According to Dan Spencer, managing director of Activate Growth, agents are making prospecting more difficult for themselves than it needs to be.
“There’s this idea that prospecting needs to be this laborious, long-winded grind. If you’ve got the right technique you can short circuit it,” he says.
It starts with mindset
You can influence your prospecting success, simply by adjusting your mindset when asked: What are you feeling about the market right now?
If you feel good, the market is great and there’s plenty of opportunities available, your perception or belief is that if you go out there and prospect (decision) then you’re going to get a return on investment – a listing (result).
“There’s nothing special about an elite agent’s dialogue. It’s their mindset. If you think you are worthy of 10 sales, you’ll decide to do something to get there,” says Dan.
“One of the best sayings I’ve ever heard is ‘Every single home is on the market right now, it’s just the motivated ones that have signs up’.”
Identify your weapons
Prospecting should be governed by your strengths.
“Not everyone is the door knocking guy, or the phone canvasser or the social media whiz. You need to work out what’s right for you and then build around that,” says Dan.
Identifying your weapons is as simple as asking your vendors: Why did you pick me? Their answers will give insight into what you do that is great and separates you from the competition.
Concentrate on those activities, rather than trying to be a jack of all trades.
Work out your call volume
Not every agent can be a 100 calls a day person. You need to figure out your ideal call volume and then increase it over time.
To determine your ideal daily call volume, Dan suggests doing 10 calls at a time and writing down how you feel after each block.
Usually, a pattern emerges where the agent gains momentum and feels enthused after each block, before gradually becoming fatigued. Identify the cell block before you felt your motivation slump and that’s your target.
“That 10-15 calls a day person, can get to 20 just by doing those 10-15 every week and then increasing it gradually. It’s like going to the gym and lifting weights, do it for long enough then you’ll be able to step it up,” says Dan.
80 per cent of winning is just beginning
Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché, but starting is always the hardest part of any challenging task.
“You’re going to be the most motivated to do something when you’re right in the middle of it,” says Dan.
Once you’ve identified your call target, Dan suggests smashing it out first thing: “If there’s a frog on your plate, eat it first”.
“I recommend doing 45-minute call surges at the start of the day. That way they are done and out of the way, freeing up time to do the other important stuff like emails and finding new stock.”
Manage your time (and people) better
Stop defaulting to saying you’re busy, or “I’m flat out”. Everyone is busy. The reality is there are times of the day where you’ve got no time. But there are other times when you do.
The key is to be better at organising other people, not just yourself, says Dan.
“Don’t just tell them, ‘I’ll call you tomorrow’, instead reply back with, ‘Hi X, I’ll tend to that first thing in the morning. Here are the two times I’m available’. Lock it down.”
When it comes to structuring your week, every agent is different, however Dan recommends an even split.
“Saturday, Monday and Tuesday should be for vendor management, admin and selling current campaigns. Then Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are for lead generation and looking for new stock,” he says.
Doing this also creates consistency in your routine, something that all successful real estate agents should be striving for.
