Today’s blog post is going to cover 5 ways to get new leads in the next 7 days . The best part about it is these are free. I must warn you however, they will all take a bit of work on your part. All of them are based on prospecting and will fall into one of two categories:
1) Phone calls
2) Door Knocking
Now I know what some of you were thinking. Just seeing the word “prospecting” is making you picture the devil himself. The truth is prospecting can be a little intimidating, actually it can be downright scary, if you don’t have confidence in your skills. Don’t worry, we will help you through that. (In fact, I have a new 7 day mini course coming out on the basics of prospecting. I will be launching this free course at the beginning of July, so keep an eye out for it).
Here’s what I can tell you from experience… All it takes is practice, practice, practice. Once you get comfortable with the scripts, and you must get comfortable with the scripts, prospecting will become a breeze for you. I know there are other “easier” ways of getting leads, you know, like paying for them! And there is a place for that in our business as well. However, I am a true believer in what Gary Keller says that your business should be prospecting based marketing enhanced. If you are like me and you believe a shift is coming in the market within the next 18 of 24 months, then it’s imperative that your business has a prospecting based foundation. When the last shift happened, the agents who mastered prospecting were the agents who not only survived the shift, but thrived during it. I know in most of your markets things look great now. Most houses are selling in days if not hours. Even in our market, where this seems to be the case, small signs are popping up that a shift is on its way. You need to pay attention to those signs and stay ahead of the curve if you plan on being in this industry five years from now.
OK, so let’s get started on the five ways that you can generate a lead this week for little to no money.
1) EXPIRED LISTINGS
Expired listings are one the easiest ways to not only get a new lead this week, but to actually get a new listing contract signed this week. You can connect with expireds either by calling them or door knocking them. There are 3 secrets to winning with expireds:
- Timing: In order to win with expired you need to be one of the first to call them in the morning. For me that means when the clock hits 8:00 AM, my dialer starts calling. Ideally, you want to be the first agent to connect with the expired. However, if you can’t catch them in the morning, you may also have success reaching them between 6:00-8:30 PM, as most agents won’t be making calls at this time. If they were not reached earlier that day for some reason, by connecting with them at night, you may still be the first agent they to speak to them.
- Scripting: You must know not only what to say, but just as importantly, if not more so, HOW to say it. For expired listings I prefer the Mike Ferry Expired script, which you can download for free by clicking on this link. We will cover the nuances of tonality, etc in the upcoming Prospecting Mini Course, so stay tuned for more information on that free course!
- E & P: E & P stands for empathize and project. In order to win with expireds, you need to empathize with their situation, while projecting confidence that you can succeed where their previous agent failed. It’s a delicate balance, and you don’t want to sound cocky. You just want to show confidence in your abilities, as this confidence will make the client feel they can put their trust in you.
2) FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner)
FSBO’s are some of the easiest sellers to land an appointment on the first contact. Again, you can reach them by phone, or in person, through door knocking. The challenge with FSBO’s is the time it will take from your first contact with them, to actually getting them to list with you. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some for sale by owners who will list with you on the very first meeting you have with them, but in my experience they are few and far between. FSBO’s by their very nature believe they can sell their home by themselves, so it takes persistence to turn a FSBO lead, into a client. Here is where you come in…most agents will try 1 or 2, maybe 3 attempts at most to gain a for sale by owner’s business. The fact is, it may take between 5-12 attempts to get a contract signed. Yes, it is a little delayed, but the best part is, you will most likely be the only agent that has stuck with them, so they will be very happy to list with you when the time comes. I prefer the Kevin Ward script for my initial conversation with FSBO’s, and you can download that script for free here. Make sure you follow-up with a FSBO every 5-7 days after your initial contact. I prefer calling them on Monday’s and asking how their showings went over the weekend. I ask them how many offers they received (usually none) and I offer a something of value on each follow-up call. I don’t just call every Monday and say “Are you ready to list with me yet?” That is not offering them value. My suggestion is to come up with a clear, repeatable drip campaign consisting of both emails and phone calls. In each, touch on their pain (no offers yet), and offer a solution (something of value).
3) Open Houses
Open houses?
Yawn.
I know, I know, you hate to do them and you never get any business from them, right? Well, there is a reason for that…You suck at them!
Harsh?
