Finding New Business

It is time to get into action.

If we are just launching a career in real estate, finding business or lead generation is where we have to begin.

This episode reviews our Top 10 sources for finding real estate leads, and includes scripts and ideas for capturing and converting real estate business.

Transcript

  📍   Welcome to real estate common sense. I'm Lisa Spencer and I grew up in a real estate family. I was a top producing agent and a managing broker with over 400 agents for over a decade. What I discovered is common sense is not that common. Especially when it comes to launching building or expanding a real estate business.  

I have interviewed thousands of agents and help ed  hundreds  launch a successful career. I hope the information I share will assist you today. Thank you for tuning in to our second episode, where to find new business. 

Real estate common sense. My book available on Amazon talks about the 8 essentials of real estate. 

And essential number one is where to find new business. Where to find new business is the number one real estate essential for a reason, 

the list of sources for new business could be endless. There is a consistent mistake that new agents make, and that's doing too many things for too short, a time. They go out. They listen to the latest podcast, they buy magic beans for instant results or many other things that they just do too many things and they lack, focus. 

From the things I'm about to discuss. I suggest that you pick three. I do three things consistently for at least 90 days. And once you've mastered those add in more sources. Finally. You should build and keep, if you don't already have one. A fantastic base of previous customers that will support and advocate for your business. 

In my experience, it takes about five years to establish a solid referral stream. And even then you're never going to be able to stop finding new business. You never know when your best referral source will get a real estate license. Or when the attorney that has referred his probate clients to you for decades will decide to sell his practice. 

There's no particular order or preference in this list. I've seen agents have wild success from cold calling and others convert zero cold calls into tangible business. It is my intention to spend the next 15 minutes or so sharing methods that have worked for myself and others. I ask that you decide which one hits you as. Yep. 

I'll do that. Then do it. The operative word is, do! Get into action quickly. There are a lot of moving parts in a real estate transaction. And if you wait until you're confident and perfect in executing everything, you're going to starve. We are professionals and we provide value with specific services that most people will need only a few times in their life. 

We have to take a minute to discuss AI and the other technologies that may threaten our industry. It is my opinion that the average realtor is threatened by predictive analytics, social media, marketing, and lead capture from IDX websites. 

This is why from the beginning, you must make a decision to be better than average. It is not enough to take a consumer from point a. I want a house or I want to sell a house to point B. I have a house or my house is sold. In order to build a sustainable real estate business, we must become a valuable resource. 

That helps people make good decisions by providing them local market knowledge, not just comps, but other things like industries that are moving in or out. Ratings for hospitals, schools, and restaurants, and so much more.

According to the national association of realtors over 80% of new business comes from an agent's sphere of influence. So no excuses, if you don't already have a sphere of influence, you're going to build one. 

 Sphere of influence or SOI is wildly interpreted and loosely defined to the point. It's no longer resonating with us. If it ever resonated with us at all. So let's take a different approach. Rather than putting ourselves in the center of the universe alone with a golden lasso, trying to pull people into our sphere. 

Think of yourself as a gem, dropping into a lake of opportunity. You were dropped into that lake on the day you were born. Your circles. Expanded from where you were dropped in the lake of opportunity. And you're starting your real estate ring today. You'll need to lean on the relationships that you have formed from birth until today. 

Family, friends, classmates associates and acquaintances will be your foundational relationships. What history are you bringing forward into your new ring of opportunity? Are there any relationships that need to be repaired? Are there any relationships we can strengthen for mutual benefit? 

Over time, your sphere of influence will grow by your interactions with people that you have assisted with real estate transactions and they'll form a very special group. But until you build that database of previous clients, you have to start with these three groups of people. These are people that you already know. 

So group number one. Who in your world is vested, interested and cheering for you. This would be your spouse, your parents. Your best friend, these are your first advocates. Have you enlisted them in the launch of your new business? Each one of them will encounter up to six people this year that have a real estate need. 

Are they ready to refer you? Did you sit down over lunch and ask for their help and demonstrate your ability to shine as a real estate professional? 

How will you influence this inner circle in giving you referrals? Well, one thing you could do is buy each one of them, a business card holder and fill it with your cards. Ask them to update your contact information in their phone, help them upload a professional picture of you, your business contact information, including your IDX home search site. 

And the title, my favorite realtor or the best realtor in such. And so county. You need to help your advocates get started referring you. The second group are your friends and associates that may have heard you got your real estate license. These are the connectors in your world. Have you built up enough credits with your friends to ask for help? 

One of the best ways to enlist them is to be a connector for them. I make a conscious effort to help others with their projects or charities or new businesses. How many connectors will commit to referring business to you? You have to ask them. . 

