The Dirty Dozen
Want to make more home sales? When it comes to the Business of Selling Real Estate here is one of the most important Laws of Sales:
Your results WILL change if you make more contacts – meaning more home buyers and home sellers. Conversely… your results WILL NOT change if you continue to make the same number of contacts.
This is a Law that transcends time. Technology doesn’t change this Law, branding and marketing doesn’t change this Law.
Simply put, a contact is a conversation with a decision-making adult about buying or selling real estate. It really boils down to prospecting or lead generation on a consistent basis.
Here’s a pretty basic DEFINITION of PROSPECTING… contacting people you know and/or people you don’t know and asking for business. To sell more homes you have to make more contacts on a personal basis. The most successful real estate Salespeople focus on making contacts personally rather than relying totally on technology or traditional mailing methods. As Herb Kelleher, the co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines is famous for saying, “The business of business is still people”.
This blog is all about why Real Estate Salespeople don’t prospect successfully, especially on a personal basis… meaning face-to-face or over the telephone…and more importantly…this blog will tell you how to make consistent lead generation happen naturally and comfortably.
There are a multitude of ways of prospecting for real estate leads. Internet marketing, social media, sending out neighbourhood flyers, traditional advertising through print and media, etc. At some point however you do need to solidify the relationship on a personal basis. Sales prospecting on a personal basis requires taking action.
Prospecting
It requires taking some perceived risks – risk of rejection, risk of failure, etc. Consider this concept, John F. Kennedy wasn’t talking about lead generation in his following quote but it certainly applies…
QUOTE – JFK – “There are risks and costs to a plan of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction”
The path of least resistance, the path of avoidance that most real estate Salespeople follow is one of “comfortable inaction”. Often, they are looking for a way to generate sales leads other than the “plan of action” that JFK was referring to. So before we look at the “dirty dozen” let me ask you a couple of tough questions:
What is the cost to you of taking the path of “comfortable inaction”
What is the cost of not prospecting for real estate buyers and sellers on a personal basis and… doing it consistently?
As a longtime real estate sales trainer and Coach, I can tell you that this cost consistently shows up in two ways. Not prospecting dramatically affects your ability to reach your personal goals and secondly, there is a negative impact of equal significance on your self-esteem and your confidence. The long-range costs and risks are very expensive – not an acceptable alternative. Let’s look at some solutions.
Here then are the Dirty Dozen… the 12 most common reasons people do not prospect and more importantly… how to get around each of them:
DD #1. Not Prospecting When Your Schedule Says You Should
Not Prospecting When Your Schedule Says You Should
The real estate Salesperson that says “I’ll just do it when I get around to it. I can’t do it at the same time every day, that doesn’t work for me” is also the Salesperson who doesn’t prospect consistently. Their excuse is to say that their customers need them at different times of the day so they have to be available all the time. That’s being in “react mode”.
The fact is you are in charge of your day. If you’re constantly in react mode then you are constantly at the mercy of everyone else’s whims.
Here’s the basic premise that holds true for all those who are selling real estate…picture this metaphor: Every real estate Salesperson has a large box under their desk made out of heavy wood. It has a thick lid. The box is full of snakes. Yeccchhh! Whenever the box is opened, the snakes get out. You then spend the rest of the day running around trying to get the snakes back in the box. This is dealing with the urgent and not the important.
SOLUTION — start making your Prospecting a top priority item…make it highly important. The simplest way to make sure you get your prospecting done every day is to do in the morning. Don’t fight it, and don’t make up excuses by saying no one is home in the morning. If necessary, you can still allocate a couple of late afternoons or early evenings each week to do some lead follow-up on your home buyers and sellers without forfeiting your morning commitment. Block off every day from 9 AM to 12 noon and you will find you have solved your problem.
Here is the most effective way to look at your time management…“The mornings are for lead generation, the afternoons are for lead servicing”. Those who prospect consistently do it in the morning. The danger is this…if you don’t do it early in the day before the “snakes get out-of-the-box” it will never get done. Procrastination sets in. Start with this basic premise and you’re well on the way to handling the next 11 Reasons Why Most Salespeople Don’t Prospect.
