Richard Smith is the chief marketing strategist and a real estate agent coach for RealEstateAgentSupport.com, as well as a senior mortgage banker and branch manager with Success Mortgage Partners. 

Every week, we ask a Houston real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before. This week, we spoke with Richard Smith, chief marketing strategist and real estate agent coach for RealEstateAgentSupport.com, as well as a senior mortgage banker and branch manager with Success Mortgage Partners. 

Houston Agent (HA): In your experience as a professional resource for real estate agents, in what area have you found most are lacking? Why is that?

​Richard Smith (RS): The area I feel agents are lacking in the most is not having and implementing a proper business or marketing plan.

I talk to hundreds of agents a year and the majority do not have a written plan for their business or marketing efforts.

If they do not have a good coach or mentor they tend to play each day as they go and are not consistent with their strategies and the implementation of the strategies.

HA: What is the No. 1 tip you give to agents to help maximize their earnings, and why is that so important?

​RS: Focus on the basics and have a written plan to ensure implementation daily. They are in a relationship business and must stay top of mind with their database by making phone calls, sending emails, snail mail, text messages and social media, and do it in a consistent fashion. Also, agents should have an accountability partner to talk to weekly. This is important to maximize and leverage the No. 1 target market for their business (i.e. the people that know, like and trust them).

​HA: How important is technology in today’s real estate business?

​RS: Extremely ​important. As the homebuying market continues to become more and more young professionals and these generations are starting to purchase homes, all agents must be up to date with the new technology. Using text messaging, social media and the Internet correctly is a necessity for the successful real estate agent.