Seven business practices agents should rethink

Real estate agents planning for 2027 may be asking what new technology, marketing strategy or lead source they should add to their businesses. Jimmy Burgess suggests starting with a different question: What should go?

“Sometimes the fastest way to grow isn’t addition. It’s subtraction,” Burgess wrote in an Inman column.

Burgess, chief coaching officer for HomeServices of America and president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, identified seven areas where agents could pull back, refocus or change course:

• Buying leads without reviewing the return. Burgess recommends examining business expenses and putting more time and money into people who already know and trust the agent. That could mean scheduling lunches, buying coffee, leaving reviews or supporting their businesses.
• Posting content simply to stay visible. Consistency matters, he said, but content should answer the questions buyers and sellers are asking. Specific information about neighborhoods, relocation and local market conditions is more useful than generic posts.
• Waiting until videos are perfect. Simple property walkthroughs can help viewers understand how a home might feel to live in. Burgess recommends using stories and observations rather than listing what appears in each room. “Done is better than perfect. Push record.”
• Trying every new strategy. Moving repeatedly between platforms, tools and lead sources can prevent agents from developing any one skill. Burgess suggests choosing one area, such as video, open houses, geographic farming or database follow-up, and concentrating on it for a month.
• Offering answers too quickly. Asking more questions can help agents better understand what buyers and sellers value, why they’re considering a move and what would make the experience exceptional.
• Using closings as the daily scoreboard. Agents can’t control interest rates or when a buyer decides to act. Burgess recommends tracking activities they can control, including real estate conversations, follow-up, useful content and professional development.
• Thinking only like a salesperson. Burgess encourages agents to become trusted sources of local information by featuring businesses, touring neighborhoods, discussing developments and answering community questions.

Before adding another item to the 2027 business plan, agents should identify expenses that aren’t producing results, activities that take time without creating opportunities and strategies that distract from the fundamentals, Burgess said.

"Your business may not need another strategy, another tool or another thing on your to-do list," he said. "Maybe what creates the lift you’re looking for next year isn’t what you add. Maybe it’s what you’re finally willing to let go."

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