Real Estate Prospecting Strategies

Those of us in the real estate profession have chosen the field for differing reasons. Some of us love the hyper-competitive nature of our industry. Some entered real estate because they were drawn to the idea of helping others who are making major life decisions, of which buying or selling a home are at the top of the list. Many more agents get in because they’ve seen family members or good friends have tremendous success, and want to follow in their footsteps.

But for all of us, the bottom line is we do it to make a living. And, the cornerstone to not just making a living but making a very good one in our industry is real estate prospecting, or real estate lead generation. The top-producing real estate agents have a single-minded focus on prospecting for listings, adhering to the old adage: “Buyers take time, listings take skill.”

REAL ESTATE PROSPECTING BEST PRACTICES

Regardless of your reason for being in real estate, if this is your livelihood, you’re going to want to do everything possible to make the best of it. You have to commit to putting in the time and energy to becoming the “go to” agent in your area.

• MAKE THE COMMITMENT: You have to embrace real estate prospecting as the foundation to your business. You have to be all-in! Success in real estate is as much about your MINDSET as anything else. So, you need to look at yourself in the mirror and decide if this is where you want to be. Then go for it!
• STICK TO A SCHEDULE: This sounds so simple but it’s impossible to overplay the importance of setting a firm schedule for your real estate prospecting and sticking to it. You can’t treat prospecting like an occurrence that happens some days and doesn’t happen on others. You need to embrace prospecting as the lifeblood of your business, and only by creating and following a schedule and system for it will you succeed. Most top agents begin dialing in the morning, as they are fresh and more focused. In fact, starting early is the best way to connect with those NEW EXPIRED listings that Espresso Agent delivers to your desktop every morning.
• FIGHT CALL RELUCTANCE: Many agents, particularly new ones, avoid real estate prospecting calls because they don’t feel knowledgeable and prepared. Clearly, CALL RELUCTANCE is the biggest barrier to success in our industry. But there are many tools that can help you overcome call reluctance. And, if you’re an ESPRESSO AGENT client, you’ll have access to some of the best prospecting tools in the business. But there are two main strategies for dealing with call reluctance. First, learn how to master your REAL ESTATE SCRIPTS. The more you work with scripts, the more comfortable you’ll become with controlling the flow of a conversation, handling objections and making the close. Second, work with an accountability partner who is willing to role-play with you every morning. Role playing is a great way to get your head in the game before you start working the phones.
• BUILD PARTNERSHIPS: No person is an island, so don’t try to find prospects all by yourself. Forge partnerships with vendors and professionals in the local market. Plumbers, home inspectors, contractors, title attorneys – you are all looking for the same type of customers but approaching from different angles. Create a master list of vendors and check in with them every week or so to refer business and ask them for prospects.

Finally, don’t think of prospecting as drudgery. As important as any other tool or technique is the need to enjoy the challenge of real estate prospecting. Make a game of it! This may be as simple as ringing a bell every time you set an appointment or finding some way to reward yourself for incremental successes. No matter how long your real estate career is, one surety is that you will continue to prospect so finding systems and learning to enjoy it early in your career is a necessity.

Contact ESPRESSO AGENT to learn more about our best-in-class real estate lead generation and CRM platform.

Doug Spak

Doug Spak joined Espresso Agent as a Content Marketing Specialist in 2016. Doug brings nearly four decades of experience as a copywriter, blogger, and screenwriter to his role with Espresso. Since joining our team, Doug has actively updated website content, published more than 300 blogs, and created countless social media posts.