Success in this industry starts with one thing: your ability to generate leads. What if you could gain more clients and make more money off the leads you’re already getting? You would, right? It’s not as difficult as you may think.
Too many agents run around trying to implement every lead-generating activity they can get their hands on. They chase shiny objects (“SQUIRREL!”). They end up getting so lost in a multitude of products, programs and plans that they end up with lost money and little (if any) business.
The problem is this: The more you try to do, the less effective you become. Instead, what you need to do is focus your time and money on 2-3 major lead-generating activities that you are going to use in your business over the next 12 months. Then you need to master those few things rather than doing too many activities ineffectively.
When choosing which lead sources to use, base your decision on the goals you set for your business. The sources you choose will depend on both how much money and time you have to invest. Make sure you focus solely on the things that are going to move your business forward.
Too many people rob time from what’s important in order to give it to activities that are nothing more than distractions. Let your competitors make that mistake—you stay focused.
If you need some guidance, these three lead-generating tactics are working extremely well right now. Two of them are great at generating listing leads and, if you’re like most agents, my guess is you’d appreciate more listing leads. Right?
1. Direct Mail Marketing—I know it’s old school, but it works. While everybody’s moving their business online, you can take advantage of hitting people in their mailboxes. Our inboxes and social media have become so flooded with marketing that using direct mail is the perfect way to get your message in front of people.
2. Facebook Advertising—Facebook advertising is a great way to generate awesome listing leads. If you’re not currently using Facebook advertising, now is the time to invest a little bit of money to explode your listing inventory.
Here’s how it works: you run ads on Facebook targeted to people based on their demographics. The ads have a headline reading, “Curious what your home is worth in today’s market? Click for a free evaluation.” When the user clicks on the ad, they are taken to a site that provides an automated evaluation in exchange for their contact information and your job is to continue to follow up with value.
3. Strategic Calling—This is one of my favorite oh crap, I need leads now! strategies. Most agents have clients or leads they haven’t contacted in a while. Sound familiar? Here’s what you need to do: make a list of the hot leads from the past 6-12+ months. These are leads that were close to buying or selling but didn’t. Instead of calling them out of the blue to ask if they’re still interested in buying or selling, the key is to provide value. How do you do that? Call with an updated CMA for an old listing lead or new properties that fit what a buyer was previously looking for. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are providing value.
So there you have it…three strategies that can generate listing and buyer leads for your business. But they aren’t the only ones that work. There are so many different ways, so many different things that you can do to generate leads. The key is this: find just a few and cut out everything else. That focus is what will allow your business to explode!
In future articles, I’ll dive into more detail with each strategy. Also…let me know what you’d like me to cover in the comments below. I’m here to serve you!
Travis Robertson is CEO and Founder of Robertson Coaching International, one of the fastest growing real estate coaching and training companies in North America. Travis has trained tens of thousands of real estate professionals across the globe on high-performance marketing, business development and team building, and his company coaches some of the highest-producing agents around the world.
For more information, visit www.travisrobertson.com.