Find New Clients by Taking a Walk
1:26 Minute Read
If you are new to selling real estate, it takes time and energy to establish your brand. No one says its easy. And while it can be daunting, there are two truisms you can trust and lean on while you are building a successful career.
1) 80% of building a real estate business is science – and anybody can learn a science. The other 20% is art, and most of us possess enough creativity to ace that.
2) If you work tirelessly for one solid year, you can build enough business relationships and market intelligence to assure a lucrative income for the remainder of your career.
“All sellers want to work with hard-working agents and nothing speaks that louder than a knock on the door.”
Unfortunately, too many agents never learn the science – the A, B, C’s of building a real estate brand. And they never invest enough energy in the beginning to create a lead generating machine that continues to bring in new business. As you would guess, agents get disappointed, discouraged and sluggish. Just look at the ones hanging around the water cooler.
If you are new to the business or feeling burned out, let me offer a little encouragement to you: Do two things this week and by next week you will feel better about yourself and you’ll have clients and properties entering your marketing pipeline.
1) Using FlexMLS, draw circles (half mile, 1 mile, 2 miles, etc) around your home and identify all the homes that sold in the area last year. Decide how large an area you need to cover in order to earn a reasonable income.
2) Put on your walking shoes and go meet your neighbors! We’re in a seller’s market and it’s a GREAT time to search for new properties to list. Introduce yourself and hand deliver preprinted marketing material – preferably a postcard with your photo, company logo and contact information on its face. On the reverse, offer some information specific to the neighborhood and identify yourself as the area’s go-to real estate person. Let them know there is a real lack of inventory available and you are trying to find potential homes for your clients. Ask them if they are considering moving within the next year…or so. Offer neighborhood CMA’s to potential sellers. Start a conversation!
Decades ago, we called this activity “farming” your market. It worked then. And it still works today. While other agents spend too much money buying tepid leads, smart agents are building relationships with neighborhood families. Agents we’re currently coaching are doing this and they’re reporting awesome success!
Let us know how it’s working for you.