Maybe, but the truth is, most agents do not a) know how to do a proper open house, or b) are too lazy to do one properly. The secret to a successful open house (one where you actually get clients) is to have a 7th level open house. If you are not familiar with what that is, and you are a Keller Williams agent, take that segment of IGNITE, the next time it is offered in your market center. If you are not with Keller Williams, contact me, and I will make sure you get invited the next time that class is offered in a KW office near you. I will give you a quick over view of what to do for the sake of this post though:
- Reach out to the entire neighborhood via phone, and invite them to your open house (while you have them on the phone, ask them what are their upcoming real estate related plans that you may help them with).
- Door Knock the entire neighborhood a few days before the open, and the morning of as well in case you missed some of the neighbors earlier. Give them a flyer of your open house, invite them to come see it, and make sure you include market stats for the neighborhood on this flyer. Again, ask them what real estate needs you may be able to help them with.
- Make sure you advertise the open house for an entire week (at least) before having it. You want it posted on your MLS for other agents to see. You want it on all your social media, and your office’s social media as well. Make sure it is on all the public real estate sites, such as Zillow.
- Have plenty of directional signs up as far in advance as possible (check with local laws on this).
- And last but most importantly…if the open house is for your own listing, only have one open house, and have it the very first week the listing hits the market. Make sure you that you do not allow ANY showings until the open house (check with your broker on the proper way to do this as to not violate any MLS standards). By waiting until the open house for all showings to begin, you have the opportunity to create a feeding frenzy by having so many people come through at once. I have sold many listings this way. It is a win for the sellers as they don’t have to be on the market for weeks, leaving their house hours at a time for each showing, and it’s a win for out team as well because we pick up new buyers as clients, and the neighbors see what a great job we did, they contact us when it’s time to list their homes!
4) Just Listed/ Just Sold
Calling or door knocking around a neighborhood of a home you or your office either just listed or just sold is a great way to show the neighbors that you are the neighborhood expert. You can utilize the Mike Ferry script(click HERE for the Just Listed script and click HERE for the Just Sold script) to maximize your conversation with the homeowner. Your goal is to accomplish one or more of the following objectives:
- Find a homeowner who is planning on selling their home in the next 30-90 days (or invest in real estate in that timeframe).
- Find a homeowner who can refer you to someone looking to buy, sell, or invest in the next 30-90 days.
- Add each person you contact to your database.
I use a simple script which allows me to add people to my database: “As the local neighbor expert, I like to keep my clients informed on the local real estate market for their neighborhood. What is your best email? I would be happy to INCLUDE you in the future.”
NOTE: There is barely a pause between me asking what their best email is and saying I would be happy to include them in the future. I capitalized the word “include,” because psychologically, people like to be included in things. When I have coached others and have not emphasized the word “include,” most people use the word “add.” By saying “add” people feel like they are being added to a list, and that becomes a turn off for most.
5) Circle Prospecting
Circle prospecting is very similar to Just Listed/Just Sold prospecting. Again, you can do this activity either by making phone calls, or in person through a particular neighborhood. The approach our team uses for these types of contacts is very simple. We pull a neighborhood in which we, or one of our colleagues, have sold a home quickly, at or above asking, in a multiple buyer situation. Those 3 criteria are key. Your goal with this activity is exactly the same as above for the just listed/just sold contacts. The only difference is the opening part of the script:
We say: “Hi, this is (blank) with Keller Williams Real Estate. Thanks to our marketing efforts, the house on 123 Main Street sold in X Days, at (or above) asking price, with multiples offers. Now we have a problem because we know that there was only one lucky buyer, which means there are now other buyers still looking for a place to call home. I was calling (or stopping by) to see if you or someone you know, was thinking about buying or selling their home in the near future.”
From there, we just go right back to the remainder of the Just Sold script.
NOTE: If you have a buyer, and I don’t mean a pretend buyer, who is looking in a neighborhood with low inventory, feel free to make that the opening of your script as an alternative. It will show the homeowner that you are aggressive and pro-active, which will make you stand out to them in the future when they are ready to sell (if you stay in touch and remain top of mind) and you can use it as a value proposition when you are having a buyer consultation. This alone will make you stand out from the crowd and most buyers will sign a buyer agency contract with you on the spot.
Feel free to share any other methods you may have for generating free leads, and stay tuned for next week’s post in which we will cover 5 more ways to find new leads, all of which involve networking.