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Elite sales agents know that the battle to win a vendor’s autograph on the sales authority begins well before the listing presentation.
It is therefore ironic to think that the adrenalin rush and fist pumping normally occurs as agents walk out of a listing presentation with signed authority in hand, with often little thought of what got them there in the first place.
Having the talent and ability to generate leads — i.e. future sellers, and then earning the right to get on those sellers’ “shopping list” — in the first instance should be every agent’s number one priority. Those that utterly understand that lead generation is both an “art” and a “science” are the agents who end up dominating the market.
I refer to lead generation as an “art and science”. Why?
Because lead generation is an “art” as it requires perfection through practice, practical knowledge, creativity and personal skills; while, and as importantly, lead generation is a “science” which has universally accepted principles which when measured and applied are 100 per cent predictable. That assured predictability enables agents to accurately plan a strategy which will help them achieve all their career goals.
Understandably, the “press hard keep the second copy” would naturally be the catalyst for every agent’s dopamine rush, followed in close second place with killer shadow punches aimed at the competition. That “winning” feeling is very addictive and motivating, and when that same exhilaration is felt during the prospecting process, i.e. lead generation, those that master it become literally unstoppable.
Many agents have the misconception that lead generation is about how many people an agent gets to meet, connect with and places names, numbers and emails in a database. While all of this is important, elite status is achieved when more people “know of” the agent, than the agent knows. We call this state omnipresence — the state of being widespread or constantly encountered. Others refer to this state as becoming an “attraction agent”. Reaching this level requires several fundamental rules and laws to be followed; the “art and science” factor which, when applied, guarantees success.
The following are my top three.
- The law of probability. When averaged out, there are approximately three selling agents competing in every service area (or database) for every 1,000 home owners. This interesting law implies that so long as you are active in your area, you have a one in three chance of winning. Looking at the numbers, if your area has a sales turnover of 4.5 per cent, we know that in any given year 45 homes will be sold out of 1,000. If you were the one in three agents and you prospected correctly (and that is a noticeably big “if” for many in our industry), all things being equal, you will sell approximately 15 of those properties. This is pure statistical “science”.
- Delayed gratification. Every agent wants to deal with “now vendors” because, traditionally, most agents are not great at value-added follow-up and communication with those that they have engaged with. The reality is, every listing you secure was potentially another agent’s listing — the agent that sold it to them. This form of lead generation and/or lead nurturing requires creativity, personal skills and patience, just like an artist who must have patience and continually practise to master their craft. This is the “art” of lead generation.
- The personal brand. The revolution of the personal agent brand is often talked about; however, few understand the true value of it. Those that do and invest time and resources to develop it reap the rewards with significant increased volumes of leads. It is a well-known fact that sellers follow agents, not brands or offices. (If you have reservations on this truth, simply go to the major portals and see what the default for the agent search is — agent or office? — noting that portals design their user experience from user feedback. I can already feel some eyebrows being raised!) We are a people-to-people business, and because of it, those agents who place their personal brand front and centre will generate more leads than those that are hidden behind a corporate brand. Personal branding is part “art”, part “science”, and when executed well, accelerates an agent’s ability to generate even more leads.
In conclusion, the above fundamentals will only have an impact when applied. Lead generation requires effort, consistency, investment of time, money and an understanding of which part is “art” and which part is “science”. Those that learn the rules of the game will win and succeed every time.
Manos Findikakis is CEO and co-founder of the Eview Group.
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