Who’s On Your Radar? | The Zebra Blog

Who’s On Your Radar?

Recently, I did an exercise with a group of agents that stunned even me.  I had an idea of what it would do, but the final results were amazing.

I asked a group of agents to sit down with a blank piece of paper and write out every possible lead they have in their business right now.  Anyone that they’ve remotely talked to about the buying and selling of real estate – whether it’s now, six months from now, or a year from now.

I asked them to think back to every contact, every “hello”, every cup of coffee, every handshake, every business card exchange.

It took the agents a while to do this.  After much contemplation and nail-biting, the agents had their lists – and what lists they were!

Each agent had almost the exact same reaction.  They couldn’t believe how many leads they forgot!

In the days that followed that exercise, I received many emails like this:

“Denise, I need to add this person that I forgot…”

“Denise, I just remembered somebody else…”

“Denise, I was driving home and I remembered this person because I was driving by a certain Starbucks where I had coffee with them…”

The amount of forgetfulness around the leads was amazing.  I had agents in a room that had over $600,000 of potential leads in their business right now.  $600,000 just sitting there waiting to be snapped up!

That’s a huge chunk of change.  And they were concerned about where their next commission check was going to come from!

The lesson here is that you need to have what I call a “Radar List”.  This is the lifeblood of your business.  This is what will keep your business going over the next few months.  You need one starting today.

When you don’t have a “Radar List” in front of you – full of potential clients -you will lose money.  When you don’t know who’s on your “Radar List”, you will lose money.  When you don’t have a plan to help the people on your “Radar List”, you will lose money.

Who’s on your radar right now?  By having your clients on a “Radar List” that you look at every single day, it really wakes you up to the fact that these people need care.

Just because somebody has told you that they’re not buying for six months does not mean that you just put them on the back burner for six months.  Rather, it means that you need to cultivate them carefully over the next six months.  They need to know exactly what’s going on in the market today, next week, next month, and in the months leading up to their six-month mark.

No, you’ve got to grow these relationships up to the point at which they want to buy or sell – not at the point at which they want to buy or sell.  By then, it’s too late.

When you create your “Radar List” for your business, you’re actually saying that these clients matter to you.  You’re affirming that they are important to you.  You’re guaranteeing that you will take care of them.

By creating that list, you also put a very powerful message right in front of your eyes.  That message is very simple:

You have everything it takes in your business right now to make money.

You just have to work it.  You have to build those relationships.  You have to send people great information about what’s going on in the market.  You have to be their real estate advocate and expert.  You’re not doing that if you simply pick up the phone and call them at the six-month mark when they said they’d be ready.

This list is an excellent way to look at yourself, at your business, and at your potential clients.  Look at it today and ask yourself, “What could I be doing differently to help these people make a good real estate decision?”

Being in touch with the people on your “Radar List” is critical.  They are going to be your main source of income so you must treat them well.

I challenge you right now to stop dead in your tracks, grab a piece of paper, and begin writing down your own “Radar List”.  Write down approximately what kind of home, condo, or land that they want.  Write down the approximate price range.

Then, write down the amount of commission you will lose if you do not stay in touch with these clients.  Resolve that starting today, you’re going to pay attention to these people like never before.  Resolve that starting today, your “Radar List” is the most important document in your business.  Resolve that starting today, each new contact you meet will immediately go onto your “Radar List”.

Once you have it, nurture it.  Feed it.  Keep track of it.  Treat it well and it will treat you well.

By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI

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