When people hear the phrase “struggling agent,” newer, rookie agents may come to mind. But the truth is, all agents, no matter what level they are at in their professional career, can struggle. Adjusting to the industry requires hard work and diligence. Working in a niche where they can make themselves known, and preparing – and maintaining – that foundation takes hard work and time.

Even agents who have been in the business for years can have their struggles. Brush Hill Realtors partner and managing broker Joanne McCafferty has seen it happen firsthand. An agent in her office had been an agent for almost a decade, but had recently begun struggling with her leads.

She had stopped multitasking as efficiently as she had been, and had been focusing on the wrong parts of her business and didn’t see it; she had been prospecting but not following up, and spending too much time with clients that weren’t necessarily ready to buy. She always seemed busy, but she wasn’t busy doing the right activities for her business.  She couldn’t balance it all.

McCafferty knew the agent just needed a check-in – to hit the refresh button, hear sound advice and reassess her goals.

“I told her to go back to basics,” she says. “She needed to go to her kids’ classes and pick them up from school. Meet the moms and get involved. Work them. My advice to agents in terms of lead generation and business usually circles back to the same thing: you’ve got to get yourself out there. You’ve got to be out there every Sunday for open houses and to meet people. Then, the referrals will start coming in.”

While it sounds like common sense and doesn’t seem too complicated, there are agents who are always producing and agents who always seem to be struggling. The key difference between these two types of agents is simple: struggling agents aren’t being strategic in various aspects of their business.