What Every Agent Should Do Before the End of the Year

It's official: the year is almost over. The holiday season has arrived. Only 5 weeks until the clock runs out on 2023.

But there's still time to do one simple thing that will set you up to succeed in 2024…

Call every single person in your database before December 31st.

No excuses! 

Be honest with yourself: if you're not gonna call the people in your CRM now, when the holidays give you the perfect excuse to check in and say hello, you're never gonna do it. 

And if you're never gonna do it, you don't need to bother with a CRM at all. You'll be chasing deals for the rest of your career, which isn't going to end well—I can promise you that. 

Despite all the anxiety around making these calls, it's actually incredibly simple. 

Pick up the phone, dial the number, and say, "Hi! I'm just calling to check in and catch up. How are you? What plans do you have for the holidays?"

Test yourself: how much do you know about these people? Do they have kids? Pets? Hobbies? See how much you can learn about the other person, and make notes in your CRM so you can remember in 90 days, when you call again.

Remember, this is NOT a sales call. 

You are not trying to get anything from anyone. Your only goal is to build and maintain relationships.

That's your job, literally. Real estate is a relationship business. Without strong, trusting relationships, you will forever be chasing low-probability deals and discounting your fee to win them. Deals don't compound—relationships do.

So, do your job.

Use this as an opportunity to get very clear on what your client base really looks like. If you come across a name you don't want to call, archive it. If you don't have a phone number for someone, archive them. 

There's no room for maybe in your CRM. You're either committed to building a relationship with a person, or you're not. Call or archive—there's no in between.  

I know, this process can be scary.

Whenever I teach CRM, agents ask me: Do I have the right people? Enough people? How much business is really there? Do I need to be adding more people?

First of all, you've got to start with reality. What matters isn't how many names and phone numbers you've collected—it's how many of those people you're willing to call every  90 days, whether that's 5 or 500. 

Ideally, you want somewhere between 250 and 1000. 

Can you have less? Yes. More? Yes. But this is a good target range for building a sustainable repeat-and-referral business.

If you’re on the high end of the range, you might have some "maybes" to trim.

If you’re on the low end, ask yourself how you can build new relationships in an authentic way. That could mean lead generation—cold calling, door knocking, expired listings, likely to sell, etc.—or it could mean getting involved in local groups where you can meet people.

Either way, you always need to be connecting.

This is NOT OPTIONAL. It’s not about wanting or liking to do it. It’s about DOING it.

I played football for 11 years, and did I ever want to go to practice? No. 

Did I ever miss a practice? No. 

I wanted to play games and win, and to have that privilege, I knew I had to put in the work at practice.

This is no different. If you want to build a thriving real estate business you have to call the people in your CRM. You have to build relationships. 

If you’re not willing to embrace this reality, you’re fooling yourself about what you’re doing to make a living.

Think about it this way…

On the one hand, you want everyone you know to do business with you. 

On the other, you don't reach out to them. 

How do those two things go together? 

THEY DON’T.

This time of year is a great litmus test of your level of commitment to what you do.

If you’re not going to pick up the phone in the next 45 days, you’re not committed. And in today's challenging business environment, if you’re not 100% committed, you’re wasting your time. This market requires everything you have.

No excuses. Put yourself in the hot seat. Don’t let yourself off the hook.

And in case you were wondering, sending a holiday card DOESN’T COUNT. Texting DOESN’T COUNT. Emailing DOESN'T COUNT.

The whole point of this is human connection.

You just can't get that from words on a screen or piece of paper. It takes real conversations in real time. Pick up the phone—or better yet, meet in person.

Putting in the effort now will set you up to start next year right. But remember, real estate is a marathon, not a sprint. There is no such thing as instant gratification in this business. These calls may not pay off today or next week, but if you keep making them, the relationships they build will become the most reliable engine your business can possibly have.