The third and final group are the people that you recognize, and you can remember their name and you have some point of reference. They are the parents at your children's school. There's someone from your golf club, they're members of any group of people with whom you regularly associate. 

Can you shift the reference of these acquaintances? If you can move them from thinking of you as someone they like and trust in a social arena. To someone that they would consider for their real estate needs. You are on your way to cultivating and maintaining a sphere of influence.  We'll dig deep into sphere  of influence marketing and maintenance and future podcasts and interview conversations with top agents who have mastered cultivating business from their sphere. 

In order to keep this podcast moving, we'll continue and explore the other nine sources for new business. 

Source number two,  the, for sale by owner  from now on think of these as talented, do it, yourselfers, marketing their home on their own. Some sellers  had a bad experience with a realtor in the past. 

Some of them watch too much. HGTV and they think it's about showing their home to the thousands of buyers. Wanting a home, just like theirs to enter the market. Some are just testing the market. 

Regardless of the reasons a for sale by owner is marketing their home on their own. There are some places where I've had success with these talented, do it yourselfers. The first. Is to show the home to a potential buyer. One of the reasons I had advocates for my real estate business was my dog after a bone determination and finding the right home for my buyers. 

And so I would ask where they wanted to live. And after exhausting, all of the available inventory on MLS. I would call every for sale by owner out there and ask them if they would consider paying a commission. , if I brought a buyer. Many of them said yes. 

 If you don't have an active buyer for a  for sale by owner property, you can ask to preview the home.  Should you be working with a buyer in the future? This conversation is also fitting. If you attend an open house of a talented, do it yourself or marketing their home on their own. 

Visiting the open house of someone marketing their home on their own is a great way to introduce yourself. It was my practice to visit the open house in my market area as a way to increase my knowledge of the local inventory of available homes. 

So here was a favorite conversation. I would view the home and talk to them about hopefully a buyer that I had for that house. If I didn't have a buyer for the house, I would ask them if they would consider. Cooperating with me, if I would be able to find a buyer and that the reason why I came to their open house, because I feel it's my job to know the inventory. And honestly, if they said, no, they wouldn't cooperate. I would still keep that home in mind. If it was just the right fit for my buyer. 

Then I would say. You know, there's three types of buyers out there. The ideal buyer, the local buyer and the investor. The ideal buyer is moving in from out of the area and depends on the services provided by a local real estate professional. They rely on their realtor for area information, guided tours and insight into local economic growth and community development. 

These buyers are relocating with a specific timeframe. And they need a home now. They are usually willing to pay top dollar for the home in the market in order to meet their time constraints. They welcome the guidance of their realtor as an essential part of the successful move to a new area. Then there's the local buyer. 

A change in circumstance or the desire to buy a first home is often the motivation for the local buyer. These locals know the neighborhoods and the pace of the area, real estate market. They will often wait for just the right house and they'll pass on any options that are above fair market value. Local buyers prefer to work with their realtor because they need help in coordinating the sale of a previous home help with financing options or guidance as first time home buyers. 

They often have trusted real estate professionals in their circle of friends and family. So then leaves us the third type of buyer, which is the investor. Most investors are looking for bargains. If they're flipping the home, they must be aware of the margins for profit and they usually use a wholesale number. 

Rather than market value in their calculations. Explaining to a, for sale by owner that someone marketing their home on their own may find themselves excluded from the ideal buyer and have limited exposure to local buyers. This sometimes provides an opportunity for you to offer services that are now more valuable than they realized. Many sellers like to test the market and often turn to the services of a realtor when they feel they've exhausted their own marketing efforts. 

The for sale by owner conversation that we just mentioned can be found on realestatecommonsense.com under the seller experience, then. Look for three types of buyers. You can download the illustrated, leave behind flyer for free. 

In my experience using scare tactics or stressing the failure of other consumers who attempted to sell their home on their own rarely worked for other realtors. 

And it was something that I didn't feel was right for me. Instead, I kept in contact with the for sale by owner and offered them assistance. 

I shared a trusted mortgage lenders information as a way for them to get preapproval for their buyer. And I also helped them understand the next step. I gave them information about a trusted real estate attorney and 

I helped connect them with all the people they needed in order to complete their transaction, regardless of whether they worked for me. So then we have source number three. Expired listings. For sale by owner and expired listings are the two most common forms of prospecting. 

Agents that intend to have a big business and a daily lead generation habit will engage in prospecting for this now business. For sale by owner and expired listings are the consumers that raise their hands for assistance. 

You can jump in with the , cold callers or move to more creative ways to interact with these two sources of business. As I mentioned in my approach to talented do it, yourselfers, marketing their home on their own or fisbos. I found in-person interaction to be the most productive way to interact. 

