The verdict is in — the old way of doing business is over. Join us at Inman Connect New York Jan. 23-25, when together we’ll conquer today’s market challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities. Defy the market and bet big on your future.
The business has changed. The market has changed. But have you changed anything? This article shares seven steps you can take now to help you not only survive what may be ahead, but also to thrive.
Now is the time to act, and these are the steps to take.
1. Reduce your expenses
The first step in recession-proofing your business is to eliminate all unnecessary expenses. Begin by pulling your bank statements and credit card statements for the last three months. Make a list of all ongoing expenses. Some will be glaring and easy to eliminate. Others may need evaluation to see if they have a positive ROI and need to be kept or if they are costing you money instead of making you money.
The leaner your operation is, the healthier it is during times of recession. Making the necessary adjustments to your expenses now sets the stage for a healthier business in the long term.
2. Build cash reserves
In times of uncertainty, cash is king. It gives you the ability to weather storms and to play offense when others are forced to play defense. No one has ever found themselves in a recession and said, “I wish I had less cash.”
There is absolutely no downside to building your cash reserves. If you have cash on hand and the market rebounds quickly, you win due to the market improving. If you increase your cash reserves and the market becomes more difficult, you really win by the opportunities the downturn presents.
During recessions, opportunities you never thought possible will present themselves as the people who are unprepared find themselves having to sell things at deep discounts to survive.
Whether the market rebounds quickly or challenging times are ahead, build cash reserves for peace of mind and security.
3. Deepen relationships
Joe Cocker once famously sang, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” In challenging markets, it’s the business and referrals from our friends, past clients and sphere of influence that get us through the lean times.
This is the time to deepen the relationships you have. Find ways now to show the most important people in your business how thankful you are for them. It is relationships that carry us through tough times. Never take them for granted.
If you’re looking for ways to deepen relationships with your clients or prospects, check out this article with 22 creative ways to show your clients appreciation.
4. Increase your lead sources
The security of your future business comes from a consistent flow of new leads. The risk many agents face, without even realizing it, is a dependence on only one or two lead sources. This risk comes from the likelihood that economic change might alter the effectiveness of lead sources that have done well in the past.
The answer is to diversify and add to the number of lead sources being utilized in your business. Think of the stability of your business as a table and your lead sources as the legs. The more legs the table has, the more stable the table will be.
This might involve expanding your lead generation strategies to include open houses, purchasing online leads, or leveraging social media platforms. Whatever it looks like for you, adding lead sources increases your ability to handle a slowdown.
If you’re curious about lead generation strategy options that you might want to add to your business, check out this article with 40 ways to generate leads that work right now.
5. Produce more video content
Producing high-quality, informative video content on the home buying and selling process is still one of the best ways to stand out from your competition. The beauty of video content is that it can work for you both now and into the future.
Noah Escobar, a 23-year-old agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida servicing the 30A market in the Florida panhandle, went all in on video earlier this year. He publishes one video to YouTube each week with a mix of types of videos.
In his first seven months of posting a weekly video he has listed, closed or currently has under contract a total sales volume of more than $5.5 million directly from YouTube leads generated.
The beauty of the videos is that they continue working as a lead generator for him over time. YouTube analytics show that the amount of time his videos are watched is steadily growing every month. Last month he averaged two hours and 15 minutes of daily watch time. This means his videos are prospecting for him over two hours a day and he is only seven months into his video production journey.
In today’s digital age, producing video content is one of the best ways to create marketing that works for you while you sleep and that compounds in value over time.
If you’d like to see the videos Noah Escobar produces, you can check out his YouTube channel. You can also read an article where he breaks down his process for producing videos that attract clients here.
6. Produce and send out a video unsolicited CMA every day
Every homeowner wants to know the most up-to-date information about the value of their home. Recording your screen, going over the comparable homes, and giving them an updated idea of the value of their home without them requesting it is a unique way that will generate listing opportunities.
I produced one of these unsolicited video CMAs every day I worked over a 90-day period. I worked 72 days and sent out 72 of these valuation updates to homeowners. Over the next five months, I generated over $11 million in listings from these daily CMAs I emailed out. It works.
If you’d like to know the process involved in identifying who to send these to and how to produce them check out this article where I explain the entire process.
7. Become the expert for a specific area
The best way to recession-proof your business is to develop an area where you are known as the local expert. Geographical farming is the way to achieve this status. It gives you the ability to have a steady flow of listing opportunities no matter what the economy does.
If you don’t have a geographical farm area yet, now is the time to start one. If you already have a farm area, now is the time to develop a second one. The faster you can achieve the status as the go-to person for multiple neighborhoods, the faster your business will have the security you desire.
If you’re looking for an article that explains the process of identifying and dominating a farm area, check this article out.
If a recession comes, keep in mind that it is not just a time of challenges but also of opportunities. By adopting these strategies, you not only position yourself for success today, but you can have confidence that you have a business that is built to last.