Real estate prospecting is the process of finding and using lucrative business opportunities by targeting potential clients. In a bid to make a business more profitable, real estate agents expand personal outreach, use their time more efficiently, and take advantage of the latest real estate technologies.
If you wonder how to prospect real estate, you can start with these handy tips. Some of them are mentioned in real estate books, so you can be sure they will yield the desired result.
First off, you need to understand what niche you’ll focus on. The choice will determine all your future actions concerning real estate prospecting. The range of options is huge – from luxury real estate to commercial properties and everything in between.
When you know your field, you can start promoting your services as a real estate expert. Make sure to choose methods that will help you stick out from the crowd. To figure out how to interest new clients, you can address former ones and ask them how they learned about you and why they decided to order your services.
Other things to keep in mind are:
Pro Tip:
When people in a particular region start associating you with certain real estate services, they will surely come to you whenever they need assistance. Remember that visual representation is paramount, so it makes sense to cooperate with skilled real estate photographers within your niche.
You are likely to perform real estate agent prospecting over the phone, so it is very important to learn and follow the legal policies of the Do Not Call Registry. The thing is that some companies have stated that they will order solicitor services from specific agencies. The numbers of such companies are included in the DNCR state and national databases.
If you neglect this rule, you may have to pay a hefty fine – up to $11,000 per violation. So, don’t start reaching out to clients until you have a detailed list of numbers from the DNCR registry.
What is prospecting in real estate? In fact, this is any interaction with people that is aimed at obtaining their business.
If you want to make such interaction fruitful, you should adhere to reliable tactics. Of course, you can’t discern whether a particular approach brings the desired results until you give it a go. So, be ready to try various methods and think outside the box.
There are several ideas and activities that can be your starting point:
Envisaging your career and evaluating the results is very important to stay motivated even during hard periods. For this, it is recommended to define weekly real estate prospecting goals.
For instance, you can write how many people you’ll call, how many messages you’ll send, and how many clients you’ll meet in person.
You should also determine long-term targets. For example, you can focus on the number of businesses you’d like to close.
Undoubtedly, this type of thinking takes time to master. But when you learn how to visualize small and big goals, you won’t feel disheartened after occasional setbacks.
A good website should include your property listings complemented with high-quality real estate photography samples. Make sure to shed light on your prowess and features that differentiate you from competitors.
It is necessary to share content that is optimized for search engines and include downloadable resources. Thus, your website will be ranked higher and you can attract more prospects.
If you have a vague idea of how to create an efficient Digital Marketing strategy, have a look at the list of the most popular real estate keywords.
Even if you have a personal website, you should still devote time to promoting your services on social networks. It won’t be an uphill climb because you can share the same listings, real estate photos, recommendations, and other content on several platforms.
When you stay active on social media, you have higher chances to attract younger clients and find nice co-op opportunities. Have a look at some tips on how to run real estate prospecting on popular social networks:
Marketing and prospecting in real estate are inextricably connected. Once again, you need to laser-focus on a specific niche to offer your services to cohorts of clients. This can be something like first-time homebuying, commercial properties, etc.
Make sure to pick an area where your skills can shine. You can create short yet informative how-to video guides, regular blog posts, tips on finding a professional real estate photographer to work together with, etc.
The most popular marketing options in the real estate business are sharing blog posts, memes for social networks, explanatory videos, expert tips, and behind-the-scenes moments.
Don’t treat marketing as a side activity. In fact, it is one of the handiest tools for building a coherent and recognizable real estate brand. If you devote sufficient time and effort to content marketing and real estate video marketing, you can transcend your competitors and become a main player in the chosen area.
If you want to get acquainted with people, who can become your clients or partners in the future, you should host an open house/apartment. Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to organize such an event for every property you wish to fill in.
Define priorities in the first place. It is better to invite people to places that are in high demand or those that can bring you financial rewards.
Preparation plays a huge role when it comes to hosting open houses. Remembers to create a simple and reliable system for collecting contact data of all people who will visit the place. You can start with a regular sign-in sheet.
Once the meeting is over, look through the names and mark clients who didn’t make an offer but will be likely interested in your other projects. Later, get in touch with them and ask whether they want to see other properties or whether they need your help in selling a house.
When there are lots of things to monitor, remember, and do, you should choose functional real estate CRM software to simplify your work. The most lauded options are Contactually, Zillow Premier Agent CRM, and CINC. They have various helpful functions that you can use to make and sync your schedule, arrange tasks, set up notifications, and more.
The biggest advantage of such programs is their automation instruments. For instance, if you bump into a person who can be interested in your services, you can immediately add him/her to your property management software and the program will remind you about this person in several hours. Thus, you can maintain consistent communication with leads, which is very important for real estate agent prospecting.
By collecting useful data at different meetings, you can later add it to your CRM database and have a better understanding of possible work integrations.
Make sure to keep in touch with people you work with, even if they were your clients a couple of years ago. At some point in your career, you may need to address them and ask for referrals.
Never underestimate the power of honest and detailed referrals. Such mentions can greatly bolster your reputation and even persuade new clients to choose your services. It is up to you to decide what tools to use for engaging with former clients. Currently, social networks are probably the most convenient variant. To learn about other efficient methods, you can visit the PhotographyForRealEstate website.
Everybody likes small presents and personalized offers. So, if you don’t have an in-depth plan of how to prospect real estate, you can start by sending your clients nice gifts. However, choose people whom you already met and know something about. For instance, you can reach out to prospects that you got acquainted with at an open house or a community event.
Send them a personalized greeting card or a note with a pleasant gift. You can use the time in the run-up to a particular holiday. For example, your campaign may be related to Valentine’s Day real estate marketing ideas. Make sure your note contains the information that will remind clients about you.
Though most businesses have gone online, it doesn’t mean you should shake loose meeting leads in person. In fact, a face-to-face discussion is better because you get an opportunity to really learn a person and give him/her credible reasons to cooperate with you.
Initiate a personal meeting whenever it is possible. If a prospect asks you about such a meeting, he/she is likely to be serious about hiring you.
While talking, do your best to understand the client’s demands and interests. Ask prompting questions and listen attentively to answers. It might also be a smart solution to order the services provided by the companies that offer qualified real estate leads, as they will allow you to save a lot of time and increase your ROI.
It is cheap. Can you think of an advertising method that is cheaper than picking up a phone and calling a prospect? Or writing a short message and sending it to potential clients? If you compare real estate agent prospecting with other marketing strategies, you’ll see it is a win-win option for starters and realtors with limited funds.
Fast results. If you try to expand your clientele base with the help of regular posting, you may achieve the desired result but it will appear only after some time. Waiting can be hard, especially in highly-competitive spheres. Prospecting is more advantageous in this case because you can evaluate the success of your interaction straight away.
You can compile a contact list. Even if you don’t get an instant response from a lead, you can still add a client to a contact list in your phone for realtor. The bigger your contact list, the more potential deals you can have.
Great method for analyzing your leads. When you communicate with people, you can understand their desires, problems, and current needs. With this in mind, you can prepare a bespoke offer that will surely interest a client.