DD #2. Not Spending the Full-Time You Have Allotted for Daily Lead Generation
Not Spending the Full-Time You Have Allotted for Daily Lead Generation
There is a critical equation in the Business of Selling Real Estate. This equation says that your Activities must be equal to your Goals. It’s part of a process I call “The Success Cycle”. Therefore, if you want to sell 30 homes in a year then you must conduct an equivalent amount of activity to make that happen.
Here’s an example…If you set a listing appointment every 75 contacts and you need to go on 3 appointments per month then you must make 225 contacts every month to make it happen. Less contacts equals less listing appointments… more contacts equals more listing appointments. Simply put, if you don’t make your 225 contacts every month, you won’t go on 3 appointments. It doesn’t add up to success.
I had a Coaching Client several years ago who wanted to sell 35 homes in 12 months. A reasonable request. Her preceding highest production was 16 home sales in a year. When we worked out the numbers of contacts she needed to make each day (Activities) to reach her 35 transactions (Goals) she said she wasn’t able to do that but still wanted the 35 sales.
Not surprisingly, she failed. Your activities must add up to your goals. Bottom line: you have to put the time in so that your real estate lead generation activities match your overall home sales goals.
SOLUTION — follow a two-step process here. First of all, calculate the number of contacts you must make on a daily basis to reach your overall target. This may take a little time – it really boils down to the # of total contacts made divided by the # of deals completed.
Step #1. Get your real estate sales coach to help you work this out. You can experiment with this equation and eventually you will typically arrive at needing somewhere between 50 – 100 contacts per transaction. From there you can calculate the # of contacts necessary per day. Use an average of 220 – 240 days prospecting for home buyers and home sellers per year.
Step #2. Secondly, let’s say you arrived at a minimum target of 25 contacts per day, 5 days a week. A very reasonable level of prospecting. That would typically take 2½ hours every morning to complete. An average of 10 contacts per hour is quite doable.
The initial challenge is that doing 25 contacts per day right from the start could be somewhat overwhelming, especially if you’ve only been averaging 8 contacts per day. The best approach then is to take on the challenge the same as if you were training for a marathon. You have to build up your “prospecting muscle”.
I have numerous Coaching Clients that we started at 10 contacts per day and added 1 contact per day progressively until they reached the minimum standard of 25. The second day would be 11 contacts, the third day would be 12 contacts, etc. (10+1+ 1+1+1, etc.). Build up your “prospecting muscle” progressively. Your stamina will increase and so will your results!
By taking this approach it will be easier for you to reach your overall targets. Never lose sight of this common sense equation. When your Activities = your Goals you’re well on the way to success.
DD #3. Not Using a Script… Just Winging It
Not Using a Script… Just Winging It
Make no mistake… this is the most common error made by real estate Salespeople.
The reason that a screenplay is written for movies and Broadway shows is so the message is communicated to the audience in its most effective and compelling fashion. The director, the producer, the screenwriter, and the actors all come together to present a story that transports the audience to where they want to go. For the message to be meaningful, the story must be told the right way, using the right words.
Many Salespeople avoid this approach and just wing it. The result is too many words and not nearly as effective a message. The most common complaint is “That’s not me, I want to sound natural – I don’t want to sound scripted”. Of course not, no one does.
That path is the very same reason that screenplays are written. Once the practicing is done then the delivery offers the best of both… a natural style said in the most convincing and helpful fashion. (IE: a great message delivered convincingly)
There’s lots of reasons why most real estate Salespeople take the opposite approach…ego, lazy, fear of rejection, lack of commitment, lack of professionalism, not wanting to put the effort into practicing, etc. This then generates poor results from prospecting for buyers and sellers which ends up in less prospecting being done.
