10 Ways to Generate Leads

As a New Real Estate Agent

Your licensed, you’ve joined the perfect brokerage firm, you’ve started completing some of the up and running tasks I mentioned in a previous post, so now what should you do?  It’s time to generate some business! So, where do you start? Here are 10 great ways to begin generating your first leads and acquiring some potential clients (no clients = no closings = no $$$).

1. Contact your ENTIRE personal circle of friends immediately. Call – text – email. Let them know about your new career. Your friends may not be in the position to buy or sell, but I guarantee they know someone who is thinking about starting this process. Add these people to your sphere list. Be the resource!
2. Start a formulated process of contacting everyone on your sphere list. Whether you put them into a rotation on your own or utilize a great CRM platform that selects people for you to contact in a certain time frame, do it, make those calls! Schedule these calls on your calendar, so you are reminded to complete them.
3. Call FSBO’s (For Sale by Owner listing) and expired listings. Your goal here is to get an appointment with them. Find out why the property didn’t sell, find out where there were going to move to and talk about why a fresh approach to having you listing their property may be what they need to get it sold. Show them the worth of hiring you and explain the benefits of using an agent. You will probably get a lot of push back here and it may require more than one call to them (unless of course, they tell you to never call them again and threaten to report you).
4. Go door knocking. Yep, this can be intimidating, and you may have a door or two shut in your face. Since you have already read the recommend book Rejection Proof, having a door or two closed on you is no big deal, just move on to the next house. Besides handing out your business card, you could hand out a flyer with sales stats about the neighborhood. For better responses to this and number 3 above, practice scripts and role-play beforehand so you know what you are going to say. Check out Tom Ferry or Kevin Ward for script resources.
5. Offer to do Open Houses for other agents in your firm. Some agents are too busy to host their own open houses (or they just don’t want to). This is a GREAT opportunity for you! People often visit open houses out of curiosity, this is a fantastic way to meet people, especially those that visit and do not have agent representation. New client anyone??  This also gives you exposure to people and helps you build your brand.
6. Offer to handle rental leads for other agents in your firm. Similar to open houses, most experienced, busy agents will be happy to hand off rentals as they can be time-consuming and often have a small payout. But keep in mind, renters may eventually become buyers, if you take great care of them (which of course you will), they will remember you and call you when they are ready to buy! Renters are also a wonderful referral resource!
7. Increase your conversations and interactions with people. Go out and meet people, join a networking group or volunteer. Just get out there. You won’t pick up any new leads sitting in your basement watching TV all day. When talking to people – ASK for referrals! Hand out your business cards and make more connections. Follow up with a personal note – consider inviting them to coffee to learn more about them/their business.
8. Put that YouTube page you started to work. Make videos – but not just any videos, make sure they are useful ones. Whether they are videos where you highlight a local community or businesses, or helpful informational videos about buying or selling a home. Create a library and become a great resource for potential buyers and sellers.
9. Sponsor a local school or community event. Do your part to support the community and get your name out there as an agent in the community. School PTA’s and sports teams are ALWAYS looking for support. If people can put a face with a name, they are more likely to remember you.
10. Start sending out a e-newsletter and mailers to your database. Make sure these marketing pieces are full of useful information and not self-promotion. This is a low-cost way of reaching your contacts and reminding them you are in real estate and it’s a great way to keep in touch and keep you top-of-mind when they are looking to buy or sell. Be consistent with sending this information out.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started. If you are working with a coach or mentor, they will have additional suggestions for you (another great reason to have these two people in your life).  This business is not hard, but it does require a lot of work. Remember, you are now an Entrepreneur, responsible for the success of your business.  Now get out there and sell something!