Many sales people have the problem of inconsistent lead generation, which then means inconsistent closing. There are very very few customers that come knocking on their doors for help. The period of slow lead generation is usually the choking point for every real estate salesperson, for any salesperson for that matter, just like how some sharks species have to constantly swim, even while sleeping or in resting states, to keep water moving by their gills, as they do not have fins for this purpose. Like these sharks, you need to keep swimming, lead generating non-stop. Once your lead generation flow stops, your closing consistencies are affected.
There are many different lead generation funnels, first of which is prospecting—using your time, energy and resources to exchange for leads. For example, being physically present to have an opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with a lead, at door knocking, or a show flat. Prospecting is powerful because you have face-to-face contact, physically meeting and directly talking with your potential clients. The plus point of prospecting is that it is a very low cost of lead generation.
Secondly, is via referrals to you. The good thing about referral business is the trust that has already been built between you and your client, even before you meet him or her. However, solely relying on referrals may not be a good idea, because you cannot predict whether you will have six referrals next month, or zero referrals the following month, or if you will have referrals six months down the road. Thus, it usually takes a more seasoned salesperson to establish a strong and reliable referral program.
The third way is marketing. This is more costly, but it allows you the luxury of time, during which you can be sitting down and talking with a client, all while your marketing tactics are running in the background, churning up more leads for you. However, marketing has to be done right to work. It is not just a matter of pumping out ads and calling it a day. Furthermore, it is also difficult to build trust with cold leads, especially when you get all salesperson on your potential clients. In such cases, branding is important to come hand in hand with your marketing. For example, consistently pumping out free content to help your current and future customers gain value will allow them to feel that they are gaining instead of being sold. Of course, on your end your branding methods will be more of a long term commitment. That being said, if your branding and marketing are done correctly, you will have very trustworthy clients, who also have a lot of trust, coming up to you.
So, be sure to take care of your lead generation: prospecting (including referrals), marketing and branding. All the best!