SOLUTION – don’t worry, actors don’t deliver the lines in their final format the first time they read a script. Considering they are taking on a role completely unnatural to themselves, they too have to practice so that it “sounds like me”. The same holds true for all Salespeople.
You need real estate scripts for buyers, sellers, prospecting, objection handling, and closing. It doesn’t mean you do not know how to communicate already… it just means that there will invariably be a better way to communicate so you can help your homebuyer and home seller accomplish their goals.
Once you practice a script that has been proven thousands of times to be effective then you too will deliver it in a compelling fashion. The reason the top real estate Salespeople are so effective is because they because they get results from what they say.
This comes from practice. There is no shortcut to mastering your real estate sales scripts. When you practice you will get better results and consequently you will be more comfortable doing even more prospecting. One feeds off of the other. A definite win – win.
In order to be an effective lead generator, you must “practice your lines” over and over. Have a look at the “All the Right Words” Scripts and Dialogs Package to help you with not only what to say but how to say it. Learn how to handle objections, set appointments, and close with a signature comfortably. You can listen to the recordings in your car or while you are exercising.
One last tip that really helps…post your favorite scripts on the wall in your office and even bring them with you when you are prospecting or on appointments. Even now after all these years of real estate sales Coaching and selling real estate, I keep them handy. Trust me, your customers aren’t watching you to see if you’re using a script. As far as they’re concerned, it’s just a questionnaire that you are filling out.
DD #4. Not Closing for a YES When One Is Available
Not Closing for a YES When One Is Available
Have you ever talked to a potential buyer or seller who rejected you for what seemed to be a logical reason (“Not the right timing, too much money, have to get the house ready, etc.”) only to find that out they did business with someone else shortly thereafter?
Pretty frustrating when you think back to what they said and then apparently changed their minds. The real frustration comes from thinking to yourself that, “I must have missed something there, what could I have done differently?” Apparently there was a YES there even though it didn’t seem so at the time—after all, someone else did show them a way to get started earlier.
SOLUTION – the key is to understand the difference between an objection and a condition. Here’s a simple different differentiation for you:
A Condition is something you can’t do anything about (“We can’t sell our house and move until Martha retires” or “It will be a few months until Fred gets all the painting done”)
An Objection is something you can do something about by having the right answers on the tip of your tongue (“We already have an agent” or “We’re going to sell it ourselves”)
The home seller believes it is a NO because there’s a condition that prevents them from moving forward when really it’s only an objection. Your job is to help them realize that what they believe is a condition is really only a real estate objection. That’s where you come in and that’s where you can help them list and sell their home. Now you can close for a YES when one is available.
Example from “All the Right Words”: We have to get the painting done first. “Mr./Mrs. Seller… let’s do this, I don’t mind. Let’s set aside 15 minutes for me to come over and look at your situation. If we can get your home on the market and get it sold while Fred is finishing up the painting, it quite possibly could work in your favor.
We might even be able to sell your home for more money. Let’s set an appointment. I could see you today at four o’clock or tomorrow at 5 PM which would be better for you?”
Oftentimes what they think is a condition is really only an objection. Work on your skills in this area and recognize that you are the expert and even though they don’t know it yet, you are the solution. It’s your job to help them work around it. There’s always a powerful objection handler available to help them make the right decision.
DD #5. Stopping After the 3rd or 4th Question As You’re Not Feeling Comfortable with Their Responses
Stopping After the 3rd or 4th Question
Have you ever spoken to someone as you prospect for sales leads and before you got very far into your conversation they responded with “We’re not moving” or “No plans for us right now”? If you take their initial answer at face value it would be easy just to say, “Okay, thanks very much” and move on.
Critical Point…The challenge is you didn’t get past something I call their “reflex NO”. Definition: The “reflex NO” is the automatic response that everyone has when first asked a personal question. In reality, you didn’t get far enough into the conversation to know whether they are moving or not.
Here’s why…
Think of what happens when you walk into a store. The clerk comes up to you and asks “Can I help you?” Invariably your response is… “No thanks, just looking”. Now that’s not necessarily the case – you might know exactly what you were going to buy. You’re planning on buying that yellow sweater on the rack on the left.
