Prospecting – Proactively Prospect for Success in 2015

2015 promises to be one of the best years ever for real estate agents. Agents that are planning to maximize the income potential during the coming year are forewarned that the greatest challenge they will face next year will involve securing new listings. In most markets, properties are selling more quickly now than they have in years and agents are becoming much more aggressive as the competition for new listings gets tougher. It will be critical to attack every listing opportunity as the agents that have the listings in 2015, will own their markets.

What are the best strategies to prospect for listings? Listed in order of importance below, are four of the best approaches to generate both listing and buyer opportunities:

• Contact every past client and everyone in your sphere of influence. Make a list of everyone you’ve done business with during the past four years. Print the list with the names and phone numbers for everyone on the list. Set a goal that allows you to call everyone on the list in the next 10 weeks. Establish a weekly goal by taking the total number of people on your list and dividing it by 10 weeks. You could also mail a note to each person, but it’s not as productive as talking to everyone on the phone. After small talk, use the following script:

“How is business? We’ve had one of our best years in real estate and we’re expecting next year to be even better. As a matter of fact, I’m in the process of evaluating market trends and forecasts for 2015 because everyone has been asking me what they can expect in appreciation next year. If you’d like, I’d be happy to send you my forecast as soon as it’s complete. By the way, if you know of anyone thinking about moving, please don’t keep me a secret.”

• Mail to your demographic or geographic farm. At the end of the year, many prospective sellers, start thinking seriously about their real estate plans for the coming year. This is an ideal time to send a postcard or other mailing that indicates “now is the time to sell” due to strong buyer activity. Keep in mind, one mailing isn’t enough. You should plan on mailing to this group every couple of weeks between now and the end of the year.

• Conduct weekly open houses.This is always a great way to generate new listings and buyer prospects. Neighbors considering selling like to visit open houses in their neighborhoods to get a feel for market conditions. If you’re able to build rapport with open house visitors using the FORP Strategy, they are likely to list with you.

• Social and Event Networking – Keep in mind, out of every 100 people you talk with about real estate, 6-12 of them will be moving. This is the historical average that almost always applies. The more people you talk to, the more likely you are to have a seller prospect, so a “take the shots” approach is a great strategy to apply. Social settings are ideal because everyone likes to talk about real estate. Just ask each contact where they live and how the market has been in their neighborhood.