Take 5 
10 Things New Agents Should Do In Their First Month
with Stas Matias
TRT: 4:20
Transcribed  


Stas Matias Directly addresses camera:   You earned your real estate license, joined a brokerage and ordered headshots and business cards. Now what? I'm Stas Matias, a broker with Erin Catron & Company Real Estate in Punta Gorda. Let's take five minutes to talk about the activities new agents should do in their first month to set them up for success. 
     Brokers, you might want to use this information to build a checklist of items and tasks new agents should get done in their first 60 days. Meet with them at the end of the time period and go over the list to ensure they got everything done.
     As for new agents, use this to build your own list of to-dos.
     First, create a list of everyone you know. This is your sphere of influence and the people you will contact first to let them know you're in real estate. It's best to put this list into a customer relationship manager, or CRM, so you can keep notes about the person and track activities. Then, sign up for an email account, like Constant Contact or Mailchimp, where you can import your contact list.
     After this step, there is no particular order to the rest of them. Here are some other things you should do your first month:
     Register for your free profile on real estate sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, HomeSnap, and Trulia. Add your head shot and short bio to these sites. Also, create profiles on Linkedin and Yelp. You are likely already on Facebook. Now, create a Facebook business page and invite the friends from your personal page to like the business page.
     Educate yourself on the market you plan to serve. Whether selling condos, resale homes, or new construction communities, you should visit the communities and build a relationship with the sales teams at these locations. Schedule visits to some vacant listings to get a better feel of the area, construction, and amenities these properties offer. 
     Earn your GRI! Sure, you just took your licensing exam, but the Graduate, Realtor Institute program will help you build on your knowledge of the industry and hone your skills while you build your business
     When getting started, many agents want to add leads to their database. Ask agents in your office if you can perform an open house on their listings. This gives you the opportunity to get face-to-face interaction with potential buyers right away. Be willing to commit to these open houses for set hours. Create a schedule and stick to it. 
     Add these leads to your CRM. 
     Another way to farm for buyers and sellers is using the Remine Program, a consumer and property database that helps you mine the data for leads. Take a Remine course to better understand how to use the many tools the program has. The Remine team travels the country offering classes through local brokers and MLSs. Or, sign up for one of their webinars.
     Sit in on a real estate contract class at your local association. Understanding the real estate contract is vital so you don't create a legal issue unknowingly. Buyers and sellers want to know they made the right choice in working with you. Being able to answer their questions about the contract will put them at ease.
     Meet with your broker and put together a business plan. Once you have an idea of how much you'd like to make, you can work the numbers backwards to come up with achievable goals.
     After the sales volume is shown, you can take the amount needed and divide that into quarters. Every market varies, so you and your broker would have to see what the average sales price is, and that can help you get a better idea of the number of transactions needed to accomplish your quarterly goals. This practice actually helps newer agents visually see what it takes and helps them to come up with realistic goals and expectations.
     Finally, get out there and build relationships. Meet people for coffee and lunch. Real estate is all about getting people to know, like and trust you. Consider these 10 items as the key to doing just that.