Leads Are What You Make Them: Is This Your Job or Your Career?

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Part III of III

RISMEDIA, March 8, 2007-In Part II of "Leads Are What You Make Them," GetMyHomesValue.com co-founders Rory Wilfong and Dave Conklin related their personal experience with leads, saying that while the Internet has made lead generation more high tech, it's takes good old-fashioned follow-up to close deals.

"The Internet has made it easy for consumers to find agents much earlier in the process," says Conklin. "Often when they're just thinking about buying or selling. That's why on average it takes longer for Internet leads to come to fruition. Most agents give up on leads way too soon and don't fill their pipeline. Then they become dependent on the market conditions, which is the kiss of death in a stable, normal market."

Conklin and Wilfong both emphasize that there is no substitute for human contact and consistency.

"Dave and I are agents who actually did all of this," says Wilfong. "And if you talk to other agents who have been successful in the business for 15, 20, 30 years, they've seen the ups and downs. They've seen a real 'down' market. They've seen interest rates at 10%, 14%…or 18% like it was back in October of 1979. Guess what? People never stopped buying houses then, nor will they stop now. People will always be buying houses."

Conklin emphasizes that the training for agents is focused too much on law and not enough on sales. "It doesn't matter how much law you know when you aren't closing deals," he says. "As an agent, you have to treat all your leads like gold, whether they're from an open house, the Internet or your best friend."

The 80/20 rule of sales is in full effect in real estate, the two men say. Eighty percent of real estate transactions are generated by the top 20% of agents, mostly because 80% of agents are missing the basic, little things that make a huge difference.

"What's frustrating to me," says Conklin," is that so many voices getting coverage in the media are just patting the agents on the back. 'Oh, poor agent…the market's bad,' or ‘they got a bad lead,' or ‘they didn't return your call or e-mail the first time.' It's all about following up and not being afraid of rejection."

Urgency is another area Conklin & Wilfong find to be lacking with struggling agents. "We've experienced over and over where our clients won't respond to a lead for three days!" says Wilfong. "There's something wrong there."

"We see that about 90 percent of our agents never contact our leads," Conklin says. "We have actually called agents while we have a verified seller or buyer on the phone, offered to introduce them right there on a conference call, and the agent just says they'll call back. Now that's a lead you don't turn away."

"And if you're in a face-to-face appointment when you get the call, just be professional and courteous." adds Wilfong. "Say 'hey, I'm sorry I have to take this call real quick. It'll only take a minute.' Your client will understand and it makes you look good. Who wouldn't want to do business with someone who is in demand? If you treat every lead like it is a referral from your mother, you can be a multi-millionaire in the real estate business. The problem is that agents are being encouraged not to do this."

The successful agents tend to be those who have the best handle on the autonomy inherent to the business. "You're in business for yourself as an agent. You have to be persistent and plan ahead so the dips in the market don't hurt you so badly. They're going to happen, but they don't have to ruin your year."

"I remember one year early on I had just a killer summer," reflects Wilfong. "I had worked hard and the commission checks were just unbelievable. So good, that I decided to take most of September off. I played golf, spent time with my family, whatever I wanted. I paid for it later when December, January, February rolled around and there weren't any checks coming in. That never happened again. It's a lonely business sometimes because nobody cares if you show up at the office. Nobody cares what time you get up in the morning. You have to care enough to do all those things for yourself and recognize what works."

"If your day is nothing more than calling the leads and bouncing around the leads, house to house to house…that's not a bad gig. We did it. Anyone can do it."

Together with partner Steve Young, Rory Wilfong and Dave Conklin co-founded GetMyHomesValue.com/pro in 2003 to provide lead generation, coaching and other services for real estate professionals.

For more information, visit www.GetMyHomesValue.com/pro.

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