Feature Article cont. if you’re talking to Darryl, you’re in good hands. He’s the best agent in the market.” Now, I do the same for you. You go in, you can’t close, so we send in the other agent. One hand washes the other. You like that?
7. The investor ad. You put an ad in the paper and you have prospects call you. Here’s what it would say: Homeowner / investor looking for three / four bedrooms in (whatever market you work). Isn’t that great? I mean talk about passive prospecting. Put the ad in and let them call you. Now, somebody who is a FSBO or maybe just thinking about selling, might see your ad and call.
8. Get 15 devoted people. Get 15 devoted people. Devoted people might be plumbers, electricians, gardeners, contractors, divorce attorneys, etc. These are devoted people because they are devoted to you and you have to be devoted to them. You have to have your own master list—people that you will always recommend like this plumber, or this electrician. You call them and say, “Here’s the thing. I am very active in real estate. I want to be able to create a relationship beyond what you and I currently have. What I want to do is if anyone needs an electrician, I want to refer you … but here is the fair trade. If you hear of anyone who is thinking about selling, you call me. Now, I plan on doing a big prospecting promotion campaign in the beginning of the year. We are going to put ads out on me with my photo and if you want to share in the promotion of it, I will give you a little title in the ad.”
9. Rental owners. This refers to owners of vacation homes; investors like that. You want to prospect these types of people because they may own several homes, collecting rent—an aggravation they might be willing to unload. I have plenty of agents throughout the country who get a good part of their listings by focusing on just that.
10. Relo companies and the Employee Relocation Council (Worldwide ERC). Of the 360,000 corporate moves last year, this organization was involved in 40-60,000 of them. How this works is that, let’s say IBM wants to move an employee from here to there. IBM hires a relocation company that manages the move and if the seller’s home does not sell within umpteen days, the relocation company buys the house so the move can happen promptly for IBM. It is then up to the relocation company to sell it; otherwise they own a home and lose money. If you build a relationship with a relo company, you can get several listings.
11. Builder accounts. If you can hook up with a builder, you’ve got tons of listings. Here are three ways for you to break into a builder. • If they build subdivisions, ask for just a section. For instance, say they have 50 houses, ask the builder to give you a try in just a section of their lot—say, 10 houses—to market it for them. • Ask them for their old dogs. Old dogs are the ones they couldn’t move. (Don’t call them “old dogs” to the builder!) They have been trying to sell them for a while and they just haven’t moved. Say, “just give me a chance and let me prove myself to you.” They really have nothing to lose. • Offer to do an open house. There is no commitment here. Just do an open house.
12. Do public open houses. This you already know, but it remains a great way to generate prospects and listings.
13. Conduct a farming and self-promotion campaign. These involve work, but are well worth it.
14. Do a mailing. Create a letter or postcard and send it out to your prospects. Now, when you do that, make sure you follow up. Don’t just do the mailing and stop there. Mail to 50 people and a week later cold call those 50 people and ask, “Did you get my mailing?”
15. Have a spotter for FSBOs. You tell a bunch of people—kids are great for this one—“if you find a FSBO for me I will give you $15.00. Just give me the name and number and I will give you $15.00.” Turn the page. Tell the mailman, the garbage man, the gardener/landscaper, bottled water guy, newspaper boy. Find the bird dog, the nosey neighbor. These are your spotters. You should do this right away. Well, I hope you got a tremendous amount of ideas on how to be more effective with your prospecting efforts. If you improve just 10% in prospecting, you will become a stronger agent, a stronger person and you will feel more in control of your career.
So accept the challenge and get to work!
Darryl Davis is the keynote speaker and instructor at the 2013 KAR Convention & Expo in Louisville on September 24-26. Don’t miss these sessions—register now. For over 20 years, Darryl Davis has traveled around the country coaching agents and brokers on how to achieve their Next Level® of success. He is the creator of the nationally acclaimed POWER Program®, the yearlong coaching and training course where Power Agents®, on average, double their production over their previous year. Darryl is a best-selling author, one of the highest rated speakers at the NAR Convention each year, and has a career-curriculum that brings agents from “Rookies to Retirement”. To find out about his training programs and/or speaking availability, please visit DarrylSpeaks.com.
12 www.kar.com