For the realm of expired listings, I looked to old expired for new business. Once the homeowner gets over their disappointment of their home, not selling and the barrage of cold callers that called immediately upon expiration of their former listing agreement. They are more open to real estate conversations. Six months after the home expires, there's a new market for them to participate in. 

And ,new buyers that have entered into the new buyer pool. You may need to do some research to confirm that they have not relisted with another realtor. But this was a regular source of business for me. Regarding for sale by owner and expired listings. Approach them in a way that feels right to you. 

Success exists just past the limits of our comfort zone. So stretch a bit. There's an important note. Please consult with your broker for a list of local, do not call numbers as well as consulting. The national do not call registry. Heavy fines are associated with violating. Do not call restrictions. 

So let's go on to source number four. Third party endorsements are so much better than advertising the benefits of our services by ourselves. So professional advocates are really a wonderful source of business. 

Start developing your professional advocates immediately. They will be your partners in many transactions and developing this inner circle early in your career will provide multiple benefits. Start with getting advocates of any kind, start with your mom, make the call. Mom. I just started a career in real estate and I need to ask you a favor. Will you promise me that if you hear of anyone interested in buying a selling a home or investing in real estate, that you'll give them my contact information. 

Better yet. Will you ask if it's okay for you to share their information with me? It sounds silly. But until you feel the stab of someone in your mom's bunko group listing with someone else, you will not understand how you cannot take anything for granted. Help everyone, you know, including your mom, understand how to refer business to you. . 

Then hold everyone. You pay for service accountable to becoming a referral partner. The person who cuts your hair, talks to tons of people every week. Patronize local small businesses for as many goods and services as you can. Rather than go to a big box store, are there places where you can shop and engage in supporting small business networking that can feed your referral pipeline? 

Ribbon cuttings and happy hours cannot take the place of true connections and active participation in the community where you list and sell homes. Be visible in your community as a lead provider. Your success with professional advocates will have a direct correlation on how successful you have been at building the business of others. 

Source number five. Open houses. Market conditions can impact the level of success you have when hosting open houses. There's also direct link to the amount of advanced effort you put into hosting an open house. First obtain the seller's permission to host an open house, bring some key items to every open house. 

Nicely scented disinfecting wipes, paper towels, and a garbage bag, especially if you're serving food. The seller should not return to their home and find anything disturbed, missing, or rotting in an unattended garbage. Turn on the lights. Play some background music and be prepared to review other homes in the area and how they compare with the home. You are holding open. 

It is a great practice to host an open house with another agent for your safety. You could also bring a spouse or a friend just for security. If you're concerned about how to share the leads. Please be sure to check real estate laws in your area. Some states are quite strict about what can be said by an unlicensed person at an open house. 

Your spouse is there for security only. If they don't have a license. Confirm the home has been promoted on the internet as an open house. This is especially important if you're hosting an open house for another realtor. Don't assume that they promoted it, confirm it. Check with your local ordinances regarding directional signs. If they're permitted load up. 

Place directional signs from the street with the heaviest traffic and at each turn. Heading into your open house. On open house day, you are on, if you're placing signs, purchasing balloons or parking, your car, people are watching you. Some are watching to see how hard you work to get your listing sold. 

Because they're thinking of selling next year, or next week. If you don't have a listing to host as open, then ask your broker or a top agent in your office if you can "borrow" one of theirs. Meaning hosting an open house that is another person's listing. Open houses are a really great resource for new business. 

Source number six, circle prospecting. 

The basic principle of circle prospecting is to let all surrounding homes around a new listing, know that the home has come to market. There are services that can be purchased that will provide phone numbers of homes around your new listing. Because of do not call phone restrictions. Many agents use postcards or engage in door knocking campaigns to accomplish this. 

Think about creating a landing page and then creating a free QR code with a website like QR code monkey.com. You can also consider creating a page by using flow code.com. Which is a technology that builds a smartphone friendly flow page, with a matching customized QR code. Keep this QR code in your photo album and share it with as many people as possible. 

Be sure your contact information is clear and prominent as the hope is that others will share this code. And they will continue to share it with others, thereby promoting your new listings. 

Source number seven. Farming or target marketing. The definition of farming. When I got my license in 1994, consisted of postcards, newsletters, and neighborhood events. 

Now Facebook groups, meetup gatherings, and other solutions have emerged. The overall idea is regular communication, which connects you with real estate, to a group of people that you haven't met. The hope is that they will be making a connection with you when they have a real estate need. It's called farming because you're planting seeds for the future. 

