The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of meeting schedules is forgotten.
- Kathleen Byle, Sandia National Laboratories

Quote of the Day

It’s estimated that the average person will change jobs anywhere from four to seven times during their working years. Sometimes this change just means jumping from one job to another within the same field, but often people are intrigued by the opportunities that lie in another area altogether, and go on to rewarding careers in newly chosen domains. Real estate is an interesting career option for anyone who is looking to start a new and rewarding career at any time in his or her life.

The foundations of a good real estate agent

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not whether a market is hot or cold that will determine your success as a real estate agent. Rather, it is the qualities you possess as a person that will help you to succeed in this business.

Anyone looking to get into the real estate field should have a desire to make people happy, whether you intend to pursue development projects, commercial, industrial, or residential real estate. The lure of the dollar is present in all of these fields, of course, but any agent has to remember that it is reputation and word of mouth more than anything else that will build a career. Whether buyers or sellers, clients will be well aware of your services, and if they know that you are truly working to help them, the rewards will often be a steady business in a market that is hot or cold.

All real estate agents will also need the drive and motivation to be able to work independently. Even those who work for companies will find that their requirements are not the same as they would be in a typical office situation; a lot of the strategy, including time with buyers and approach, is left up to individual realtors. It’s important, then, that a real estate agent is a self starter and committed to his or her own success through hard work.

Training to be a real estate agent

One of the appealing things about becoming a real estate agent, for many people, is that there is unlimited opportunity for success within an area where training is not extensive. Successful real estate agents have as much earning potential as many lawyers, with about six years less formal training. In addition, the opportunity to further your knowledge in the field will never cease, as there are ongoing courses and many changes to real estate laws at the provincial level, of which a successful agent needs to keep abreast.

Real estate is an industry in which more and more people are choosing their second or even third career. A successful agent has unlimited earning potential, and those who are truly “people persons”, self-driven, and willing to work hard will find the career incredibly rewarding.

Don’t Lose Your Leads.

According to National Association of Realtors, most customers contacted only one Real Estate Agent. 61% of Buyers & 63% of Sellers contacted only one agent.

You should alway contact your lead at least 3 times a week, whether you have new information or not. You should treat your customer like your first date. You should contact your customer by phone, mail, e-mail and in person. You should never give up your potential customers until they give up or file a restraint order against you. Just kidding.

Statistically speaking, most consumers perceive all Real Estate Agents to be pretty much alike, or assume one Real Estate Agent is probably just about as good as the next. We know that not all Real Estate Agents are created equal. But Consumer’s perception is all that counts.

So what’s the good news for Real Estate Agents? As long as you contact your leads consistently and if you don’t make huge mistakes, you’re in very good position to make a transaction. Don’t give up your leads. Real Estate is business of leads.

There are many different ways to generate your own real estate leads, it’s just a matter of being creative. Of course, there are the traditional ways: referrals from past clients, subscribing to a lead generation service, and putting contact forms on your own website are all great ways of generating real estate leads. You may want to dig a little deeper though.

The first rule to being a good agent is realizing that real estate leads are EVERYWHERE YOU GO. And I do mean everywhere. You should make it a goal to tell a certain number of new people a week about yourself and the fact that you’re a real estate agent. Stopping at a convenience store for a quick bite? Strike up a conversation with the cashier or the person in line behind you. Give them your business card. So what if they wind up throwing it out, you still made the connection. Were you recently invited to a wedding? Don’t be afraid to take some business cards along and start networking and collecting those real estate leads like they’re baseball cards. Don’t forget to hit up the bride and groom – they may be shopping for their starter home within the year.

Don’t be afraid to send mailings, post fliers, do whatever you can to get your name and face out there and the real estate leads will come. Come up with an idea for a contest or promotion – perhaps everyone who submits their information on your website will be put in a drawing to win a $100 gift card from Target. Or the first 20 people to sign up for your newsletter will receive a $10 gift card tot he store of their choice. Even for real estate agents, the age old adage is true: you have to spend money to make money.

There are hundreds of agents out there who want your lead’s business. It is up to you stand out and become unforgettable to your real estate leads. After all, if you’re not unforgettable, you WILL be forgotten. Giving away free things (especially something free that might have your logo on it) is a great way to be memorable.

Another great way to accumulate your own real estate leads is to party! That’s right, throw a party. If you’ve had at least 10 clients, you might want to think about throwing an inexpensive barbecue and invite all your past clients with the provision that they must bring at least one friend or family member for you to meet. To add even more incentive (though free food is usually enough incentive for me!) you may want to think about doing a raffle or something. Any of the guests of your clients can fill out their contact information and be put in a drawing to win a $50 gift card or some such thing. Do that and *poof*, instant real estate leads.

The fact is, real estate leads can be cultivated ANYWHERE. All it takes is telling someone what you do and handing them a business card. That right there is a potential real estate leads – of course, getting their contact information in return makes it all the better. Be creative when you’re thinking about how to increase your real estate leads – don’t do the same things over and over again, and try and be as innovative as possible. Just remember: real estate leads are EVERYWHERE – you just have to look.

Sometimes even the best real estate agents and brokers need a reminder of the basics when turning real estate leads into clients. Though the basics seem like simple skills on the surface, they are the building blocks of a strong business.

I am often surprised how many agents don’t have an effective plan for acquiring real estate leads, following up with their real estate leads and then nurturing their real estate leads to become future clients. Too many agents are simply stumbling over real estate leads and crossing their fingers in hopes that the lead will pick them for representation with their future real estate transactions.

With the dramatic increase of licensed real estate agents in the past few years, it is more important that ever that real estate agents are memorable to their real estate leads. According to the National Association of Realtors, their membership increased from 766,560 in 2000 to 1,265,367 last year. And that is just Realtors. You do not have to register with NAR in order to be a real estate agent, only to get the designation of Realtor. These numbers are enough to prove that if and agent wants to get anywhere with their real estate leads, they better stand out in the crowd. The best way to do this? Effective and creative follow-up! It goes back to learning applying the relatively simple skills involved in sales, marketing and customer service and adding your own creative flair to get your real estate leads to notice you.

Let’s get back to the basics and thing about what really defines the term ‘Real Estate Leads.’ The definition of a lead is a consumer that is interested in possibly using your services either now or in the future. It’s as simple as that. There are different types of real estate leads of course, buyers, sellers, for sale by owners, refinancing, etc. Real estate leads can come from various sources, direct mailing, contact through your website, from an open house.

Another way to think of your real estate leads are as clients. Start your follow up with the mindset that the lead will be your client. Real estate leads are clients until they become contractually obligated to another agent or sales person providing the same service as you are.

Many agents rate their real estate leads as cold, warm or hot, depending how far into the real estate process they are. It is important to keep in mind that at one point, even a hot lead was kind of cold, even if you didn’t know about it! Cold real estate leads lead to hot real estate leads. Of course, many agents cast off hundreds of real estate leads a year because they consider them “bogus.”

If nothing else, real estate leads will almost always give a current address along with the fake name they may leave, simply because that is the property they need information on. You can’t be afraid to do a little detective work and dig a little deeper if you want to be constantly converting your real estate leads into contracted clients.