The fact is you need to get more comfortable in the surroundings before you make your buying decision. Your response is another example of the “reflex NO”. Once you get comfortable (it usually only takes a minute or two) then you will move forward and make your purchase.
This is exactly what happens when you talk to a potential home buyer or seller for the first time and there is no rapport. They’re not comfortable with you yet and they’re not quite ready to share personal information. There’s a simple way to get past the “reflex NO”.
SOLUTION – this is exactly why you need to stick with all the questions in your script. You need to help your prospect get comfortable with who you are and that you just might have something of benefit to offer them. It comes from asking ALL the planned questions in a pleasant and conversational fashion.
For example: If you are using a Just Listed or Just Sold script you need to go through all 6 questions until you get to the stage where you are asking them a second time about moving (“I understand and I’m curious…If you were to move, where would you go next?” and “And when would that be?”).
Of course this doesn’t imply that everyone is holding back on you. Most of the people you speak with do not need your services right now. Regardless, by sticking to your script you will probe a little deeper and identify those home buyers and sellers who are moving in the next little while. They are there!
The key is to make sure you don’t give up on the first refusal. When you ask all the questions, you give them a chance to get comfortable with you. It doesn’t take long. Ask all the questions in your script. Get past that “reflex NO” and you will generate more leads from your prospecting. No shortcuts.
DD #6. Allowing Interruptions to Throw You off Track
Allowing Interruptions to Throw You off Track
I have done numerous Real Estate Sales Seminars where I’ve asked the audience for a show of hands in response to the question… “Who loves to prospect?” No one ever puts their hand up, the truth is that ongoing lead generating isn’t a lot of fun. It’s only fun when someone sets a listing appointment with you or you come across a brand-new home buyer lead.
The fact is it is a “numbers game” as outlined in DD #2 above. The most effective way to win the numbers game is to not let any interruptions throw you off track. Sometimes that’s difficult to do, especially when you’re really not that thrilled about prospecting some mornings. Don’t beat yourself up, that’s just human nature. The key is to move past your resistance.
There’s no shortage of interruptions, is there? It’s like taking your dog for a walk and expecting him to stay by your side when he spots a squirrel 25 feet away. Bang… he’s gone! You can’t afford to be “chasing squirrels“ every time one shows up.
There was a study done at Microsoft headquarters with 100’s of employees (“A Diary Study of Task Switching and Interruptions” by researchers Mary Czerwinski and Eric Horvitz) that arrived at the following two conclusions:
When interrupted, it took the average employee 20 minutes to get back to the original task at hand
When interrupted, 40% of the employees never got back to the original task!
Conclusion: Interruptions will dramatically erode your productivity, especially when prospecting for real estate leads.
SOLUTION – stop looking for excuses – stop looking for “that squirrel” that would give you a more appealing activity than prospecting for home buyers and sellers every morning. As pointed out in the introduction at the start of this blog, John F. Kennedy used to refer to that as “comfortable inactivity”.
There is significant motivation to do your prospecting every day. There is a big price to pay if you’re not lead generating consistently. Focus on that motivation. Refer back to your personal goals every morning before you start. It will help you sell more houses. Read them out loud or even write them out – it won’t take you more than five minutes each morning. Also have a Dream Board or a Vision Board with inspirational pictures in your prospecting station that you can look at to keep you pumped up.
Remember why you are doing this. Remember why you are working so hard and staying on track. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not prepared to do. Don’t let interruptions get in the way of your daily schedule. There is a price to pay but is dramatically less than the alternative price of failure. Be one of the exceptional ones, just being average doesn’t pay much.
BONUS POINT… get some tough accountability in place. Get someone to “hold your feet to the fire” it makes it much easier to succeed and be your word.
