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The
slowing of the market and tragic events of September 11th has, in many markets,
created a slowing. This slowing has
caused companies and Agents to panic some. I
think this adjustment in the markets will be a wonderful opportunity for the
Agents that are well skilled. They
will have a fantastic chance to retake the market place and grab a stronger
market share. They will be able to
control their leads better and generate more from those leads. When
the phones stop ringing in most companies, Agents and brokers begin to get
concerned. They feel because there
are fewer leads there will be less business done.
In the final analysis the more leads you have the less business you will
do. Ask
yourself a few important questions: Do
You Have “Poor Lead Follow Up”? Because
there were so many leads over the last few years in most markets we have
developed poor lead follow up habits. We’ve
turned into “cherry pickers” that struggle when the braches don’t bow down
to the ground so we can reach up to pick the cherries.
We have developed the habits of picking a few cherries on one tree…the
ones that we can reach with no effort. Then
we walk away rather than getting a ladder to harvest the whole tree. Now
is the time to call all those leads you have been warehousing for the last few
years and find out if they are real. Are
they interested in selling or purchasing in the next six months?
Focus in on the outcome of a lead follow-up call. There
are only two objectives on a lead follow up call: 1.
Set an appointment This
is the only true way of knowing they are real.
If you got face to face with more people in your office your production
would explode. 2. Find out the exact time frame a decision is going to be made and set an appointment for them. We
often call people back month after month for years. Do you have leads that you have been calling for well over a
year? Why? Most
of us would rather call this person back then make a new prospecting call.
If we have enough of these leads we won’t have to make prospecting
calls. We can avoid the unpleasant
prospecting process. What happens
if the leads you have in your database aren’t any good?
You are in trouble with your cash flow. Don’t
get the feeling of security because you have a lot of leads.
We can easily fall into that feeling when we are re-calling the same
people. We feel we are making
progress because these people are committed to working with us.
What happens if they don’t move for five years?
We need to hope we are still in business at that time. In
the end the more leads you have the less business you’ll do. Do
Your Leads In Your Database Have Value? There
seems to be a feeling of security in having a lead. We feel warm and good about our situation and ourselves if we
have leads. The problem is that
leads don’t put braces on kids’ teeth, put food on the table, or make the
house payment, let alone allow that exotic trip to a secluded South Pacific
island. When we truly evaluate
leads they have little value in dollars. What
are the leads you currently have worth? What
are the leads you have in your database, the ones you mail to constantly, worth?
What would someone pay you for those leads?
When I say “pay” I mean in cash, today. Most
leads are worth very little. The
reason is that they have rarely been qualified, picked over, and the ones that
are not worth saving given their unconditional release.
Often we handle and hang on to our leads as we would our grandmother’s
china. But leads should be put
under fire to see how strong they are. When
you put something under fire, you find out if it’s pure. If you were to heat gold up to a very high temperature, you
would see the impurity in it. You
could then work to remove the impurity, or decide to throw the whole thing out
and start over. Leads need to be
handled the same way. If
you don’t put your leads under the fire of scrutiny, you will never know their
value. The quality of your business is not in the number of leads you have; the
quality of your business is based on the quality of the leads you have today,
right now! I would rather have two
strong, qualified leads that want to buy or sell in the next week than
twenty-five leads that I have not qualified.
The two are worth money; they will allow me to get paid now.
The twenty-five are worth nothing. The
two are mine; they are working with me. The twenty-five are probably in twenty other Agents’
databases as well. Think about it
-- what client will generate enough income for twenty Agents? We
all struggle with complacency in our lives; complacency is part of human nature.
But complacency is something we must guard against at all times.
The best guard is to remove yourself from situations that could increase
your complacency. Having twenty-five leads will make you think, “I have
enough.” But if you have only two
leads, you will go out and look for more; you will put effort into finding other
good leads. Truly, you have more
with the two than with the twenty-five. Not investing your time into people who
are not going to buy or sell separates “top gun” Agents from the rest. Being
highly skilled at qualifying the people you come into contact with really means
the difference between just making a living in real estate and becoming wealthy.
Time is our most precious commodity, and if you invest your time in
people who will not give you a financial return, you will have periods of
struggle in your sales career. You
must have the courage to qualify your leads.
It takes courage to ask the questions that will ferret out those leads
that lead nowhere. It takes courage
to walk away from someone who may buy a home in the next millennium, while you
look for someone who will buy or sell now. It takes courage to ask the tough questions that may cause
your prospect to squirm and feel uncomfortable.
But for the sake of your finances, your self-respect and your family, you
must have the courage to qualify your leads daily.
And if you find that after qualifying your leads you don’t have enough
of them, go and find more leads and qualify them all. We all wish there were an easy path to the top of the mountain. Ultimately, though, to get to the top, or even to begin to move up the mountain, you have to climb. You have to risk where you are today to get where you want to go. You have to qualify and get rid of the poor leads so you can really focus in on the good ones. Remember, no one ever stole second base while having one foot still on first. Where’s
the Gold In Them Leads? Creating
an effective lead follow-up system can be the backbone to a consistent real
estate sales business. The more
effectively you handle the leads you generate, the more production you will
achieve. Too many Agents are
spending too much time trying to find the leads they generated. They know the
leads are on their desk somewhere. You
need to be able to put your hands on your leads immediately when needed. One
of the best ways to track leads is by a contact management software program.
