How To Generate More Listing Leads – 5 Simple Tricks

5 Tips On How To Generate More Listing Leads (Start Implementing Today!)

Let’s review 5 simple guidelines that will help you generate more listing leads almost effortlessly. Perhaps some of these are tips you have heard before… but the question is, are you doing what you know you should?

1. Pass Out Your Business Card (to Everyone You Meet)

A few weeks after I became a REALTOR®, I pulled into a Jack in the Box to order a not so nutritious lunch. As was typical for me back in those days, I was on-the-go and eating lunch at what should have been dinnertime.

When the drive-thru window worker handed me my sack of goodies, I handed her my business card in exchange. She thanked me, and I went on my merry way.

The following week, I received a call from a gentleman who had identified a property in which he was interested and wanted me to show it to him. Since it was not my listing, I asked how he had heard about me. He answered frankly, “Oh, you gave your card to my sister… she works at Jack in the Box.”

Well, I showed him the house, he liked it, and he bought it. I made an easy $6,000 (enough to buy many burgers and fries).

About 18 months later, he decided to sell and buy another home… and guess who he called? You betcha.

I earned more than $10,000 from this client by simple handing out my card to a random stranger.

Business cards are cheap. Give them away.

I spend $69 for 5,000 cards, full color on both sides (that is only $13.80 per thousand), and I go through about 15,000 per year.

Don’t be shy or stingy! Generate more business by giving away your card to every person you meet!

2. Wear Your Name Tag

I am still surprised at how many agents do not wear their name tags or REALTOR® pins. YES, I realize that you may think wearing a name tag is somewhat… well, corny; but the truth is, your name tag can be a fantastic conversation starter. Since you are constantly in the business of lead generation, you need every angle possible.

Wear your name tag on your off time. When you go to the movies, out to eat, to a club or school function, to a game, grocery shopping, etc., put your tag on! 

Perhaps there are a few places wearing a name tag would not be appropriate (you may not want to wear it to church), but for most every place else, wear it!

3. Ask for Business

This tip is so basic it almost sounds silly. Ask and you shall receive. It’s true.

Perhaps you have not because you ask not.

I obtained more than 20 listings during my first 74 days in the business. 

From that point on, I have listed an average of 100+ homes each year with only a part-time assistant and one or two agents on my team.

Agents are constantly asking me how I get so many listings. The answer is simple. I ask a question and then make a statement: Are you thinking about selling? List with me!

I generate many listings because I ask people to list with me. 

This is so unbelievably simple that it actually works. The fact is, even though people know you are in real estate, for whatever reason, it may not occur to them to call you when they are ready to buy or sell.

As hard as it is on my ego, I have come to understand and admit that unless I constantly remind folks of what I do and then ask them for their business, they are likely to forget about me when it comes time for them to buy or sell.

Nothing bruises my pride more than finding out that a family member or friend has engaged in a real estate transaction without requesting my services.

Oftentimes, folks who draw a bi-weekly paycheck do not think about the fact that you work on commission, and if you have never directly asked for their business, they may not remember that you are in the business, or that you need business.

The same goes for referrals. Always ask your family, friends, and acquaintances, “Who do you know that can use my services?”

4. Keep in Contact

About 40 percent of the homes I listed each year throughout my career were previously expired listings.

When I interview potential clients, I always ask them what they liked most and least about their previous agent. Hands down, what they liked least was the fact that the agent did not keep in contact with them.

Their agent’s lack of contact led them to the assumption that their agent must not have done anything to effectively market their home.

The fact is when sellers do not hear from you, they assume you are not working on selling their home. Surprisingly, most of these same folks genuinely liked the agent they listed with (as a person). They simply loathed the fact that these agents did not stay in contact with them, and they felt as though they had been kept in the dark throughout the selling process.

You need to remain in contact with your current, potential, and former clients. This will undoubtedly have a very positive impact on your real estate practice. 

Past clients who hear from you on a regular basis are much more likely to list with you and/or use you to buy and refer you to their friends. Current sellers who hear from you are more likely to accept your recommendation for a price adjustment, since they can clearly see that you are working hard to sell their property. Prospects who hear from you regularly will more than likely sign with you when it comes time to buy or sell, since the other agents they may have been considering will likely not be in contact with them (statistically speaking).

Of course, we all know how important staying in contact with our clients is, but very few agents invest the time required to do so. As a result, these agents are losing thousands of dollars in referral, repeat, and current business commissions.

Nowadays, there is no excuse for not keeping in contact with clients, especially with the advent of drip email campaigns and other forms of automation.

Consider investing in a good Contact Relationship Managers (CRM) and/or a good VA (Virtual Assistant) to help you with this chore and to allow you to automate the once arduous process of keeping in contact with everyone in your database.

5. Have a Positive Attitude

Having the right mental outlook can never be underestimated.

In fact, this is the crux on which all of the aforementioned guidelines rest. Without a positive outlook, none of these other tips will be intuitive.

Scientists say that some of us (like myself) have more ‘happy’ genes (and more serotonin) than others. Those of a more pessimistic persuasion will have to work harder to conjure up a positive mindset.

Singer/songwriter Steven Tyler said, “Fake it until you make it.” This is sound advice for those who do not possess a natural inclination toward optimism.

Today’s consumers are becoming more and more savvy.

As a top listing agent, you are often competing with other top agents and discount brokers. This means that you must have a high conversion rate. Your conversion rate is the percentage of prospects that you can successfully convert to active clients.

I recommend that you strive for a 70% or higher conversion rate. This means that if I go on 10 listing appointments, you will obtain no less than 7 listings. 

It is my firm belief after years of practice and study, that if you project positive ‘energy’ during the consultation that the prospect will actually become convinced that you can deliver what you promise.

Projecting this positive energy during the listing appointment is absolutely critical.

Although I am a believer in memorizing scripts, object handlers, and presentation, I discovered that the key is not as much what you say (although this is very important) but how you say it and the confidence (not arrogance) projected that reaps results.

The positive energy you project revs up the potential client and gets them excited about listing their home with you and pricing it to sell.

Whenever I am going up against multiple agents and am awarded the listing (which is most of the time), I ask my clients why they chose me. Overwhelmingly, they say it is because I was the only agent that assured them that I would in fact sell their home. I never tell them ‘I’ll try’ or ‘Let’s see what happens.’ I tell them, “I WILL sell your home. List with me and consider it sold!”

Your job as a sales professional is to persuade the seller that you can and will get the job done.  You must absolutely convince your prospects that their home is salable, and that YOU are the ONE who can get it sold. If they have even a shadow of a doubt with the other agents they interview and complete confidence in you, they will list with you.

With the right mental outlook, you can go, be, and do almost anything. 

If you do not already possess this quality, practice.

Try smiling, even when you do not feel like it. Think positive thoughts! Instead of worrying about a possible negative outcome, imagine yourself with the listing already in hand. Do not worry about going up against other accomplished agents in a bid for the listing; make those agents worry about going up against you!

When you arrive at a listing appointment, psych yourself up BEFORE you get out of the car. Believe that you WILL get the listing.

Above all, you must believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, others won’t. Henry Ford said it best: “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, [either way] you’re right.”

I encourage you to implement these 5 simple guidelines so that you too can generate more (free) listing leads with almost no additional effort.

Knolly Williams is an Author, Trainer and National Speaker. Knolly provides free tips and training at www.SuccessWithListings.com