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Why is no one PROSPECTING anymore?

I read an article recently that said that real estate agents don't generally consider prospecting as one of the most important skills to have to succeed in this business. I continued to search to find others that are less eager to do the hard work in the business stating "I think the point that they were trying to get across was that the master prospectors rise above the mediocrity in this business. And I agree; if we were all master prospectors, we would all probably make a lot more money."

I am new to the Real Estate Business, don't have a lot of contacts, and try to treat it as a Business with a flow of clients coming in and out. I rely on prospecting to get to know more people out there. Since I am from another state originally, I can't rely on friends and family to help me get my name out. I have to spend every working minute prospecting in one form or another. Hence the reason I am here on Active Rain trying to promote and advertise my services. Does anyone else feel that they are not prospecting enough, or is this a one time incident?

As a relatively new agent, I want to know what other experts are doing in the business if they are cooling off or still working hard treating their business like a business. Especially as no income cap exits in this game, I will continue to be a hard working prospector. Maybe I am just a naïve and a new eager agent trying to make or break in this business, but I am constantly perfecting my door knocking and phone calling techniques as well as talking to everyone I meet and many others. How much time to you spend actively getting to know new people rather than having them call you up for service? Can you really succeed by not mastering the art of prospecting? How far will you go? Am I doomed for mediocrity? Is there more to the game than just prospecting? I need to know!

Posted by Stephen Blauer - Utah County, Salt Lake City, and Utah Real Estate on 07/25/2007 11:39 AM

Comments (16)

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16 Comments on Why is no one PROSPECTING anymore?

JUL

2007

I called FSBOs when during my first couple of years in the business. I did quite well with listing them. But that was before the Do Not Call Registry was in place. Now I will sometimes send letters and postcards to expired listings, with pretty good results. But now most of my business comes from repeat business, friends and personal referrals, with a few internet leads thrown into the mix. You can definitely do well with prospecting the FSBOs and Expired's but only with a good follow-up system in place. In my experience, that's where most agents fail. They only call once, then forget to follow-up, or they don't take any notes during their first call, so they can't remember what they talked about.

If the seller mentions the name of their dog, write it down. If they tell you where they're moving, write it down. Anything they say, write it down. So when you call back, you can ask about the specifics. I've had many sellers tell me that the other agents they spoke to, had not listened, therefore, they didn't get the business.

I also keep a chart of which letter or postcard has been mailed to which sellers, on what date.

Lisa Hill

Stephen,

You're doing good, prospecting is the be all and end all in this business. I'm also a newer agent, closing a deal next Tuesday that I met at an Open House. I do lots of them because like you I'm not from my state, I'm not even from this country!!! I don't have family or friends to rely on, so I work hard to find prospects then I maintain contact and then I hope I'm the agent they call. It's hard work but so worth it.

My suggestion is chose one area to propspect for me Open houses are king, they work for me because I'm good face to face I can connect with people, Cold calling doesn't work for me because I have a strong English accent and when I'm nervous I speak fast, For some reason English speak at a faster pace than Americans so for me cold calling doesn't work. But I suggest you find what works for you and stick to it, and improve on it and work on it some more and once you've perfected it, improve it some more!

Then and only then move onto a source for prospecting farming, fsbos' expired etc. This has been my plan and I've only recently started FSBO's but it works for me.

I wish you all the best in your new career!

Dial and smile baby! Dial and smile! Activity breeds success! You're on the right track and best of luck to you!

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

I think the definitiion of prospecting has changed. If you want to say calling FSBOs and expireds, and sitting in Open Houses, and cold calling and door knocking are the forms of prospecting, then I can say I stopped prospecting years ago... probably about 6 years ago.

I prospect all day long on the internet. All my listings are out there. Everything says contact me contact me. If someone goes to my website, they have to fill out a form which is sent to me. I use pay per click. I use internet lead generating companies... I prospect the new millenium way, not the "old school" way...

So, what's your definition of prospecting to say it's not being done by people? By the way, blogging is prospecting. I get tons of leads from people finding my blog on the internet and then calling/emailing me for a listing appt or relocating here needing to buy.

