Leads Listings and Leverage
A day doesn't go by when I meet someone new. I never realized until I got into the real estate business how important the new acquaintances could become. One of the biggest mistakes I made, during my last thirty something years of working, was not to stay in touch with people that I had met. If I would have realized then how important these people would become and what impact they could have on my career I would have done things differently. Which brings me to today's blog.
First, I would have put these people's names, addresses, birthdays, etc., into a database where I could have access to them rather than on sticky notes, business cards or nothing at all. Consequently, I was not leveraging this information to my advantage.
I recently read Rob Minton's book "Renegade Millionaire Strategies for Real Estate Agents" and as they say, "the lights went on in my mind" as to how stupid I was. He brought to light, in my estimation, that one of the most overlooked tools that we have, at our fingertips, is our contact database. Whether it is on 3 x 5 cards or electronic format, we should always enter information into our database of those people we meet on a daily basis and learn to leverage these people no matter what business we are in. Since I am a real restate professional I should be using these names to grow my business.
He highly recommends we use a very simple strategy, and divide our database into four categories:
Sphere of influence
- "A" Clients
- "B" Clients
- Unconverted Clients. [1]
This is a modified technique for me and identifies where I should focus my business.
First, your sphere of influence is merely your friends and family. Just like the personal phone list your parents always kept. These contacts ARE NOT to be your focus because it is always awkward to try and sell them something and it could damage your personal relationships with them. Several of these people may be interested in real estate investing. Therefore, we should let them initiate the conversation or contact.
Second, your, "A Clients," [2] are your best clients. You have already gained their trust and they follow your advice. They are completely happy with your service and refer others to you. This group of people is responsible for the lion share of your business. Each of these clients has a lifetime value to your business and deserves special attention.
Third, your, "B Clients," are all of your other clients. These are people that have "signed an exclusive representation agreement" with you. They are regular fans, and are extremely valuable to your business. These people should be nurtured into becoming your raving fans and moved up to "A clients."
Lastly, the unconverted leads are those people that have contacted you for information and come from various places, etc., web sites, advertisements, listings, Open Houses, referrals or any other source. They should be contacted regularly to convert them to your raving fans.
Each of these groups adds value to your business and should be treated differently by investing more to your "A Clients," then "B Clients. This includes communicating differently to each group. Leveraging of these contacts to will create more value to your business and is essential for the development of your exit strategy.
[1] Renegade Millionaire Strategies for Real Estate Agents, by Rob Minton
[2] Renegade Millionaire Strategies for Real Estate Agents, by Rob Minton
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