Struggling to close deals in today’s market? Let’s get practical and tactical and look at three simple goal-setting techniques that will help you increase your closing ratios.

Early on in my career, I woke up without a plan. I would log into MLS, get distracted by the notifications, decide to update my profile, open my email and social media accounts and dive headfirst into the wormhole. 

I would get a lead and be super excited about the opportunity, but I didn’t have a system for getting from the call to closing. I felt “busy,” but I wasn’t getting the expected results. 

So I found people who were. And I studied them in depth. What did they do differently by which they were achieving success when so many in this industry gave up before they even had a chance to succeed?!

Do some goal-setting before investing time, skill or money

A huge unlock for me was zooming out and setting up goals for what I wanted to accomplish BEFORE I deployed time, skill or money.

The three pillars I focused on to start with were setting clear goals personally, professionally and transactionally.

Personal goals

If your personal life is falling apart, it will seep into your professional life, and people can FEEL it. 

No one wants to do business with people they don’t trust or who don’t show discipline or professionalism in their personal life.

If you had to grade the following from 1-10, with 7 not being an option,* where would these fall in your life? (This is my stack. Modify it to whatever tracks with your ambitions.)

• Faith
• Fitness
• Family
• Friends
• Finances

If I take care of my stack in order, by the time I get to work, I’m PUMPED and EXCITED that I GET to do my job. 

Others I meet resent their work because their family is upset they work all the time. Or they feel sluggish and unhealthy, which studies have proven makes you more irritable and likely to fly off the handle. 

What you focus on expands. 

It doesn’t mean I’m perfect by any means, but if any of these fall below a 6, I ask myself what small action I can do to make it an 8-10. 

Often, it’s just frontloading the calendar with family trips, walks to the beach and time-blocking my workouts in at a time I KNOW they’ll get done. Personally, I had to start waking up earlier to get my mind and body right before the world started pulling on me. It took time and effort to make the change, but I can tell you that the version of myself now would run OVER Justin 1.0. 

If I don’t take the time to ask myself these questions, how fast will time pass without me making improvements? I can tell you: Decades in the blink of an eye.

Professional goals

Having a plan for what you would like to be known for, including transaction volume, marketing plans and budgets, is no different than plotting a course for a journey across the ocean.

Not having a plan is also no different than not plotting a course across the ocean.

Which would you rather do if you were crossing the Pacific?

Reverse engineer success. As an example, if you want 50 deals:

• 8 dials = 1 contact
• 12 contacts = 1 lead
• 5 leads = 1 appointment 
• 2 appointments = 1 contract
• 2 contracts = 1 transaction 
• 240 contacts = 1 transaction

By this metric, if you wanted to do 50 deals a year, you should contact 230 people a week. Let’s say you can only commit to prospecting four days a week. That’s 55 people (rounded down).

That’s not a lot. If you sit down for 30 minutes, open your CRM, hit 45-50 people a day x5 days a week — there are your 50 deals. 

The key is like my morning routine: start with 1-5 people daily until you develop a system. What you focus on improves. If you commit to it, you get faster. My bet is with one hour of focused prospecting time daily, you can get to 100-200 touches quickly. But it starts with one. 

The real secret? Most successful agents do 1-3 hours a day because they understand one clear thing: prospecting is the easiest way to always stay in business. 

This doesn’t mean turning into a boiler room cold-calling machine. Prospecting can be DMing a contact on Instagram, texting or emailing, but yes, a human call is the mother of all connections. The key is to log the contact in a system where you can track your efforts. 

The basics are undefeated. 

Transactional goals

Many people don’t realize that it’s essential to have a clear picture of success in a transaction with a client. Be it a buyer or seller, tenant or landlord, all of these have different measures of success.

Some are price-related, some are condition-related, some are tied to an overall portfolio strategy where the transaction is part of a bigger plan. 

The best thing you can do for a client is spend the time to reverse engineer what success looks like for THEM. Many agents get this wrong — they fail to remember that we are FIDUCIARIES. This means that the client’s goals are above our own. 

Think about how this has played out in the industry:

Agents who throw cutting comments amid tense negotiations to belittle others so they can feel important or because they felt slighted in the past and are looking for revenge — all while their client suffers the costs, unbeknownst to them. 

A broker-owner so caught up in a personal vendetta that he chooses to exert power over a minor contractual disagreement that could lead to an unneeded legal battle between clients when everything could have been easily mediated.

The listing agent who literally tells a client that they need to buy through them “because it’ll be easier to get the deal done” and builds a reputation for it. 

I could probably write three articles on stories that all give you the same “feeling,” but I think you get the point. All of these are typically a sign of shortsightedness and insecurity. 

Over time, focusing on the transactional goal will allow you and your clients to develop a stronger bond and relationship as you’re tested with various challenging situations because, if documented, you can always zoom out to the original goal, then zoom in to the problem at hand for a pragmatic solution. 

Plan ahead to execute well

So, what goals are YOU going to set — personally, professionally and transactionally?

I bet there are deals and things you can think of RIGHT NOW.

I know that simply writing this has reminded me to update mine. I used to business plan every December, but over the years I’ve realized that in our business, you need to be working 60-90 days AHEAD of when you’re looking to execute. This means that planning for me now starts after Labour Day so I’ve got a clean plan in writing by October. 

If you need help or accountability, reach out anytime. Sometimes all it takes is sending a message.

* 7 is a non-answer — if you force yourself to choose 6 or 8, you know where you really stand.

Finding success as a real estate agent is all about building relationships with clients and consistently growing your network. This is why effectively marketing yourself is essential. 

Of all the things you can do to market yourself online, email marketing is one of the most impactful ways to a) reach your audience and b) convert leads into clients. 

