The summer months are prime time for a vacation. They’re also a busy time for people who are looking to buy or sell their homes. Whether you’re taking a week or 2 or just a long weekend, now is the time to prepare your business for the busy summer season and upcoming time off. But what does that entail? Today we’ll give you the tools and tips to help you excel during the busy season and take some much-needed time off.

Why prepare?

You may be wondering why you need to prepare your business for the busy season and to take time off. You may wonder, is this gonna create more work for me? The answer is yes it may create more work for you. However, doing the work now means that you won’t have to work as hard to catch up when you get back. Over time you’ve developed routines that ensure that you stay on track. When you get busy or take a few days off, these routines can go by the wayside. Taking the time to prepare now ensures that you’re less overwhelmed when the time comes. Instead of letting routines fall away, you rely on them to help you stay on track and even get ahead. Most importantly, preparing helps to ensure that when you return to the office or when things calm down you are able to maintain those routines that have helped you build the foundation for success.

Do more Power Hours

It’s impossible to overstress the importance of your Power Hour. This is the time that you will spend working on your business. If you’re already doing a Power Hour several times a week, now is the time to add another to your daily schedule. Whether you add a full hour or break it up into smaller blocks throughout the day, a Power Hour will help you reach out to everyone you need to in your database, especially new connections and those you know are in the market to buy or sell.

Adding another Power Hour to your week may be easier if you are doing three or four each week. What if you’re already doing a Power Hour every day? In the weeks leading up to your time off, add another Power Hour to your week. Take a day and time that you feel most productive and get connecting. 

Get connected

The more Power Hours you do, the more connected you will feel to your database. This connection is critical, especially in the months leading up to your time up or the busy season.

Follow up

During this time you want to also ramp up your follow ups. Following up with everyone in your database is super important. Not only does it build trust, but you’ll also set yourself apart from other real estate professionals. Many people don’t take the time to follow up. They may forget to answer the questions that people ask them or check in with their database. This is a huge mistake and a missed opportunity to build trust and connect with people. If you want to set yourself apart from your competition, following up is an easy way to do so.

Ask for referrals

In addition to connecting with follow-ups and the people on your dashboard, take extra time and care to connect with your top clients. Be sure to make their days with a special message just for them. Your top clients are the people whom you will want to ask for referrals. In fact, they’re already probably singing your praises to everyone that they know. Let them know that you’re always looking to provide the people. They know and trust the excellent service that you provide to them. Then encourage them to refer you. Referrals make the best leads because they’re based on trust. 

Many real estate professionals are shy about asking for referrals. After all, they don’t want to seem like a pushy salesman and they feel awkward asking. But if you don’t ask for referrals then your top clients may not know to refer to you. Your top clients are more than happy to help you build your business. Giving you referrals is one way for them to do so.

Talk about your business

The good thing about real estate is that everybody always wants to talk about it. Whether they’re in the market to buy or sell or just curious, everyone wants to know what their home is worth, the local market, and the latest trends. The summer tends to be a busy time of year for real estate. Often people with families want to move while schools are out. Additionally, people who are on vacation are curious about buying vacation homes or rental properties. What an excellent time to talk about your business and all the excellent services that you provide? You should be talking about your business all the time, wherever you are. Be sure that you get contact information for the people that you talk to about the market. Let them know that you’re not trying to sell them anything right now, but you want to keep them up to date on the current market. Although they may not be in the market to buy or sell right now, they may know someone who is or they may be in the future.

During your vacation…

Enjoy your time off and be present with your family and loved ones! This is your time to relax and recharge your internal batteries so you can give your best self to your business. 

If you think about it, take a moment each morning or before bed to reconnect with your Why and your goals. It only takes a few minutes to read over your goals and think about your Why. It seems like such a small thing to do; however, by keeping your Why and your goals at the front of your mind, it’ll be so much easier to get back into those successful habits that are vital to growing your business. Instead of having to get into the business mindset when you return, it’ll never have left in the first place. 

Once you get back…

The good news is that you can pick up where you left off with your database. Since you put in the hard work before you left, you won’t have to spend your time saying, “Sorry I haven’t connected with you in months…” Instead, you can pick up with, “Hope you’re having a great day! I just got back from vacation and it was amazing! Let’s catch up soon!” See the difference? No apologies for being out of touch; you have done the work to maintain contact until your break. 

Get back into your routine

Once you return, get back into your regular routine. It’s easy to get out of your routine because you feel busy as you try to catch up or you just want it to ease into your week. Instead, rip off the bandaid and get to work. Continue to do your daily Power Hours and focus on your top clients. And, don’t forget to ask for referrals and look for ways to brighten the days of your top clients. 

Follow up

When you return, follow up with the people you were introduced to or spoke to before you left. By following up, you’re showing that you care more about developing the relationship with them than making a deal. And you’re also setting yourself apart from the other real estate professionals who may let these folks fall to the wayside.

CircleCloser can help you prepare your business for the busy summer season

We developed CircleCloser to make it easier and more fun to build the foundation for a successful real estate business. All of the tools you need to connect with your database are at your fingertips. All you have to do is log in and get started. Click here to learn more and get started.