How to Create Real Estate Leads & Sales

There are many tools available to generate leads and sales.

To build a profitable real estate business, a salesperson must prospect for one to three hours per day looking for people who not only want to sell their homes, but who would also like to buy from your existing listings, according to Mike Ferry, a successful real estate agent who coaches others on how to create real estate leads and sales.

Instructions

Proactive Steps to Attract Real Estate Leads

1. 

   Call potential clients for leads.

   Cold call expired listings, For Sale By Owner listings, and neighbors surrounding your new listing to source real estate leads. Expired listings are homes that failed to sell during their listing time periods. If you can show these homeowners how you can sell their home quickly, they may list with you. Homeowners who opt for For Sale By Owner strategies often fear the cost of using a real estate professional, but if you can show them the benefits, they may list with you. If you already have a listing, call owners in that neighborhood to let them know the particulars of the home you are selling and ask if they are thinking of selling.

2. 

   Leads can come through targeted advertising.

   Advertise with signs, print notices and media spots. In addition to For Sale signs, real estate brokerages often run company advertisements in newspapers and magazines and on radio and television to showcase their listings and generate sales. Real estate agents may sign up for allotted time periods throughout the day to answer questions from people calling in response to the signs or ads. This prospecting opportunity is commonly referred to as "floor time." Floor time can generate real estate leads if you know what questions to ask to secure an appointment, which can lead to a sale.

3. 

   Direct marketing can generate leads.

   Get the word out with direct marketing techniques. Go door to door and introduce yourself to neighbors, mail "Just Listed" or "Just Sold" postcards to a surrounding area or send out a monthly newsletter to people you know. Direct marketing costs vary from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars a year. Follow up your direct marketing efforts with phone calls to find those potential buyers and sellers with immediate needs.

4. 

   Open houses attract potential buyers.

   Host open houses. Although Mike Ferry refers to hosting open houses as "waiting for business to find you," you can get real estate leads from the people who attend or you may sell the home you are hosting. Sometimes you may encounter people who routinely visit open houses as a pastime. By having visitors sign in with contact information, you can follow up and determine if the open house visitors are prospective buyers or sellers.

5. 

   Your sphere of influence can increase sales.

   Work your sphere of influence---people you know from your life, work, school, church, and through your children and hobbies---and the people your people know, such as a friend of a friend, is known as working by referral. Brian Buffini, a successful real estate agent who built his business by referral, teaches others how to develop a powerful referral system to generate consistent real estate leads and sales. Market directly to the people you already have a relationship with to increase your real estate sales.

Tips & Warnings

• Real estate leads and sales follow the numbers rule: The more contacts you make, the more likely you will earn a sale.

• Reward the people who refer business to you with thank-you notes and gift certificates. A little appreciation may keep them speaking well of you and generate more leads and sales.

• Check the National Do Not Call Registry before calling a real estate lead.

• If a property is already listed for sale, do not include it on your direct mailing list. Respect the existing client-agent relationship.

• Do not pay a commission to people who refer business to you. Commissions can only be paid to licensed real estate agents and brokers.

References

• The Mike Ferry Organization
• The Mike Ferry Organization: Prospecting ... Building a Predictable, Profitable Business
• Buffini & Company