And the statistics prove it.  

A survey conducted by SaleCycle.com found a whopping 59 per cent of consumers say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, and over half say they purchase from an email at least once a month. This is great news for your real estate business!

In this article, we’ll walk you through simple yet effective email marketing strategies to help you grow your subscriber list, engage and nurture your audience and successfully close more deals.  

Capture leads with a free resource

When you’ve found email marketing software that meets your needs, you can start building your list by enticing prospects to sign up with a value-packed freebie. What’s a freebie, you ask?

It’s a (typically digital) resource you create to entice people to subscribe to your email list. This is important, as simply inviting them to “join our newsletter to stay in the loop” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Consider a tool or resource you can provide to help your dream clients make instant progress or learn something new. This may look like a buyer’s guide, seller’s checklist or market report. (You don’t have to stop at just one!)

However, we recommend thinking outside the box to come up with a free offer that’s branded to you and your unique approach. The purpose of your freebie is to provide value, offer a solution to a common problem and establish yourself as a trusted resource from the get-go.

Freebie building hack: Search “guidebook” templates in Canva and customize them with your branding to create a PDF guide.

Craft your welcome sequence

First impressions matter. Your welcome email sequence is a series of automated emails sent to your subscribers as soon as they sign up to join your list. The goal is to build trust, showcase your authority and engage with your community, helping them understand what to expect for future communications (and giving them a taste of what it’s like to work with you).

A typical welcome sequence includes:

• Freebie delivery (value) 
• Brand story intro (authority building) 
• Client success story (trust building) 
• How to work with me (problem + solution) 
• Other free resources + tips/special offers (value)

Your welcome sequence plays a key role in your brand experience. It sets the first impression for new subscribers and potential clients/customers, so don’t skip this step!

Nurture your audience

As a realtor, you know that prospects can take months (or even years) to decide to sell their home. This is why nurturing your audience with regular email communication is a must. Since real estate is all about relationships, this is an opportunity to build a sense of connection with those who aren’t ready to buy right now but will be in the future.

People are more likely to work with you when they like, know and trust you. And your emails can serve as a way to pull back the curtain on who you are and why you do what you do, sparking a deeper connection with current and future clients. 

Follow these tips for writing emails your audience will actually want to read:

• Write a short, curiosity-inducing subject line that makes your reader click. 
• Imagine you’re writing your emails to one person and use conversational language so it feels like it’s coming from a friend (not a robot).
• Instead of sending traditional sales emails, capture your reader’s attention by telling stories about your life and experiences, providing entertainment, insight or inspiration.

Remember, your potential clients aren’t just looking for listings in their inbox; they’re seeking guidance, expertise and a trusted partner in their real estate journey. Use your emails to speak directly to their needs, desires and pain points, while providing valuable insights and expert advice that show your understanding of their experience. 

By doing so, you’ll elevate your marketing, create an engaged community and drive success in your real estate business.

Because of changing market conditions, buyers who may have been pre-approved for purchase may find out later that, as a result of a low appraisal done before closing, their mortgage loan amount has either been reduced or cancelled and they may not be able to close their deal.

Here are six lessons to remember so you can avoid this happening to you or your clients.

1. Remember, pre-approvals are not guarantees that a lender will fund their mortgage.

Just because a buyer gets pre-approved for a loan does not mean that the lender will close. There are always conditions on any pre-approval and one is typically that an appraisal is conducted that is satisfactory to the lender.

Always make sure that a finance condition is included in any agreement and do not waive any finance condition until you know for sure that the lender has completed their appraisal and approved the sale price.

2. See if there’s a solution.

There are solutions out there. For example:

• deals can be extended,
• properties can be put back on the market in an attempt to reduce the losses suffered,
• buyers may be able to borrow from private lenders through a short-term loan until their financial situation improves,
• mutual releases can be negotiated and
• prices may be reduced if the parties want to avoid expensive litigation.

In addition, a seller may be able to provide a vendor take-back mortgage. Just be sure to always get legal advice before suggesting any solution.

3. What if the client threatens to sue you for what happened?

Buyers and sellers think that if they threaten a lawsuit, somehow the agent will agree to pay part of their damages to end the matter. Remember, as long as you, the agent, have not committed fraud, you are protected against any lawsuit by your errors and omissions insurance policy — meaning that you don’t pay for your lawyers to defend you.

The client will typically be asked to pay at least $5,000 just to retain a lawyer to sue you, with thousands more still to come. In my experience, once clients see how much this is going to cost them, they end any talk of lawsuits.

4. What if the client threatens to report you to your provincial regulator?

Somehow, buyers and sellers are of the mistaken belief that provincial regulators (RECO in Ontario) are collection agencies for consumers. Not so.

While the regulator is supposed to investigate every complaint made against a salesperson or brokerage, they are for the most part looking at whether the salesperson or brokerage followed their duties under the legislation, including the Code of Ethics. They are not there to collect damages against agents for the benefit of consumers.

5. How do you demonstrate to the regulator that you’ve fulfilled your obligations?

Always ensure that all your paperwork is properly documented and that you have a written record of it. This includes making sure that all documents, including the agreement of purchase and sale, have been carefully explained and signed, and that copies have been delivered to the client.

Try to document any instructions in writing as well, to avoid any misunderstandings later.

6. Always speak to your broker or manager before responding to any complaint or potential lawsuit.

It’s always stressful when someone alleges that you made a mistake and they’re going to suffer a loss because of what you did, or when they try to blame you for their situation. But, you need to resist the temptation to say something you may regret later.

Try something like this as an answer: “I am sorry you feel that way. I will review my file and my notes and will get back to you.” Then, go discuss this with your manager or company lawyer and figure out what your next step should be.