Q: “Denise, I am working on editing my buyer and seller packages right now and have a question regarding my “Area of Specialty”. As my business has grown and I have clients all over the county, they are referring me to their friends and neighbors. But traffic has also gotten so much worse and at the worst time of the day, it can take me hours to get from one side of the county to the other. There is a part of me that wants to narrow down my expertise area to a much smaller part of the county, but don’t necessarily want to lose anyone either. How should I tackle this and what should I put in my buyer and seller package?”

A: Good for you! I love it when agents save themselves time – and money – by narrowing down what they do. I don’t think you are ready yet to make any changes to your buyer or seller packages as this is going to take some time. First, I want you to determine who you are going to refer business to in the areas that you no longer want to serve. Meet with those agents and make a plan for referrals that is suitable for you both.

Next, give it some time. Test this relationship out. It might be that you both have very different approaches with clients and it doesn’t work out. Don’t make any changes to your business until you have confidence in this solution.

Then nine months to a year from now, reassess and see if you are ready to publicize your new structure. What I would do is show a map of the county, indicate you and your area specialists team members would be happy to help. That way you are being transparent and they expect that they may not be working with you directly on showings (or whatever you have decided to do).

Then, if you are worried about losing business, double-down on the marketing you are doing in the area you prefer to work in. Plant those seeds. They will sprout.