The spring housing market is about to get into full swing just in time to ease agents, buyers, and sellers into what is certain to be an extremely busy summer real estate season. Chances are, though, if you’re not ready for the spring market, you’ll likely be under pressure when summertime rolls around.
The question you should be asking yourself is, are you ready for the spring market? Here are a few things to get you prepared.
Start with Goal Setting
Hopefully, you’ve at least gone through the strategic part of planning your year and you’re periodically revisiting those goals and seeing where you are stacking up. If you never quite got around to setting annual goals for your firm, then now is a great time to do it. Make sure that your goals are in line with your business plan and follow the SMART framework (strategic, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebound).
If you already have goals set for the year, then take this opportunity to figure out where you stand. Have you met your goals? Are things going according to plan? Maybe you have work to do. Make adjustments as you see fit, and understand that most of your volume will likely be done starting this month and moving into May and throughout the summer.
Prepare Your Mind and Workspace
If you haven’t quite hit your stride for the sales year, then it’s certainly understandable that your workspace is a bit cluttered or maybe things are a little bit disorganized. If you’re experiencing a pre-summer sales lull, then use the opportunity to tidy up your workspace. After all, you likely won’t have time to keep things organized for a few months.
Additionally, make sure you’re mentally prepared for the busyness of the sales season. Take time to de-clutter your mental space and prepare for the pressure of sales season. For some agents, this means blocking off future time during your day to take care of personal business or some of the “fine print” parts of office work. For others, getting your head and heart in a positive space is a goal before summer hits.
Get Your Calendar Prepared
Since you’ve already got your workspace and headspace in the right places, now it’s time to prepare to organize your calendar. You obviously won’t have your spring and summer calendar full just yet, but there are some things you can do to create an organized system for your appointments and tasks.
You could start by color coordinating tasks and appointments as you see fit. Some agents will assign colors for different clients while others will color coordinate by task. Also, make sure that you’re blocking off personal time to take care of some of the administrative parts of your day. For many agents, this time can be found early in the morning before your appointments, meetings, and showings start to add up.
Dedicate Time to Leads
Finally, as part of your time management dedication and organization, you’ll want to consider making time or blocking off time for leads. You’ll naturally generate some leads, and those leads need your utmost attention. Whether through referrals, online leads through your website or social media, you’ll need to give these leads your attention.
Additionally, you’ll want to make time to reach out to cold leads. These leads are the ones who may have fallen through the cracks or just weren’t quite ready to pull the trigger on buying or selling. Taking time to do this in the spring will likely lead to more sales during the summer or at least plant the seed for sales later in the year.
