Lead Generation: Essential to Your Business | The Zebra Blog

Lead Generation: Essential to Your Business

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, it’s impossible.  Inevitably, you wake up one day and you’re out of business.  Nothing in your pipeline.  No income.  No hope.

Why?  How did this happen?  What did you do wrong?  I know it’s a scary thought, but many agents wake up to this realization one morning and begin to panic.

If only they had beefed up one area of their businesses, they wouldn’t be having this problem at all.  They could have avoided the panic and stress of being in this position.

What is that one neglected area?

Lead generation.

The reality of being a real estate agent is that lead generation is so incredibly important to your business.  Yes, THAT important—meaning that without it, you don’t even have a business.

Don’t let the above scenario happen to you.  If it’s beginning to sound familiar, then it’s time to master the art of lead generation.

When you’re a great lead generator, the pipeline is ALWAYS full—no matter the state of the market.  You are a busy agent regardless of what’s happening in the world.

Many agents, however, fool themselves into believing that they can run their businesses 100% on referrals.  While this is a wonderful long-range plan, the reality is more challenging.

Sometimes, even if you have a healthy database, nothing is happening.  You look at your huge list and say to yourself, “What’s going on?  Nobody wants to move right now.  And their friends and family don’t want to move right now!”

It happens.  There are times when your list is just happy where they are.

So what do you do when their timing just doesn’t match up with your timing?  You certainly have to do something. That something is lead generation.

Lead generation is one of the top two neglected areas in a real estate agent’s business.  (The other is follow-up with current clients.)  It is a core component, a foundation, a strong base.

The key to doing any kind of lead generation on a consistent basis is understanding who you are, what you are capable of, and what you are best suited for.  Lead generation should match your personality.

For example, let’s say you love people.  You love starting conversations with strangers.  You love asking questions.  If this describes you, then your lead generation should be done in person.

What if you’re more of a problem solver?  Maybe you do a lot better when clients come to you with challenging issues.  Then, you’re the type of person who needs lead generation done by mail or advertisement.  That way you spark the interest in your expertise by reaching out through print and other media.

What if you’re the competitive type?  You love the thrill of the hunt.  You’re a go-getter.  That kind of personality does very well on telephone campaigns.  If this describes you, then you know the excitement of making a bunch of calls to find out how many people you can convert to want to work with you.

What if you’re the research type?  You love statistics.  You thrive on numbers.  You can’t wait to get your hands on reams of data.  For this person, lead generation should be done with a great research plan followed by a great targeted niche marketing campaign.

Whatever your lead generation style, you simply cannot get away from doing lead generation in today’s competitive real estate environment.  Not only is the environment competitive, but it’s different.  Today’s consumer wants an EXPERT in real estate—someone who truly knows what they’re doing.

The beauty of lead generation is that you can target these people.  You can tailor campaigns for exactly the kind of client you want.  That’s what makes lead generation so effective.

If you’re not doing lead generation, then you need to start today.  Get out there.

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

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