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It’s time to drill down on this critical skill required for your success!! Make the commitment to understand, implement and perfect your prospecting abilities.
Prospecting is the ability to generate quality business in an efficient and effective manner, with predictable and duplicatable results.
FACT: Effective prospectors are not dependent on market conditions, price range, being at the ‘right’ brokerage, or any other outside force. This requires skill, discipline and action.
For example:
“The 30-Day Rule states that the prospecting you do in this 30-day period will pay off for the next 90 days. It is a simple, yet powerful universal rule that governs sales and you ignore it at your peril. When you internalize this rule, it will drive you to never put prospecting aside for another day. The implication of the 30-Day Rule is simple. Miss a day of prospecting and it will tend to bite you sometime in the next 90 days. Miss a week and you will feel it in your commission check. Miss the entire month and you will tank your pipeline, fall into a slump, and wake up 90 days later desperate, feeling like a loser, with no clue how you ended up there.”
― Jeb Blount, Fanatical Prospecting:
What are the different types of prospecting I could / should be doing?
Two categories: People you know, and people you don’t know.
Secret: The strongest real estate practices are prospecting based, marketing enhanced or marketing based and prospecting enhanced. Regardless of which you’re running, becoming a powerful prospector is key in your ability to create profit which meets or exceeds your goals.
Fact: The most effective prospectors work multiple ‘spokes’ or categories of lead generation or prospecting. Let’s look at why this is so important by digging into the two types of people you’ll be calling; those you know, and those you don’t.
1 People you know: Past clients, people in your Center of Influence. Everyone loves repeat and referral business, so this should be the strongest ‘spoke’ in your lead generation wheel. Advantages: These people already know, love and trust you. They are unlikely to ask for commission reductions or kick backs, and you probably don’t have to compete for the business. Disadvantages: You don’t know who in your database is going to move next, so you have to communicate with the whole list all the time! Strategy: Have an ever-expanding list, systematize your outreach with a combination of personal calls, Happy Grasshopper.com emails and personal pop-by’s. Go advanced with quarterly client appreciation events. Secret: You must have more communication, more frequently with a larger list than you think!
2 People you don’t know: This is everyone who is not a Past Client or in your Sphere of Influence. Our favorites are: Unrepresented Sellers aka FSBOs, Expireds both new and old, NOD’s and New Construction. There are many more but these are the most effective. Advantages: You KNOW they are ready to SELL, many of them TODAY. Disadvantages: Because they don’t know you, you need a higher level of skill, scripts, discipline, objection handling to successfully help these prospects.
Decisions, decisions………
What is your ideal combination of ‘spokes’ in your Lead Generation wheel? We recommend that you have the following:
A) A VERY strong Past Client / Center of Influence spoke which consists of mini-spokes working together as follows: -a minimum and reasonable number of personal calls every day, -at least one lunch / brunch / coffee in person with someone in your database every week, ideally at a restaurant in your main farm area, -3 past client / coi ‘pop-by’s weekly, -HappyGrasshopper.com, -1 to 3 ‘center of influence meet-ups per WEEK! –Charity work to expand your COI.
B) FSBOs and EXPIREDs. This is such an obvious choice because they are ready TODAY in many cases. You sell real estate for a living; they have a home to sell. Shouldn’t you talk? Older EXPs are especially worthy and have less competition.
SECRET::: FSBO and EXPIRED ‘Math’…Let’s say you only speak with 5 per week between FSBOs and EXPs… Let’s say 2 give you appointments and you list 1 per week…That’s 40 to 50 transactions per year. Multiply by your average net commission. $5000 x 50 deals = $250k, JUST on this ONE spoke.
SECRET::: Ignoring this spoke costs you $250k per year, minimum. Are you really ok with that?
C) New Construction: referrals from new build rep’s for resale listings.
D) New Construction: spec home listings from small and medium sized builders.
E) An unusual spoke to adopt for yourself, such as: For Rent By Owners, Housing Coordinators at Retirement facilities, Relocation, Homes For Heroes, NODs, Probate, etc.
“Superstars are relentless, unstoppable prospectors. They are obsessive about keeping their pipeline full of qualified prospects. They prospect anywhere and anytime—constantly turning over rocks looking for their next opportunity. They prospect day and night—unstoppable and always on. Fanatical!” -Jeb Blount
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. —Dale Carnegie”
“If you don’t yet have what you want in life, it’s simply because you haven’t yet figured out how to help enough people at a high enough level.” –Tim Harris
