Whether it's a tough real estate market or a thriving real estate market....Steve Murray, of Real Trends consulting and research group in Castle Rock, Colorado, says that the real basics of business haven't evolved much.

"Really, if you put aside the current housing market, in the past 35 years what has changed?" he said. "But the days when you can grow and be profitable doing those old (basic customer service practices) are coming to a close."

Your business model must be to streamline your practices in order to build a stronger and more successful business.

He said teams are emerging as the most promising business model for agents.

"Everybody who's looking at the past sees the teams that arose 20 years ago, where two agents get together to combine their production so they get a bigger split," he said.

In the course of researching his book, Game Plan: How Real Estate Professionals Can Thrive in an Uncertain Future, co-author Murray said he believes that the most successful agents or teams will focus on a niche or market.

Integrating technology into your business plan is a must.  "Integrated systems are going to be critical to the future of real estate," he said. "An agent enters a listing, the broker knows about it immediately, fliers are pre-populated, e-postcards set up, virtual tours -- all of that information can be pulled from one entry in the (multiple listing service)."

Streamline your business to focus on customer service and build your business model around integrated technologies that will help you thrive in the future.

Read a "Game Plan for a Tough Real Estate Market" at Inman News.com

Posted in Marketing

Comment on this article

Name

Email
Your email address will not be displayed.

Site/Url
Your URL will be displayed.

Your vote

Poor Excellent

Comment text

Options

  Line breaks become <br />

  Remember me

  Allow users to contact you through a message form.

Captcha

Please enter the characters from the image above. (case insensitive)

Captcha code