Prospect Effectively in the MT RE Market

Prospect Effectively in the MT RE Market How to Prospect Effectively in the Montana Real Estate Market Prospecting sets the foundation for your real estate business. You need constant prospecting every day to sustain the flow of clients to reach your income goals. It involves making lots of contacts, tracking and organizing, and developing leads. But prospecting is not only about contacting current buyers and sellers. The contacts you make now could one day move or decide to buy. These contacts are also a good source for referrals. They may not need an agent right now, but they may know someone who does. Prospecting sets the foundation for your real estate business. You need constant prospecting every day to sustain the flow of clients to reach your income goals. Click To Tweet Prospecting Steps The basic steps involved in real estate prospecting include: Set Goals: How many leads do you need? Some experts calculate agents need 25 contacts to generate 1 lead. Determine how much business you need to do, how many leads that will require, and how many contacts you need to make to yield those leads. Plan: Then draft a schedule. Plan on spending two hours a day prospecting. Best Approach: Identify the best methods, times, and places to make the contacts you need. In person networking is more effective, but online tools are a great way to get started. Develop the best approach for your goals. Direct or indirect? Cut to the chase or build rapport? Try different approaches to determine what’s most effective. Targeting: Narrow your target. Focus on a specific market, client, price range, and property. Track Progress: Keep track of what works and what doesn’t as well as which markets or people are more receptive. Adjust and improve your prospecting plan as needed. Prospecting Habits The best way to get more clients is persistent prospecting online and in person. It takes time and effort, but it’s worth it. Here are some prospecting habits: Attend events and seminars, join groups, and go to local meetups. Get involved with local businesses and charities and let everyone know you’re a real estate agent. Work your sphere of influence and client database hard. Follow up, stay in touch, offer freebies, remember birthdays, and ask for referrals (in person). Turbo charge your social media and email marketing to remind people that you’re an effective, reliable agent with local knowledge. Target other agents. They’d prefer to work with agents they know, trust, and like. Give out lots of business cards. Walk through the major commercial neighborhood and introduce yourself, chat about the local market, and hand out your card. Do and attend open houses. You may find lots of unrepresented buyers. Prospecting Ideas Share Your Knowledge Sharing your real estate knowledge is an effective prospecting strategy. People hire agents because they have knowledge lay people lack. Teach a class or seminar. Have a sign-in sheet to gather names and email addresses and then follow up. Think about collaborating with other real estate professionals, such as lenders, appraisers, inspectors, and interior designs, to get information and resources useful for your classes. Similarly, blog about popular real estate topics, do pod casts and webinars, and distribute informative booklets online and in print. Target FSBOs For sale by owner properties are another great source. These owners are likely struggling because they lack active marketing and the expertise to handle the paperwork. FSBOs sell for less. After months of little interest, FSBOs may be more receptive to hearing what you can do for them. Follow Up Just because a lead resulted in a dead end a few months ago doesn’t mean it’s not worth getting in touch again. Just send them a note with chocolates or a gift card to remind them that you’re there if they should ever need your services. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right, but someday, it might. Referrals People trust recommendations from friends and family more than a marketing email or cold call. Ask current and former clients and prospects if they know anyone who is or will be buying or selling. Request your biggest fans write or film testimonials and include them in your marketing materials and on your website. So, there’s no secret trick that’ll suddenly generate tons of new leads. It’s what’s it’s always been:   hard work, constant prospecting, and giving the people what they want.   Use old and new tools to reach more people, grow your sphere of influence, work you prospect database, convert leads into clients, and cultivate referrals. It’s all about contacting more people and emphasizing the benefits you can offer to real estate consumers in your area. Here’s another tip to make the most of your time: online continuing education. Every agent has to take real estate courses every few years, but who has time to sit in classrooms with so much prospecting to do? That’s why online real estate education from 360training.com is so great. Interactive, self-paced courses available anytime all online. So easy! Enroll now.