You will dramatically increase the results if you use farming to identify a group of people with which you intend to build deeper relationships. So you can set your farm in the traditional way as a geographic farm. That's a specific neighborhood, perhaps a neighborhood where you live, but you haven't met all of those neighbors yet. 

The second form of farm is demographic. These may be people who have owned their home for 10 years or more. It might be absentee owners or other target audiences. Then there's psychographic. These are potential buyers and sellers that share a hobby or an interest such as golfers, boaters, or equestrians. 

Postcards may sound outdated, and I'm still receiving postcards from a top agent in my neighborhood. I know her personally and she would not do it if it was not still producing results. We'll talk about maximizing the use of postcards in our marketing podcast. 

Against my advice, another agent in our office is still sending recipe postcards. 

And I overheard her claiming her newest listing came from one of them. So, what do I know? Her enthusiasm and authenticity are making it work for her. Farming illustrates a double-edged sword. An agent that farms an area will never replace a valued and trusted agent. Sadly. Most agents neglect communication with their former customers and sphere of influence. 

Which makes their clients vulnerable to calling the agent on the most recently boosted listing or that postcard that arrived in their mailbox. In the age of instant gratification, a commitment to farming your own people, or sphere of influence, must be a part of your business strategy. Put a system in place to communicate your value as a resource for all things real estate to all of the contacts in your phone today! This is your first and most important farm. 

Source number eight Networking  

Networks can be organizations or groups that connect you to the community, the rotary club, the local chamber of commerce, or a charity that you're passionate about. Our networks. Networks can also be an informal book club, a scrapbooking group, or in the network of parents that are waiting in the car line each day. 

Finding a balance between being a shameless self-promoter and too humble to instill confidence that you can get the job done can be a delicate balance. This is why outside of a network that's specifically put together for business purposes. You will be wise to select something in which you have a genuine interest. 

My advice would be to find a network that feels authentic. a, community where you feel supported and you feel like you're supporting others through the fun activities and events. Whether your network is formal or informal, make it purposeful. Use your network to have fun and to grow and deepen relationships and business referrals will become a welcome byproduct. 

If you're the neon taker in the group, only there with a goal of receiving leads, you're wasting your time. Networking is most productive when it's regularly scheduled event. Show up consistently and participate with enthusiasm. 

Source number nine. Garage sales or online classifieds. It's surprising how many people do a massive purge of stuff as a first step in the process of moving. 

Rather than visit these yourself, find a friend or a family member that loves garage sales and give them a fancy card holder loaded with your business cards. We can contemporize the garage sale lead source. Through several visits to online classifieds, such as Facebook marketplace, next door or Craigslist. 

Again, this will work much better if you have a friend or family member that loves to shop the vintage circuit. This is a true story from June, 2020. My husband purchased a used bicycle through the next door community. When he picked up the bike, the seller informed him he was cleaning out the garage because he and his wife were thinking of selling. 

I asked my husband if he gave them our daughter's card. She's the lead agent on our team, the Ardor group. He said, no. Obviously, he's going to referral detention. And this illustrates the point that the closest people to us will not automatically refer business to us. Unless we ask them to and remind them to and provide the tools scripts and things they need to help them refer business to us. 

So now we've made it to source number 10. 

My personal favorite.  📍 Never eat lunch alone. If you know me personally, I've invited you to lunch. If you are ever asked to join someone for lunch, say yes, fellow agents will share their latest challenges or victories, and you'll learn from their experiences. The better lunch date comes from your sphere of influence. Can you budget for at least once a week, taking someone to lunch that might impact or improve your business? 

Maybe it's your broker or a top agent in the office, a mortgage lender, an attorney, 

or your cousin that you haven't spoken with for months or even years. These are just the tip of the iceberg. So many people would benefit from an hour of dedicated time. 

. Make lunch about them. Be interested in their life and events instead of focusing on an agenda. The law of reciprocation will influence them to ask about you. Wait for it. Be brief and optimistic. You cannot inspire anyone with pessimism. After lunch, send a thank you note with a special line. Validating your conversation showing that you were listening. This is magic in your personal life, too.

 📍 There you have it. My top 10 sources for new business. If you take some agents to lunch, ask them to share their best sources of business. You will find many of them have developed unique and resourceful ways to keep meeting new people. That want to buy sell or invest in real estate.

If you were driving and couldn't take notes all of these sources are outlined in my book real estate common sense available on amazon. Or check out our website  real estate common sense.com that features a calendar of free live workshops as well as other resources. In our next episode we'll cover how to provide value with the buyer consultation. Thank you for tuning in to real estate common sense support for agents launching building or expanding their real estate business i'm your host Lisa Spencer sending love and wishing you success