Power Prospecting

Prospecting is defined as all the activities that you engage in to find leads. Prospecting is the lifeblood of the real estate business and involves proactively finding potential clients through face to face contact and cold calling (UGH!) Believe it or not, it is the most immediate and cost effective way to build your business. So why do agents hate prospecting so much? Most real estate professionals believe that prospecting = cold calling which = rejection. The truth is that prospecting = meeting people and building purposeful business relationships = a strong real estate practice. Prospecting should not be dreaded - it is simply meeting new people everyday! I was speaking with one of the top producing agents in my office and I asked her what she does for lead generation. She simply said I go shopping! See, nothing to dread at all! LOL. There are many benefits to prospecting, but I want to focus on five: 1) Prospecting is inexpensive and yields immediate results. Prospecting remains one of the most dollar productive activities a real estate agent can engage in. 2) Prospecting puts you in control of filling your pipeline with leads. When you get into the habit of setting production goals and tracking your prospecting activities and conversion rates, you will instinctively begin to know when you need to ramp up your prospecting efforts. 3) Prospecting increases your confidence and skill. Because prospecting is a contact sport, so to speak, you regularly have the opportunity to hone your people skills and your art of persuasion (also known as scripts and dialogs). 4) Prospecting yields quantity leads which yields quality leads. Consistent prospecting to reach a large population of potential business can lead to better quality leads. Focusing on quantity to yeild quality will help you get over the "NO" response you may (or most certainly will) hear. 5) Prospecting keeps you in direct contact with the market and protects against market shifts. There will always be people buying and selling regardless of what the market does. And with prosepcting, you're always in direct contact with people addressing their questions and concerns one on one. Prospecting - JUST DO IT! ;-)