Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

If the pandemic has done anything for us, it has shone a bright light into the dark corners of our business. Relying too heavily on one source of business makes you vulnerable. Even if you have a lead source that is driving a lot of business your way, there is no guarantee that it will continue forever. Diversifying your lead generation brings security and stability to your sales desk.

The key takeaway: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.

During the pandemic we discovered that many agents didn’t know how to use their CRM system effectively to stay in touch with their sphere. Over the past few months, I have been conducting Call2Action workshops with agents, encouraging them to get back in touch with their past clients and dormant leads. What I discovered was that a lot of agents had let go of those relationships and they felt awkward getting back in touch.  With a little persuasion on my part, agents discovered there was a wealth of business in their database. The simple act of getting back in touch generated tons of leads.

If you don’t stay in touch with your past clients on a regular basis, don’t be surprised when they go off and list with someone else. Learning how to market through your CRM system will ensure your relationships never go cold, and those touch-base phone calls are never awkward. If you don’t know how to send newsletters, market updates and drip marketing campaigns through your CRM system, you are missing a lot of opportunities.

But CRM marketing is not enough. You need multiple lead sources, online and offline, to bring stability to your business. If you rely too heavily on any one source and that source dries up, you jeopardize a substantial part of your business.

You need at least 5 consistent lead sources in your business that you work on a regular basis. It could be:

• CRM marketing – regular touchpoints with your existing database.
• Phone prospecting – regular calls to your sphere, dormant leads, neighbors, etc.
• Meet regularly with referral sources who can send you multiple leads (e.g. mortgage brokers, lawyers, etc.)
• Send high-quality, consistent mail pieces to your geo farm.
• Send just listed/sold postcards to your database and geo farm (promotes your success).
• Build a referral network of agents from out of the area.
• Buy a lead gen website (there are many on the market these days).
• Buy leads from real estate portals (e.g. Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.).
• Use social media advertising (e.g. Facebook ads to promote yourself and your listings).

Once the pandemic is over:

• Host open houses (borrow a new listing from someone in your office if you need to).
• Door knocking in your geo farm to offer market updates (and of course ask if they’ve considered selling).
• Circle prospect around your listings (invite the neighbors to open houses and ask if they need to sell).
• Belong to community groups (e.g. BNI, social clubs, etc.)
• Network at social functions (e.g. charity events).
• Volunteer in your community (to gain social capital – give to get).

Diversification in our lead generation gives us security in a commission business. If the pandemic has shone a light on the fact that you don’t have enough lead generation sources, this is your wakeup call.

I encourage you to write a list of every lead generation method you are currently using in your business consistently. Are your lead sources diversified enough? If not, what do you commit to adding this month?

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training