T
he digital age and industry changes have made in-office buyer and seller visits less common, but there are ways to reverse this trend. Brokerages that offer mortgage pre-qualifications or notary services can give potential clients a reason to stop by. Even small gestures like decorating for the holidays can catch the eye of a potential walk-in.

    The direction of your business depends on daily decisions. Agents Decoded can help you navigate industry perspectives from seasoned pros who have been there, made mistakes, and found success. To many in the industry, walk-in business is dead – a victim of our failure to adapt or natural causes.

    However, walk-in business is superior to internet inquiries. It's every licensee's goal to be face-to-face with a live human seeking an address change. We've adapted to incredible disruption: the internet, pandemic, Great Recession, and NAR troubles. Yet we can't crack the code of a practice that was taken for granted for over 100 years.

    Can we turn this around? Yes. Here are some approaches a smart brokerage can take:

    Advertise office hours on your website's homepage to let folks know you're available without an appointment. Offer free mortgage pre-qualifications and get good signage. If you have an affiliate mortgage company or a good relationship with a lender, invite a loan officer to keep desk hours.

    Get your notary license and do more floor time to leverage this. Signage still works if you work it – list properties in the window, post agent availability, and use electric signs. Have some fun by decorating for holidays and making people wonder what you'll do next.

    Observe the holidays and make a statement with your office decor. If you make it worth their while, the public will start opening your door again. Everything outlined is designed to create a warm initiation between on-call floor time agents and curious members of the public.