These programs are designed to help you keep information that will enable
you to sell more efficiently and effectively.
There are many on the market, some of the best are ACT!, Top Producer,
and Online Agent. Select a system you are comfortable with that will grow with
you and your business. If
you are unable to afford a computer and software, you can do this manually with
3” x 5” note cards in a shoebox. I
started to track my leads this way when I started real estate sales many years
ago. Sometimes we can get too fancy
and technical for our own good. We
become excited about all the new technology and gadgetry and forget “old
fashioned” sales skills. The key
is to meld the technology with quality sales skills. By doing this you will
achieve spectacular results. One
of the critical questions to ask yourself is what is a lead?
What is your definition of a lead? Each
person’s definition will tell a great deal about where he is in the business.
When I first started into business, my definition of a lead was someone
who wanted to buy or sell. It was a very simple definition.
It was also a very broad definition and excluded very few people.
My definition today is someone who wants to buy or sell in the next 14
days. My definition has changed
dramatically over the years. How
did I get from one very broad definition to one that was quite narrow?
Let’s take a look at the process. When
I first started, like most new Agents, I had very little knowledge of the
business. I was chasing after any
and every deal I could find. Because my definition or philosophy about a lead
was so broad, everybody on the face of the earth was qualified as a potential
client. Even though everyone
qualified as a potential client, I had too may potential clients to work with.
Most of my potential clients honestly would never buy or sell a home, let
alone one through me. I spent a tremendous amount of time trying to persuade people to buy or sell who really never were going to buy or sell. I learned to tighten down my definition to anyone who would buy or sell within a year. Then tighten to anyone who would buy or sell within six months. Then tighten down to 60 days, 30 days, and finally to 14 days. If I had tightened my definition from the beginning, I would have saved myself from a lot of mistakes, anguish, and lost income. Do
not wait to clearly define a lead in more specific terms of now business.
Spend the additional time working to find more leads through prospecting.
Having fewer good leads is better than having a bunch of marginal ones.
Quality is the name of the game versus quantity.
If your desire is to sell a home a week, you only need two to three now
leads weekly to accomplish your goal. Think in terms of qualified people who want to do something
now!! All
the time I spent working with people who were too far out, cost me a lot of
money. We have all spoken with
people many times or even put people in our car to show property who did not
have the motivation to buy or sell now!! Do
not continue that process, change today! There
are people who want to buy and sell today; our job is to go find them and help
them do it. My goal was to list or
sell a home every day. My job every morning when I got up was to find that
person, every working day. It is
truly no more complicated than that. At
the same time I was looking, I would find people who were two weeks away, ten
days away. If I filled my pipeline
with these people, I always had great leads to work with. I did not have lots of leads, but the ones I had were highly
motivated and someone was going to get a listing or sale in the next week or
two. My goal was to ensure it was
me by incorporated sales skills and effective follow-up. You might call it relentless follow-up. Do not let go of a good lead.
Have you ever tried to get a bone away from a big dog?
Develop that attitude with good leads. You
must clearly define your definition of a lead.
Here is a little hint for you, it should be someone who wants to buy or
sell in 60 days or less. Any further out and you are not creating closings for
the near future. You are also likely to be investing in someone who will never
buy or sell. You are investing your
time, your most precious commodity, into someone who may not buy or sell.
Do not waste your time for anyone or anything. We are all only given so
much time in life. You and I only have so many days, do not waste them with
people whom we cannot help. If you
have too many future potential clients rather than now clients, you will have a
high level of frustration and no control of your business, not to mention the
financial loses you will face. Keep
your number of long-term or “project clients” down so you can invest your
time finding people who need help now. I
define “project clients” as someone who is:
We
have all spent large amounts of money on mailings to people who are not moving.
We have also spent large amounts of time following up on poor leads.
Stop working with people who are not committed to doing something now.
The old belief of “great salespeople should be able to sell ice to an
Eskimo” is false. Great
salespeople have clear definitions of what constitutes a lead.
They clearly follow their narrow definitions.
They prospect enough to keep a constant supply of leads flowing, so they
can qualify and define them carefully. As
it says in the Bible, “Jesus separated the wheat from the chaff, gathering his
wheat in to the barn and burning up the chaff.”
We must separate the good kernels of wheat from the chaff of unmotivated
sellers and buyers. The kernels of
wheat have value; the chaff has no value. The
wheat will feed your body and mind. The chaff will provide zero nourishment. What
happens when you do not separate effectively is you get so bogged down with
future business that never happens, you miss the now clients, or you do not have
the time to find them because you are hoping this future business will work out.
You often feel like you have so much invested in future business you
cannot just cut your losses now even though in your heart you know it is right.
Always remember the least painful loss you will take is the one today. Take the time today to reflect and clearly define what a lead is to you. Reevaluate and review your definition every quarter to see if it has changed. Stick to your guns. Do not compromise, because most of the time you will be burned. There is nothing more painful then to compromise and then not get paid for your effort. The pain in the pit of your stomach is like no other when you compromise. Once in a while you will find that person you excluded will buy or sell with someone else. More often than not, you just saved yourself time and frustration. |