DD #7. Not Remaining Focused As You Make Your Calls and Contacts
Not Remaining Focused As You Make Your Calls and Contacts
First of all, do not confuse this with DD #6 above. This challenge is all about being effective by staying focused when you are prospecting for home buyers and sellers. If ever you’ve been You have to pick your spots…around a neighborhood or telephoning a street you will remember there is a certain rhythm that you develop. This rhythm not only affects your confidence but it impacts your productivity in an exciting way. You develop a natural momentum and that is what your customers and prospects see, hear, and feel. You are more effective, more compelling, and you move through the tasks more smoothly and quickly.
If you have ever seen a jogger running the streets in a city, think of what they do when they come to a red light. They have to stop but they don’t stop jogging… they run on the spot. This is because they don’t want to break the rhythm they have created, they don’t want to get into a start/stop/start/stop mode.
It’s the same for you when you’re prospecting… you can’t afford to lose your focus as a result of inbound calls, social media, multitasking, people dropping by your office, etc. This is admittedly hard to do… it would be easier to stop prospecting and it’s tempting to justify the interruptions. Not a good idea!
SOLUTION – remove all distractions. Turn off your cell phone (not on vibrate… that’s too tempting), close the door so you can’t be disturbed, put up a stop sign, tell the front desk “No inbound calls please until 11:30 AM”, no texting, etc. You must protect your time like a vicious guard dog!
If you are working out of the house you need to come up with a whole new set of rules and “distraction fighters” to allow you to be focused while doing your real estate prospecting and lead follow-up . Let your family know when you are not to be disturbed. No inbound phone calls and no texts unless it’s an emergency.
You should also consider engaging an Accountability Partner or a Coach. Eliminate the words “YEAH BUT” from your vocabulary. Interruptions create frustration. Uninterrupted focus creates amazing results!
DD #8. Not Using Your Energy and Enthusiasm to Persuade People That You Are the Right Agent
Not Using Your Energy and Enthusiasm to Persuade People That You Are the Right Agent
This point is a lot more subtle than you might think. There is an external component of energy and enthusiasm and an internal one…it starts from the inside out.
First of all, beware of “contactitis”… that’s going through the motions without the commitment. Contactitis says “I’ve got to get my 25 contacts in just so I can hit my daily numbers”… it says nothing about creating real estate sales leads and finding home buyers or home sellers who need you.
This is where relying only on “the numbers” can come back to haunt you. Lead generation and prospecting is definitely a numbers game but you are in charge of the results. It’s the effectiveness of your communication that creates the results you’re looking for. This effectiveness is dependent upon your ability to engage others. Dialing 100 numbers and chanting “Do you want to move?” does not get the job done.
SOLUTION — remember that people are attracted to energy. Think of the Broadway Star doing 8 shows a week. They have to be at their best for every single performance. You’re in the same boat. Become an energy magnet.
Every contact you make (plus every listing appointment or buyer showing) is the only performance your contact is going to get from you that day. It’s your energy and enthusiasm that generates positive responses.
You have to pick your spots. There is a factor here of “mirroring and matching” their personality style. You wouldn’t necessarily be as enthusiastic with an 85-year-old widow who needs to sell her house as you would a first-time home buyer. Still, people are attracted to energy. Make sure you are moving them in the right direction.
As described by Michael Port in his best-seller “Book Yourself Solid it’s your job to be “emotionally attractive”. Don’t forget that people will form an opinion of you very quickly. You need to be engaging right from the start.
It’s especially important that you keep your energy up when prospecting. You don’t have to forfeit any of your professionalism because you are upbeat and enthusiastic. It all comes together as one very appealing package for your real estate buyers and sellers. Enthusiasm and energy + professionalism = results.
DD #9. Letting One Negative Conversation with One Person to Feed You for the Rest of the Day
Letting One Negative Conversation with One Person to Feed You for the Rest of the Day
Let’s do a reality check here… if you’re expecting everyone you encounter to be thrilled to hear from you then you shouldn’t be in real estate sales…or any form of sales for that matter. You are going to encounter negative people. There are going to be people who are rude and downright nasty. Some people are flat out abusive.