Thank you Lisa Hill. I also think that other agents are forgetting to follow up with their clients. Maybe my next blog will be about this. These are some of the things that I have had other agents confess to me about not doing. I think there should be less confession and more action. I will try to follow up with all my clients and get all the details to rember them by. Thank you for your input. Stephen

Louisa, thank you for your response. I also enjoy open houses to try to generate new leads and more importantly new listings. I have been focusing on what some call the hardest part with calling and door knocking FSBO's. But I do like to mix it up also. I figure that if I can master FSBO's what some consider to be the hardest, then I will make it in this game. Thanks again for the advice. Stephen

Hey Bob, another fellow dialer. I feel that if I can call some people, then I can weed through the ones that just aren't ready to list yet. Of course I know that the best way to build rapport is face to face, but at least you can get to the ones that are more open to before the next person does. Thanx

Dear Donna, I was hoping for a response like this one. Most of all that we do outside of showings and paperwork is indeed prospecting for new clients and leads. Prospecting also is interpreted differently from each individual and unique to each individual's methods of working. How can we determine which is the most productive way to generate the most business? We should continue to perfect the ways that bring in the most for us as Louisa suggested, but also be open to new ways like the ever changing ways of technology. What if we used all of these methods to increase our production? Would it be worth it for experienced agents to use alternative methods sucn as the lost art of door knocking and calling? I am new enough to try all methods of promoting my name and getting new business. The days aren't long enough to get everything done but I work hard to do the most productive thing at all times.

If one defines prospecting as making phone calls or knocking on doors, I've never done it and don't intend to as it is totally not in my comfort zone. I agree with Donna, there are a lot of ways to "prospect" today that challenge the traditional way of looking at how we get business.

After I initially got my real estate license, we moved out of state, so I started my real estate career not only not knowing a soul, but not knowing where I was most of the time and having to use the GPS to get home from the grocery store. I figured it would be easier to get buyers than listings initially, even though we were in the middle of a sizzling hot sellers' market, so I borrowed listings from other agents in my office, advertised them and off I went. I made top producer and was rookie of the year for my office my first year.

Now in my third year, 50% of my business is referral, 25% from my website (SEO) and 25% from other forms of advertising. Every year my business and income increases significantly.

Instead of making cold calls or farming geographically (I targeted a market early on as I had a specific sphere in mind), I have lunch with friends & clients, I walk the dog a LOT, I send notes and greeting cards and I entertain. And I *never* initiate a conversation about real estate until asked...but it ALWAYS comes up! The nice thing is, it just does not feel like work!

At times I believe it is important to take a chance when we are outside our comfort zone. This is when we truly grow. It is for this reason, I think that many new as well as old agents have a hard time prospecting in the sense of knocking and calling. Yes there are a lot of creative ways to prospect and that is why the harder ways to do it are often overlooked. Don't get me wrong though, a paycheck is a paycheck. If we explore the other side of the field, we can eventually overcome our fears by stretching ourselves to do those kinds of things we don't like to do. This is why I am suggesting that some agents don't like to do this kind of work. I have heard that FSBO's could possibly be the hardest market to target. All the more reason to buck up and perfect your ability to control this aspect in your area. It is not until you have truly mastered the hardest task that you can receive the greatest feeling of accomplishment.

Susan, I am glad to hear that you are doing so well in other areas. You have found a niche and implemented your expertise when you were at odds in your area. Prospecting is after all having lunch with friends and talking to everyone you meet about Real Estate. You never know who you will be working with next. Keep up the good work and continue to increase your business possibly through other methods. My question then goes to hypothetically understanding what kind of increase you could have if you did integrate phone calls and knocking on doors. You never know until you try it but it is good that you have mastered getting referrals and the use of your website.

How many agents feel that calling, knocking, or farming, is not productive. Or any other area or other methods many agents leave out of their prospecting. Is it only because they have not had success at it yet? Have they truly mastered these techniques to say that they don't work? Or do they just not work for them because they aren't good at it? Can it eventually work for them if they perfect the method? How much of this is disregarded or not being done due to fear or discomfort? Or possibly due to laziness because they are veteran agents just waiting on referrals.

Please know that I am not judging anyone. I am not an expert at these things either, but I have been around in the door knocking industry to know that it is not the most pleasant thing to do but does produce results in other industries. Thank you all for your inputs.

Stephen Blauer - learning and perfecting the art of prospecting

JUL

2007

Stephen, it's also about treating people the way you want to be treated. If you were sitting down to dinner, do you want your phone to ring? Do you want an agent calling and asking if you were thinking of selling in the next 12 months? After dinner, you sit down to watch a nice Law and Order or CSI, and you get a knock on your door. Are you expecting someone? Do you actually open your door when you're not expecting a delivery or a friend to come over? I don't. I know plenty of people who don't. I don't want a phone call and I don't want people knocking on my door... I'm not going to do it to others. So, with that in mind, I do not feel this is a good way of prospecting. I don't care how good I would be at it if I tried it. You get more bees with honey, and I think you would get more hang ups and doors slammed in your face than you would listings.

