Prospecting is something that real estate agents often procrastinate or avoid entirely. However, every lead you can accrue is a potential payday.
Below are some general tips to help you with your prospecting:
Following up is crucial
Here are some prospecting statistics:
* About half of agents never completely follow up with a prospect
* About a quarter of agents make a second contact and then stop
* About 1/8th of agents make up to 3 contacts and then stop
* Agents make more than 3 contacts 1/10th of the time.
Also here are some key facts:
* About 2% of sales are actually made on the 1st contact
* 3% on the 2nd
* 5% on the 3rd
* 10% are make on the 4th contact with an average lead.
Focus on quality rather than quantity
Forget thinking about how many people you can possibly speak to in an hour. Rather, focus more about how well you speak with each person that you are talking to. Build rapport and seek to understand the person on the phone; rather than seeking to be understood. Understand where each person is coming from. Ask for specific contact information, not for permission. Try to never say “Can I have your phone number?”. It is not a very good idea. Instead say something like “Jane/John, what is the best phone number to reach you on? Home or cell?” Take this approach in general, try to avoid handing them an ‘out’.
A Persistent Mindset
An approximate sales average is 1 sale out of 14 typical leads, which can be discouraging to some agents; however, this is a numbers business.
Your mindset should be that of owning and managing a business. Forge your mindset to be persistent now – because 80% of sales are made between the 5th to 12th contact!
There are a handful of common reasons why agents wind up giving up on prospective clients. The most important one usually is the fact that most agents haven’t really formulated a plan. Your strategy should include: scripts, a good value proposition, commitment, and keeping record of your activity so that you can learn from mistakes. 9 out of 10 agents typically don’t track. Tracking results is necessary in order to achieve maximum real estate success.
Focus on appointments
In Real estate sales prospecting can defined at the point of making first contact with a new lead. Exchanging emails counts too in this day and age – however hold in mind that you can’t sell a house until at least the point that you have had a verbal conversation with a prospective buyer and an appointment as well.
The one most obvious common denominator of top producers in real estate is that the top dogs work nearly every day to get that next appointment. Prospecting is part of their daily routine.
Also, there is absolutely no point in being nervous on the phone. When you are building rapport, it is like you are talking to a friend while offering them help and assistance.
Rehearse your scripts
One way to get feedback on your calls it to record them on your phone. There are various call recording apps available for iPhones of Androids. However, for the sake of privacy, those calls should be for your ears only. Then a good time to listen is when you are driving. You can listen like a 3rd party bystander. This will help you iron out your script and avoid pitfalls in the future. Investing time into formulating 2-3 good scripts will help you say the right things, and just at the right time. Record your script into your phone too, trying to get it delivered as smooth as possible. In a week’s time, you will have your script memorized entirely.
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