Networking for Real Estate Leads; Walking and Talking Your Way To More Business

Networking For Real Estate Leads. Ever wonder how successful agents

• manage to get where they are
  
  
• why they are as successful as they are
  
  
• how they have more listings, prospects, and leads than everybody else?

I can assure you that it's not by luck. Successful agents know that generating real estate leads is something that occurs over time and requires daily action to sustain their success.

Of course, being a natural-born salesperson who can sell ice cream at the North Pole helps, but networking for real estate leads and cultivating multiple streams of warm, responsive leads is within reach of most agents - once they understand how to get them.

Networking for Real Estate Leads begins with opening your mind to the possibilities and networking your way to more leads.

Networking for Real Estate Leads 101

Some experts note that 50% of new real estate agents give up within a year. And the number one reason is frustration! And the frustration is due to the unique challenges of generating leads.

This high turnover says a lot. You may not necessarily want to quit. But the thought of wanting to make things easier regarding finding leads must have certainly crossed your mind.

If someone could make lead generation easier would that make your life better? Fortunately, lead generation is made easier by all the possibilities around you, from networking for leads to working contractors and hosting homebuilder shows.

There's simply no limit to how you can generate leads.

Successful agents succeed because they've built and maintained an extensive network of contacts that ensures their business will prosper, no matter what.

Sounds easy...right? Yes and no. It's easy in that networking is simply connecting to a person who can connect you with others. Also, you have to be the kind of person someone wants to refer to their friends and acquaintances..and that part takes work.

But once you establish that network, you will find that the leads are reliable and likely to keep doing business with you. They may even throw more business your way. And so the cycle of referrals continues.

How to Build a Network

How do you start building a network that will work for you and give you the leads you need? For one thing, it does NOT begin with printing out fancy business cards.

It begins by working hard to build a credible reputation for yourself and your agency. Be the kind of person that walks the talk. Think about it, would you instead work with a shady agent (you can spot them a mile away) or with someone genuine about what they say and do?

People pick up not only the words you say but, more importantly, how you say things. If they feel your underlying motive is to profit from a transaction with them, you'll most likely lose the deal before negotiating it.

Compare this with someone who shows a genuine concern for helping find the best deal possible, and you'll see why this kind of agent lasts longer than the hard-sell kind.

Active Listening

Probing for usable information and leads is an art. And the first rule is to listen more and talk less. However, that's NOT to say you should keep your words to a minimum, but rather, give your contact more opportunities to talk about themselves. When you speak, it should be to encourage the person to share even more about themselves versus an attempt to deflect and dominate the conversation.

Use Business Cards to Help Build Your Network

Letting people know how they can reach you is an essential part of doing real estate (or any business, for that matter). But it is more vital for you to be asking for that information. After you build an initial rapport, politely ask for their contact information.

Only think of handing out your card when it's asked for. At least ask permission to give them your card just in case they need to inquire about real estate.

Thrusting your card to someone not asking for it is like saying, "Call me." In dating, we find that rather presumptuous. The idea stays the same when it comes to networking for real estate leads.

Now that you've built a genuine and likable person and have the information you need and the contacts to pursue the information with, you need to work on mining this information for leads.

Effective Follow up

Follow up with friendly correspondences. It helps to refer to your last conversation to open up your letters/calls. It is here where the benefits of listening come in. Your contact realizes you took the effort to remember what they said, which speaks a lot about you.

Another plus in guiding the conversation towards something related to your business is that there is a logical take-off point for you to introduce your services and what you can do to help the person with their real estate concerns.

Summarily, Networking for Real Estate Leads comes down to a few basic things; walking the walk, talking the talk, and being a great listener with good follow-up skills. When you master these concepts, your work will be done! 

Related pages you might like

Real Estate Leads via Newspaper Ads   
Five Tips for More Real Estate Newsletter Leads  
Exclusive Real Estate Agent Leads 

That's it for now! 

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