Back in "The Day", a significant portion of a Realtor's business was generated from customers randomly looking for you. If someone was new in town or needing to sell some property, frequently they would either walk-in or call your office looking for the "duty" (yes, Troy, I mean "Opportunity") agent.   

The duty calendar was updated monthly and some agents would reserve certain days every month and expect that time slot to be held for them. Frequently, there was a "back-up" duty person in case the duty agent was tending to the needs of a walk-in or call. The office phone system would carry multiple phone lines, and even with 5 or 6 lines available, often times you had to wait for a line to free up. The days reserved for duty were well-known by all  the agents…everyone knew that Susie always had Friday mornings and Tom preferred to take all day on Tuesday. The only slot that was sometimes a challenge to fill would be the Saturday shift (which gave you the rights to office calls all weekend).

Don't you wish your new business still came to you so easily? Most offices still have a duty calendar, but its importance has shifted from a core business opportunity to chipping into help in the office. Sometimes, we still get lucky with a few walk-ins per year, and I believe some of our 6 offices have more walk-in action than others. I know in Gulf Shores, if you make duty time at the office a main staple of your business, you won't last very long.

The importance of being at the office has shifted to the value of networking with your fellow agents, training, fact-to-face problem solving, sales meetings, and other valuable aspects needed for a successful real estate business. The office is still a great place to work on your business.     

Walk-ins, however, have not gone away, they just walk into different places. This is where agents looking to build more business can easily take advantage of this change. How you may ask? OPEN HOUSES!

In today's market, agents new and old can increase their business by generating their own walk-ins. Do you have to have a listing in order to do it? Absolutely not.

You have probably seen recent Yapmo posts of agents stating you are more than welcome to market their listings in your own social media. As a listing agent, why wouldn't you let your listings be marketed by others? The same holds true for OPEN HOUSES. The daily grind  of an active REALTOR® includes phone calls, writing letters, doing CMA's, studying the market, generating content, etc. This can be done from home, in the car, at the office, even on vacation. It can also be done at an OPEN HOUSE. Why not kill two birds with one stone and hold frequent OPEN HOUSES, while still working on (and in) your business? The benefits are obvious:

• Sellers know you are working (even if you let another agent hold the open house).
• It costs nothing to have a potential buyer walk-in and meet you.
• Automatic addition to your database (new agents trying to reach the 50 level in their database…this is a no brainer).
• The general public (even just the neighbor driving by) sees you working (name recognition).
• It is free (or maybe the cost of waters and cookies).
• You can still work on your business when no one is visiting you.
• The timing is so flexible…when do you want to do it? 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – ok;   2 p.m. to 5 p.m. - o.k.; 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. - o.k.  
• It gives you an opportunity to notify the neighborhood.

If you are looking for something to do to increase your business, why wouldn't you hold an OPEN HOUSE? You don't even have to have a listing. All you need is the ambition to improve and increase your own personal business.  

Does anyone want to hold an OPEN HOUSE in one of The Malone Team listings? You are more than welcome!!