I have to agree with Donna about the intrusions. I have picked up a number of listings in a neighborhood where I regularly walk my dog (and where I stop to talk to folks on a regular basis WITHOUT continually mentioning real estate). I have seen agents door knocking in the same neighborhood, yet have not seen they've gotten any listings. Yet, I have not knocked on one single door and have had several listings in the same neighborhood. Hmmmmm....could it be people prefer doing business with someone with whom they at least have a nominal relationship rather than a total stranger? That's just my $.02.

I respectfully disagree about stepping outside one's "comfort zone." I excel doing what I do best and have absolutely no expectation that doing something else would yield more business. I know a lot of people believe in traditional prospecting (aka cold calls and door knocking) but I am here to say I think there are other ways to prospect that are much more efficient than making phone calls and door knocking. I believe if I want to increase my business, I only need to do more of what I am already doing. No need to do something I don't want to do in the first place. ;-)

Master prospectors have risen above because they started just like you. It all begins with the first step. Walk before you run.

Patience is a virtue and prospecting can become overwhelming at times, especially if we don't have organizational skills.

Setting goals with your prospecting techniques is a major help and will reflect on how many homes you want to sell per month. Set short-term goals and long-term goals. Make a numbers list, i.e., how many FSBO's you need to call or knock on their door to get let's say, 4 per week or per month, it all depends on how fast paced you are or how much work you are willing to put in your daily routine and/or agenda.

Determine the capacity and capabilities that will set yourself forward but do it with caution, you do not want to lose your finesse.

It is important to take breaks, in other words, live your life don't let life live you, and that goes for work. Mental exhaustion is the reason why my career as a real estate agent halted. It is easy to make yourself crazy with so much information and so many things to do. It is important to kick off your shoes and relax. There is plenty of money for everybody to make!!!

Thank you all for your opinions. I am satisfied with the results this blog has created. I have noted how easy it is for many people to tell me that they stopped doing the somewhat harder or (scarier) ways of prospecting before they actually mastered the art of that method. I think this is exactly what the article I read in the first place was talking about. Many people are opinioned that door knocking, or calling FSBO's are not the way to do business but are quick to tell me it doesn't work very well when they aren't the experts at it. I do enjoy the people that have had success at working with FSBO's and how they know that the tough work does pay off in the end.

As Donna so willingly expressed her opinion quote "I think you would get more hang ups and doors slammed in your face than you would listings" Can I stress the word THINK? How about people that have actually been there and done that? How about others that have mastered these techniques? If you had to put a dollar amount on every FSBO you called would your calls be worth it? Could your ten calls give you one listing? How much would each call be worth then?

Well, as I have failed to mention, I have had success in this area as I have applied myself to what some believe to be the hardest place to market. I know that every area is different and unique around the nation, but you can succeed in this area too if you work hard enough at it. I have started to expand just now onto the web and here on Active Rain, knowing that if I apply myself again I will master yet another prospecting form of art

I challenge you Donna, if you will accept, to pursue the art of perfecting the technique of working with FSBO's for three months or until you feel you have truly mastered the technique. True you don't have to do what I say and can just laugh but I am just pushing you to succeed in this area. I know that you can do it and anyone else too.

JUL

2007

Dear Stephen,

We all have our niche. Some people are better at making cold calls while others are good at knocking on doors.

Working with FSBO's is a challenge, and just like you state, and you can succeed in this area if you work hard at it. Do not listen to anybody but yourself. If knocking on doors is what you want to do then so be it.

I used to tell other realtors that I was going to start knocking on doors and they would tell me negative stories to the point that I forgot about doing it. For some reason, something was telling me to start walking around the neighborhood of my choice, (I took another realtor with me). When we started knocking on doors, my knees used to tremble and I would say everything backwards. We must have knocked on 20 doors the first 3 days, not knowing what I was doing but I was doing it. The other realtor just went with me to keep me company and had no intention of talking or prospecting with me, they were just there to keep me company. Yes, we were greeted by some mean homeowners but some of them were actually very nice.

Finally, I mastered the art of knocking on doors by facing my fears and challenges and started feeling more confident. I am glad I didn't listen to other negative voices as they were only a stumbling block to my success.

And by the way, the realtor that went with me thanked me for being daring and that if it wasns't for me they would have never knocked on doors either.

Keep doing what you are doing and good luck!

Thank you so much Diana for your response. Its nice to hear from someone who can stand up against others that try to pull you back down to mediocracy. I know that since you faced your fears in this area, there isn't an area that you won't have success in. Continue to rise up against the crowd to greater success.

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