Most agents know deep down inside that they need to do a better job of prospecting in order to increase business. They know that true long-term sales success is built through the work of looking for new business but they do not do the work. Unlike those agents, if you want to succeed you must provide service to clients once you have acquired them, but you have to acquire them before you can serve them at all. The guy who builds the best mousetrap only has a great mousetrap. He still has to find someone to buy it. Finding someone to buy it is often harder than creating the mousetrap.
Rule one to better prospecting: Schedule a time to do it.
You should schedule your prospecting block for the same time daily. This time should be when you are the sharpest, at your peak performance. For me it was early in the morning. I did my prospecting calls first thing in the morning, because that was when I had the most energy. Your time schedule may be different.
For most of us, including myself, if the prospecting is not scheduled it doesn't get done. The time for prospecting has to be treated as if it were a listing or buyer appointment. None of us would ever think of being late for or skipping either of those. You can't afford to miss a prospecting appointment. The prospecting appointment feeds your listing and buyer appointments. By sticking to your prospecting appointments, you will have many more listing or buyer appointments to work with.
Rule two: Stay the course.
When you get busy -- because you will -- don't stop prospecting. Stay the course. Agents who stop prospecting ride the roller coaster of income: one month, great; the next, nothing. The ups and downs of income are caused by the inconsistency of their prospecting. Resolve today to keep up the momentum of prospecting!
This problem happened to one of my new clients recently. She was doing a fantastic job prospecting, and she created more leads and business than she could handle. She then stopped prospecting. You can guess what happened; she took the big swan dive. We coached her "to raise the bar" instead of stopping what's working. What I mean by "to raise the bar" is to qualify your leads harder. You have the opportunity to select better clients. You have earned the right through your prospecting to work only with highly motivated buyers and sellers. The more motivated people will treat you better, respect you more and do what you say. What a great reward for prospecting! More money and easier people to work with - who wouldn't like that?
Rule three: Don't worry about what you can't control.
Don't worry about the people who are not home when you call. Don't worry about the people who are negative. Don't concern yourself about the best time to call. Don't worry about the conditions of the field - just play. The field conditions are the same for us all. Nobody takes seriously the football coach who says that the rain caused his team to lose -- was it only raining on his side of the field? Focus on what you do have right now. What you have is the person on the other end of the line. Focus on serving this person and seeing if you can solve this person's problem if it's an expired or FSBO. If this is a cold call, or if you are calling someone in your farm, try to connect with the person and check for motivation to sell. If you find someone who doesn't have motivation, move on to the next person. There is a four-letter word successful sales people say all day -- it's NEXT!
To be effective at prospecting you must make a firm commitment to do it daily without fail. It's amazing what a few calls every day will yield after a year. Start today and stay with it. Stay the course through the ups and downs. Don't worry about things that are out of your control. Regular prospecting leads to control of your business and of your income. It frees you to work the schedule you desire. If you need help getting started, give us a call or visit our web site at www.realestatechampions.com. Don't delay -- start today.
