It is always interesting when I talk with active real estate brokers or investors about lead generation, especially what they currently do compared with what they want to accomplish. What it typically boils down to is whether the person, team, or office does the work themselves or pays to have an outside person or source do it for them.
No one else knows your business and capabilities like you do. A perfect lead to them may not be as ideal for you. When you rely on an outside service or agency, there actually are few, if any, exclusive leads. You might be the only person receiving the leads you specify and pay for, but you have no way of knowing who else the respondent may have already talked to. You don’t know how many other lead sources the person inquired with.
When you cultivate your own leads, one of the goals could or should be to become the only person or source they are working with. In other words, truly an exclusive lead. It usually takes more effort to cultivate your own leads, and there likely will be fewer. Doing so shows the difference between quality and quantity, while quality leads offer the better chances for success at the closing table.
Sometimes how the question or opportunity is phrased can make a significant difference in the number and quality of a response. Suppose you are in a room with 50 people and ask, “How many of you are thinking of selling your home?” You might get 15 people that raise their hands. For some agents or investors, it feels like 15 leads. How many of those 15 actually would sell? If they did, how soon would it be?
Suppose you were in that same room with 50 people and asked the question with a couple of words changed. “How many of you are ready to sell your home?”
Chances are you might get one or two people at most. However, those would be one or two solid leads, even though it is possible they might already be working with an agent. The point is that those one or two responses put you closer to a signed deal than the time it will take to process the 15 “maybe” responses.
Since outsiders do not know your specific business like you do, they may not be asking the right questions or doing the most strategic moves to directly qualify leads you can succeed with.
Asking the best questions, channeling the best sources, and having a definitive operations plan are what bring you the most productive leads. Schedule your “15 Minute Agent Audit” today, and let’s formulate a strategy designed to work for you instead of picking one that hundreds of others are ‘trying’. For the cost of a dinner, we can have a plan in place which fits you within a matter of hours!
