As you embark on your real estate career, prospecting will become a part of your daily business life for quite some time. When you stick with this career long enough to build amazing relationships with past clients and customers, you will eventually get to a point where the majority of your business comes from referrals. That’s the goal! In order to do that, however, you need to start building your prospecting systems and databases now so that you can expand on them and nurture those relationships throughout your career.
That’s an important point to make. I’ve known many agents, some with 10-20 years in the business who still have never built that foundation. Because of that, they remain, and are likely to remain, constantly in the “find new business” mode of prospecting constantly. Take it from me—start building now and you’ll have a much easier road as you grow in this career.
Prospecting is a learning curve. Our markets are constantly changing, as is the way we communicate with one another as human beings. In the “old days,” the only way to prospect was via phone, door-knocking and “snail mail.” Now, we have digital leads, social media advertising, neighborhood groups, online Google ads, and so much more. Those are incredible additions to your arsenal of prospecting tools, but the truth is that phone calls, door-knocking and direct mail are still the best ones to prospect effectively.
As a new agent, your focus should be on building now business. The best way to do that is to focus on calling and prospecting FSBOs (For Sale By Owner), Expireds and FRBOs (For Rent By Owner). We already know these are people that are interested in selling their home. Your job is to help them see value in using a licensed real estate professional to help them get the best price and terms for their properties. That may seem daunting at first because, as a newbie, you’ll feel less confident than your experienced counterparts.
I get it. You know what helps with that? Learning. Much of which you can do without it costing you a dime! The internet really is amazing, isn’t it? For example, I teach a free webinar every single month and much of what we talk about revolves around, you guessed it, prospecting. I also offer a ton of no-cost training videos on my blog. That’s a great place to get started.
Your broker and your local board may also provide valuable training opportunities. Take advantage of each and every one. Look for training courses, seminars and coaching systems—all of these can help you continuously fine-tune your prospecting and business skills.
Any investment that you can make to educate yourself—whether it be time, money or both—is a good one. You cannot be overtaught. Remember the expression: the more you learn, the more you earn.
You’ve got this. I’m here to help, with a passionate community of Power Agents® that can be there for you as well. Learn more at www.ThePowerProgram.com/NewAgentSuccess.
Darryl Davis, bestselling author of “How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate” and owner of Darryl Davis Seminars, has trained and coached over 100,000 real estate professionals around the globe for more than 27 years. He is the founder of the Next Level® real estate training system, The Power Program®, which has helped agents double their production over their previous year. For more information, and the new agent tools that can help take you to your Next Level®, please contact darryl@darrylspeaks.com or visit www.ThePowerProgram.com/NewAgentSuccess.