Networking For Real Estate Leads
In our last post, we covered 5 ways to get real estate leads through prospecting. Today, we are going to cover 5 ways to get real estate leads from networking. Not everyone is comfortable prospecting via cold calling and door knocking. That is why God invented networking (Okay, maybe God didn’t invent it, as He probably had some more important stuff going on, but someone invented it, and that’s all we really care about).
There is a right way to network, and a wrong way. The wrong way is how most people network. They act like it is speed dating, going from one person to the next just handing out their business card. I can’t tell you how many events I have been to where someone would walk up to me, not even introduce themselves, and just hand me their card. Some didn’t even ask me for my card, and they would just walk away. One guy was so lazy, he didn’t even take a card out from the stack he was holding. He simply pushed one of his business cards forward, like he was performing a card trick…pick a card, any card is what popped into my mind.
The right way to network is to treat it as if you are having a cup of coffee with a long-lost friend. So much time has passed, you don’t know where to start, so you start from the beginning. You reconnect, and get to know each other once more. This is exactly how you should approach networking. Take a few moments to truly get a feel for what the person you are meeting does for a living. Show them you are interested in them and that you are listening to them. Ask them who their ideal client is, and find out the best way for you to refer this type of client to them. Most likely, they will reciprocate and ask you how to best refer you a client as well. After the event, follow-up with each person you meet with whom you felt would be a good fit to have a mutual beneficial business relationship with, and invite them for a cup of coffee to further expand each other’s knowledge of the ideal client and each other’s particular business model as well. This will further strengthen your business alliance, and allow for a higher quality referral.
So let’s get into the different ways you can approach networking for leads. There are hundreds of way, and for the purpose of this post, we will focus on 5 that you can get involved in this week.
Meet Up Groups:
If you haven’t been on Meetup.com, you need to check it out (as soon as you’re done reading this article, of course). Meetup.com is free to join, and you can choose from hundreds of different networking groups to join. You simply look at the groups that are in your area that also pertain to a hobby or passion you have interest in. Networking doesn’t just have to be about real estate all the time. You can join a workout group, or a political group, or, if you are like me, and enjoy writing, you can even join a creative writing group. The choices are endless and as broad or as niched down as you want. Go and meet the people in which ever group or groups you have chosen, and just get to know one another. Eventually, what you do for work will come up, and that is when you can find out how you can best serve them, and in turn, how they can best refer clients to you.
Mastermind Groups:
I am a huge fan of mastermind groups. When you get together with people with in your own industry, you can create an idea flow that is truly remarkable. You will learn from one another what is working, what isn’t working, and how to do things from an outside the box perspective. You can have an in person mastermind group, or one that meets digitally, where people can participate from anywhere in the country. This is a great way to build relationships with agents in different markets, so that you are the go-to person when they come across a client that is relocating to your area. It also makes you more valuable to your own clients when they relocate out of your area, as you can set them up with an agent that you know will do a good job for them in their next home…and you get a referral fee as a bonus!
Create A Professional Services Group For Your Niche:
This is a phenomenal option, especially if you have a specific niche you work with in your business. I work with a lot of investors, so a good mix for my group would be a real estate attorney, an investor friendly title company, an asset based lender, all types of contractors, and a good Certified Public Accountant. One of my colleagues specializes in baby boomers who are downsizing, and thus his group consists of a moving company, a specialist who helps sell the unneeded contents of the home, a stager, as well as executives from local assisted living facilities. The idea is to create a group of business owners whose services complement one another, and thus as a group, you offer the value of being able to be an all in one facilitator for your client.
Community/Civic Organizations:
There are plenty of organizations in your immediate community that you can join. Being part of these organizations not only can lead to referrals for your business, but can lead to your help in improving your community as well. These organizations run the gambit from the Chamber of Commerce to The Rotary Club, all the way to fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons. As with any networking opportunity, the more you put in, the more you get out, and these types of organizations truly exemplify this principle. To get the most out of your networking time, be sure to join the committees within these organizations that your are most passionate about.
Organized Business Networking Groups:
There are various groups and organizations whose sole purpose is to pass referrals between its members. Most of these have rules and standards as to how the group is run, and what are the minimum requirements as far as attending meetings and passing referrals. Organizations such as these typically only allow one member per industry, which is important. The fees to be part of these groups vary. Most have local chapters, and many allow you to attend your first meeting without charge to see if you are a good fit for the group and vice versa. Examples of these groups would be BNI, and LeTip International.
Newer to this group of organizations is Master Networks. Master Networks not only offers the opportunity for expanding your business with referrals, it also has an education element, along with opportunities to not only join a local chapter, but also to become a regional partner as well. I found out about Master Networks through my good friend and colleague, Corey Baumann. Corey is a top agent in my market, and has become an incredible asset to Master Networks as well. If you would like to learn more about joining a group, or creating another stream of income through Master Networks, I encourage you to contact Corey, as he would be happy to talk to you. You can reach Corey by clicking HERE.
These are just 5 opportunities to utilize networking for more real estate leads, referrals, and transactions. What other opportunities can you come up with?