and an assistant to look after the logistics while he focused on the higher-priority activities like spending time with clients and delivering top-notch customer service. I have always taught agents to focus on their strengths and delegate their weaknesses. You can’t be amazing at everything, and typically agents are gregarious people who aren’t good with the details. The sooner you can play to your strengths, focus most of your time on clients, and delegate the back-end administration, the faster your business will grow.

Deliver the exceptional

All the heavy lifting is done at the start of your career. Your business is like an airplane taking off. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to get it off the ground, but once you get it going and you reach cruising altitude, you can ease up on the throttle. Business should get easier the longer you are in it, and that happens when you take exceptional care of your clients and maintain contact after the sale.

This particular agent understood the value of providing clients with small, unexpected gratitude gestures. For instance, in the summer he sent clients a shipment of specialty ice cream packed in dry ice with a note saying “You’ve been soft served! I hope this helps you get through the dog days of summer.” He was able to track three referrals from the thank you calls he received. There are so many thoughtful touchpoints you can have with clients throughout the year to stay top of mind (Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthdays, Independence Day or Canada Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas). The list is endless.