Real Estate Prospecting: What You Need to Know

The topic of real estate prospecting is one that many agents love to hate. While a lot of real estate professionals achieve moderate success in the early years of their career, it's common to hit a wall when your well of leads starts to dry up.

It's clear that more leads need to be generated so that you can close more sales, but the prospecting process can be a daunting one for many agents. There are a lot of strategies out there, but most of them are a marathon – not a sprint. It often takes some time before you begin to see the fruits of your real estate prospecting labor.

But slow and steady wins the race! Practice effective real estate prospecting now and your future self will thank you!

Whether you're a rookie agent or a seasoned top producer, here's what you need to know about real estate prospecting to gain more business and close more sales:

Prime the pump year round.

Neglecting your real estate prospecting may not hurt you today or tomorrow, but it WILL hurt you six months from now.

On average, a buyer is actively looking for a home for between three and six months, which means that if we got a new client tomorrow, we could be working with them until next fall or winter. You cannot count on a commission check coming in the door in a particular time frame.

Remember to prioritize prospecting year-round to keep the commission coming in. Consider the ebbs and flows of the market, when buyers and sellers are less likely to pursue the possibility of moving.

To prevent the dip in commission checks, make sure that you are devoting the appropriate amount of time each day or week to prospecting in every season!

Reap referrals when you can.

Ninety-two percent of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. And when someone is thinking of making a huge decision like buying or selling a home, you can be sure they seek advice from trusted friends and family.

No matter how much time, effort and money you invest in other forms of advertising, referral leads are highly desired. Referrals are valuable because they come to you (rather than you chasing them down), they are usually warm or hot leads, and they enter your relationship with trust because someone they know has vouched for you.

While you know that referrals are critically important to your real estate business, your clients don't necessarily understand the value of these referrals. Failing to ask for referrals is one of the most obvious prospecting mistakes agents make, and I fear they lose out on a lot of business for this reason.

The obvious time to ask for referrals is when you complete a transaction with a client, so certainly include that in your conversation. But as you build a relationship with your client through regular email marketing and keep-in-touch phone calls, you can naturally ask if they know of anyone who is thinking of moving. Remember to let your past clients know how much you appreciate their referrals. And when they do refer you, send them a thoughtful thank you gift.

Prospect like it's your job (because it is!)

Becoming effective in prospecting for real estate sales is the single fastest way of boosting your sales. Focus your efforts on the quality of your real estate prospects, not so much the quantity. It'll ensure you spend most of your time with qualified prospects. Top producing real estate professionals don't spend much time with bad real estate prospects because it eats up valuable time.

Try focusing on consistency. Like I mentioned above, priming the pump with a stream of qualified real estate prospects helps avoid slumps and plateaus in your business. Remaining consistent will also help you manage your fear and procrastination, two things likely preventing you from keeping current with your prospects and customers.

As a real estate agent, there are a lot of scheduling hiccups beyond your control, but it's important to prioritize prospecting on a daily basis. Experiment with your schedule and find when you're most effective. I like to suggest setting aside two hours each day to dedicate to prospecting. This can be a good time to make phone calls, update social media posts and ask for referrals. Treat this prospecting time as you would any other important appointment and stick with it!

Leverage the power of a real estate CRM.

Even if you have the best intentions, starting a new habit like daily real estate prospecting is a challenge. One thing that will really help you stick to your goal and see results is a real estate CRM. I can't stress the importance of organization enough! What's the point of acquiring leads if you're writing prospects' contact info on scraps of paper or sticky notes that get lost?

The best agents all use a real estate contact management system of some sort. Whenever they make a new contact, they always get specific pieces of information from them such as full name, spouse's name, mailing address, email address and phone number (home and cell). Without this valuable information, you'll find yourself hampered in your ability to build relationships with these people at certain junctures.

One of the biggest ways real estate professionals lose out on potential business is by neglecting to keep in touch with all real estate prospects and clients. A relationship is either growing or dying. The longer you neglect it, the more it dies. How can a past client recommend you if they can't remember your name? Keep in touch regularly with the help of a real estate CRM. Automated monthly e-newsletters are a terrific way to stay top of mind with your contacts, and they don't require effort on your part!

To view the original article, visit the IXACT Contact blog.