Lots of Salespeople let this abuse impact everything else in their day. “I’ve had enough of this… I seem to be running into everybody who is in a bad mood. No more prospecting for me today!” I can tell you right now that from all the Coaching and training I have conducted in real estate sales—stopping midstream is yet another form of looking for an excuse to not prospect.
The question really should be… “What did you expect?”. Expect rejection, it comes with the territory. Selling homes can be a tough business sometimes. You need a strong supply of mental toughness on occasion. So how should you handle it?
SOLUTION… this is where the power of NEXT kicks in. Why would you let one negative person have power over your earnings for the rest of that day? This is part of the business of sales – rejection and then more rejection.
If you want an inspirational model to follow, read the “10 Things I Learned from Bill Porter” by Shelly Brady. Bill was a career door-to-door salesperson for the Watkins Corporation for over 30 years. Bill had cerebral palsy… he could barely walk. He was crippled up and his speech was slurred.
Yet day after day Bill trudged door-to-door prospecting for business and selling his products. He was the recipient of a lot of abuse and degradation. He was an amazing man and never stopped until he had made his target for the day. Bill Porter’s mantra was “the next door is my next sale”. ‘Nuff said.
Bonus Suggestion: if you are not a reader then you can watch the TNT movie about Bill Porter starring William Macy… it’s called fittingly, “Door to Door”. Very inspiring.
DD #10. Forgetting That One YES Is All You Need to Make It a Great Prospecting Session
Forgetting That One YES Is All You Need to Make It a Great Prospecting Session
Real estate prospecting statistics show that you can expect a new sales lead approximately every 75 contacts. These numbers will vary by area, experience level, and mindset (see DD #8 above). The problem is you never know when that one lead will show up. It never seems to arrive very early in the process each day. It’s almost like you have to “earn your stripes” before that home seller lead or that home buyer lead arrives on the scene.
Some days you will get 3 leads and other days you’ll get no leads. There is a definite predictability to the results you can expect. Consider these observations:
Predictability #1. Over time everything will even out. If you measure your results for a short time, there will be variations. On the other hand, over a space of 30 days or more, everything will make sense. Consistency creates results.
Predictability #2. No matter how the day has gone so far, when you do get that lead, it always feels like you just won the lottery! This is the opposite of DD #9. There is a parallel here with golf. Golfers don’t remember the 10 bad shots they made, they just remember that one good shot when the ball landed on the green and rolled 3 feet from the cup. It’s selective memory…and that’s good.
It only takes one YES. It makes it all worthwhile when you identify that individual who needs what you have to offer. They are few and far between but never forget that they are out there, and they’re waiting for you.
SOLUTION— have you ever noticed that some of your best contacts are made at the end of your prospecting session? Have you ever asked yourself, what if I had not finished going to the end of the street? What if I had not made those extra five contacts?
It all boils down to sticking to your plan and following through every day. Be sure to establish a minimum standard in your plan each day for your lead generation. This minimum standard should have two components… a minimum number of hours prospected + a minimum number of contacts made.
When you follow this approach you will always end up with enough YES’s to be highly successful in real estate sales. Remember as opera star Beverly Sills said, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going”. Don’t short change yourself… always meet your minimum targets. You will get a lot more YES’s that way.
DD #11. Not Having Your Prospecting Phone Numbers Ready for the Next Day
Not Having Your Prospecting Phone Numbers Ready for the Next Day
Many real estate Salespeople think their prospecting time starts when they are collecting numbers to make their telephone calls. This is wrong. It cuts into your prime time on the phone using your lead generation scripts and dialogs with your real estate sales prospects. There is a painful cost to not having your phone numbers ready in advance.
Look at this simple analysis. If you intend to do lead generation for two hours every morning and then spend the first 30 minutes looking up phone numbers, you have reduced your selling opportunity by 25%. Based on an annual income target of $100,000… that ends up costing $25,000!
