Andrew Lamb, team leader of the Andrew Lamb team at RE/MAX Gold, explains why the holiday season need not be slow for Northern California real estate agents and gives practical tactics to generate business now for stronger January–February closings. He emphasizes local market conditions (Solano/Napa/Yolo counties), consistent prospecting and follow-up with past clients and new leads, hosting low-cost client events (e.g., pie giveaways), and running a simple referral-focused team contest called a "go for no." He closes by inviting agents to contact him with questions.
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Today we're talking about how to stay busy during the holiday season. Hey, Andrew Lam here, team leader of the Andrew Lamb team at remax Gold. And today I wanted to talk quickly about how to stay busy during the holiday season. How to ensure that you have a prosperous December, January, and February when, you know, typically people say things slow down this time of year. So what I've noticed is that it's not necessarily real estate in general that slows down. Not in our area. Maybe if you were in New York, on the east coast somewhere with a lot of snow this time of year, that would be true. Simply because people want to stay indoors and not go see homes and be out in the elements. But in Solano county in Northern California, kind of our Napa, Solano, YOLO section of Northern California, it's really not that way. In fact, just last November, I had six closings. So I know it's not a time when all of real estate slows down. There's still buyers and sellers out there. Typically, it's the real estate agents that slow down, and they're not proactive in going out and prospecting and following up with their past clients. They're just really thinking, you know, since the market is slowing down, I will, too. So the number one tip I have for you is to really dig deep this time of year. And, you know, if you're planning out 2016, a lot of that starts with closings in January, and you have to get stuff in contract right now in order to see those checks in January. So go ahead and start calling your past clients, kind of call, call and follow up with all those new leads that you're getting. If you're doing open houses right now, make sure that you're following up immediately after that open house and really show people that you're going after it this time of year. Because half the other real estate agents in our area are, you know, they're asleep, they're going on vacation, they're. They're checking out. So now's a great time to dig in. And especially this time of year, it's great to host client events. I've seen a lot of real estate agents within my own office do a pie giveaway. A $6 pie from Costco, apple or pumpkin pie is a really great way to say, hey, thank you for being a client. Thank you for your past referrals. And it's just like you've sent it out to every single one of those people in your database when really maybe a third of them, probably less, will actually Take you up on it and come and pick it up from the office. So it's a great way to get the word out there to show that you're thankful to really kind of be a part of that season and the feeling of the season of Thanksgiving, and give back to your clients in a way that makes everyone feel loved, cared for, and can result in referrals. Another thing is to just make sure again that you are following up with everyone in your database. Send out an email, send out postcards, send out something to say, hey, we're thinking about you this time of year and thank you for your business, either if they're a past client or referring client. Something else we like to do this time of year is a little contest within our own team that is, it's called a go for no. So we simply just ask everyone we know and don't know. If we're running into somebody at the supermarket, if we're talking to our cashier, if we're getting coffee someplace, we just say, hey, who do you know who happens to be looking to buy or sell a home in the near future? A lot of times just the fear of asking that question will keep you from getting referrals, whereas just asking the question and not even worrying about if they have someone or not, but knowing that every time you ask, you're one step closer to someone who will say yes or, yeah, I have a friend who's going to sell their home. My neighbor just, you know, they were, they had a rental, those tenants just moved out. So he's thinking about selling it. Maybe you can chat with him. It's those kinds of connections that you're looking for. Now is a great time of year to do that and ask those questions. You know, it's a really cheerful season. People are all about giving, so even subconsciously, they'll be more apt to go ahead and say, yeah, you know what, my neighbor was just talking about this, or my friend across town was just saying that they're thinking of moving next year. They're relocating for a job. So now's a great time to build those relationships and just make sure that everywhere you're going, you're making contact with people just smiling, being happy, spreading the joy, I like to call it, and asking for referrals. So if you have any questions at all, if you want to see exactly what we do in our team to go ahead and generate that business this time of year, feel free to reach out, drop me a line, or submit a question right here on the blog. And I'D be happy to answer any questions. Of course. Completely confidential and no obligation. I just want to give back, just like I advised you. So just like we give back to our clients, I want to give back to our pool of agents, our community of agents in our area. So feel free to reach out anytime. Thanks. Have a great day.
