Are You Paying for Leads?
We all know the most uncomfortable activity in our business is prospecting for new business. No one likes the feeling of getting rejected, which is why so many agents opt to pay for leads. But a word of caution – the easy road is also a costly road.
There was a time when the most we had to worry about was competing against the agent from a competitor down the street. Today your competition is coming from technology companies across the country. They have identified what has historically been a weak link in our business (lead generation) and they are exploiting it. If we can pay technology to absorb that negativity it is like getting dessert without having to eat your spinach. It may taste good in the moment, but it does nothing to build your strength.
The conversation I am about to embark on is mainly for our US agents, but whatever happens south of the border eventually makes it way north, so this is a crystal ball into what is coming to the Canadian market.
Just this week, Realtor.com announced it is launching a new platform called “Seller’s Marketplace” where sellers can get information about different options to sell their house, including selling to an iBuyer (e.g. OpenDoor), sale-leaseback programs, or listing with an agent. Once Seller’s Marketplace launches this week, sellers can be connected directly to an iBuyer like OpenDoor. If they choose to go this route, they can receive and accept an offer online with a completely digital transaction from inspection to close.
Many agents get hooked on buying seller leads from these companies and in doing so they never develop the muscle to find their own business, leaving them vulnerable.
I read an article in Inman this week entitled “Zillow, it’s not me, it’s you” which discussed why an agent was breaking up with Zillow. She was spending $5,000 a month to buy leads from Zillow, but she cut her budget by 80% when the quality of the leads flatlined. As a Premier Agent she used to get leads for serious buyers, but when Zillow changed its business model by 1) how they matched leads to agents, and 2) introducing their flex referral program, the quality of leads she received plummeted. This is a perfect example of how your business is vulnerable if you get hooked on buying online leads or working with 3rd-party referral companies. You are never in control.
I have always believed that your best leads are the ones you can generate yourself, and the most cost-effective tool you have for generating leads is the phone. Yet almost half of agents say the thought of phone prospecting sends shivers down their spine. If you are one of the 50% who fears phone prospecting, you should know that it is all in your head…seriously…when we fear something, blood flows away from the frontal lobe of our brain where our logical thinking takes place and we go into fight or flight mode and panic ensues.
Here are six tips to help you overcome your fear of picking up the phone:
TIP#1: You’re in the sales business
Many agents like to consider themselves real estate professionals, real estate consultants, or real estate advisors, but the bottom line is, you are a real estate salesperson, and that requires “selling”. We all have parts of our job that we don’t enjoy, but the first step to overcoming the fear of making prospecting calls is realizing that “selling” is what you do for a living. Even when we accept that making sales calls is a part of our job, we often fear making calls because we’re afraid people will ask us questions we don’t know the answers to. That leads me to my second tip.
TIP#2: Your fear gets reduced with knowledge
Realtors would tell you that they sell houses, but I believe they sell knowledge. The more you know, the more money you’ll make. This requires specializing in a specific area, a specific type of property, or a specific clientele. The more you know about how to solve their specific problems, the easier the conversations get and the more attractive you become.
TIP#3: Offer market reports to add value
When you make sales calls, you need to bring value to the conversation. Don’t just ask if they want to sell their house (which seems opportunistic). Share a quick market update on recent sales in their area, or a rate change that just happened, or a new zoning bylaw that could affect them. Offer to keep them up to date on market changes that could affect them by sending monthly market reports. This will allow you to build your database and stay connected to become their real estate resource when they are eventually ready to sell.
TIP#4: Stop saying you hate prospecting
The more you tell yourself something, the more you believe it. If you keep saying you hate prospecting, you are selling yourself on failure. Retrain your brain by creating a new story. Rather than making sales calls, refer to them as “touch base calls” with your community. The reason for your call is to update them on what is happening in the market, why it is a great time to sell, and how you can make that possible. It is no longer aggressive, but informative. It takes the pressure off and allows you to have a relaxed conversation with a potential future client.
TIP#5: There is safety in numbers
As a young salesman I was taught to make sales calls. In fact, my broker required it. Before we actually made calls, we always came into the office an hour early to role play with each other. This was our pre-game ritual to warm up, loosen up, and get into the right headspace. Success breeds success, so making calls in a group allowed us to see when others were booking appointments which inspired us to keep going. Plus it was always fun to go for pizza afterwards.
TIP#6: Get personal
Warm calls are always easier than cold calls. It is less scary to call someone from your database than complete strangers. But the secret sauce is to make the calls sound personal. Yes, you are calling for business, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a personal component. This is where your CRM system allows you to shine. With every prospecting call you make, log the details in your CRM system, so you can refer to them on your next call. When you call someone to catch up and you can remember their children’s names, or you can refer to a vacation they took, or another detail from a previous call, your value skyrockets in their mind. It shows you care enough to remember the important details in their life. Taking notes in your CRM system may take a few extra minutes but being able to refer to those notes on your next call will galvanize your relationship.
If you want to learn more about how to generate an abundance of leads, check out https://leadersedgetraining.com/agent-virtual-training/.
Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training upset