Use your primetime wisely. Prospecting for real estate sales leads will always be a major contributor to your success. As discussed earlier, your lead generation should be done preferably in the morning. Get it done and get it out of the way before the rest of the day takes off on you. Brian Tracy explained that beautifully in his short book on time management called “Eat That Frog”.
If your prospecting is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM then that’s when you pick up the telephone or knock on the first door. It’s not when you start looking up phone numbers. That’s just another form of creative avoidance. Two issues… not being prepared in advance breaks up your rhythm AND of course, you won’t make nearly as many contacts.
SOLUTION – 2 rules of thumb to follow here…
#1. Do your prospecting in prime time
#2. Do your preparation in non-prime time – typically at the end of the day. This is just good time management.
If you’ve ever visited a Fire Hall you’ll understand what I mean. The trucks are all shiny and clean and ready to go. All the equipment is in the truck neatly stacked. Notice that the boots for all the firemen/women are lined up beside the truck in a neat row. When the fire alarm goes off everyone knows where their boots are. When the fire alarm goes off it’s prime time. No one is hopping around looking for their left boot because it’s hidden behind some other equipment.
YOUR fire alarm is at 9 AM. It’s wise to get all your prospecting numbers and your real estate your objection handlers and closes ready the night before. A simple solution is to schedule 30 minutes near the end of each day to prepare for the next day. I would suggest between 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM. Use your prime time for prime selling. That’s when you’re at your best!
DD #12. Buying Into Your Own Stories As to Why You Can’t Prospect Today
Buying Into Your Own Stories As to Why You Can’t Prospect Today
All real estate Salespeople have stories. The successful agents have stories as to “why I must do my lead generation on time as scheduled”. Unsuccessful agents have stories as to “why I can’t prospect right now”.
There’s always some made-up justification for why you can’t do what you don’t want to do. That’s not a sign of weakness, that’s just human nature. No point in sugar coating this issue… there is a price to pay for success and there’s a price to pay for failure. As Jim Rohn said so succinctly, “Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons”.
You’ve got to decide if you’re going to pay the price each day or if you’re going to buy into your stories. Here’s some examples that show up with our real estate Coaching Clients…
— Too busy with other stuff
— Don’t know what to say
— Have to work on my files
— My marketing will bring me business
— Who needs it, I’m busy enough
— Can handle the rejection
— Time management is tough
— I’m looking for an alternative approach
— I’m the only one in the office that’s doing this
— Etc., etc., etc.
Do any of these sound familiar to you?
SOLUTION – all these stories are just that… STORIES. There are literally dozens of reasons why people don’t prospect for real estate leads. Let me be blunt here… weaker real estate Salespeople buy into their own stories all the time. Overachievers stick to the big picture – the success strategy that has them prospecting for home buyers and sellers every day… at the same time every day. Cut the fiction out of your life. If you want to go to Fantasyland, go to Disneyland.
There are two main reasons why you must prospect every day…
#1. It will get you to your goals
#2. Because you said you would
Wrapping up this last point… as Olympian Bill Havens said… “Not many people have the strength of character to say NO to what they want in order to say YES to what they need to do”. You have that “strength of character”. Just do it every day.
Make it easy on yourself. Follow a routine and develop the habits necessary to do the same things at the same time every day – five days a week. Once it becomes automatic then you don’t have to fight it anymore and the stories lose all their power. It’s a beautiful place to be!
CONCLUSIONS…wrapping up:
Here’s the good news… pay the price and you will win every time.
Go through these 12 points and pick out the ones that are holding you back. Tackle one of your choices one week at a time. Keep it simple. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
You will be amazed at how smoothly your business will run as a result of following these solutions. Good luck, it’s the first step in becoming the real estate Salesperson we both know you can be. Bruce
Leave a comment below. Which reason did you take on first and how did you solve it?
The post The Dirty Dozen – the Top 12 Reasons Why Most Real Estate Salespeople Don’t Prospect Successfully (& the Solutions for Each) appeared first on Bruce Keith Results.