Reverse Prospecting: A Proven Way To Generate Leads, Quickly

Last weekend, I used reverse prospecting to attract 17 new warm leads to me and my business at a street fair. We’ll talk about how I did that more later.

Do you hate Cold Calling, Door Knocking and being Salesy?

Me too!

Okay, so how do you prospect then? I use reverse prospecting!

What Is Reverse Prospecting?

Reverse prospecting is a form of attraction marketing.

It is when you offer value, education or information and people raise their hand to say I want that, or I need to know more. They are effectively self-identifying themselves as a really warm lead. For me, these are the types of leads I want to work with. The ones who say I want information on buying or selling.

How Do You Implement Reverse Prospecting Into Your Business?

Here are 5 steps to help you get started:

1. You need to know who your ideal client is. This isn’t forever… it is for the purpose of whatever advertising you are doing. Every single time you sit down to attract someone to you… you need to ask yourself… who am I trying to attract?
2. Where are they hanging out? Where are your ideal clients hanging out? Where can you share your information that will attract them to you?
3. What is their problem? This is one of the most important things to consider… you need to be in your clients heads. What are they struggling with? How are they feeling about the problem?
4. What is your solution to their problem or perceived problem? What can you create(pdf, training, pamphlet) to help solve the problem?
5. How can you attract them to you with that information?

How I Attracted 17 Leads In 1 Day Using Reverse Prospecting

I was offered the opportunity to have a booth at a street fair. I had only ever done a booth for selling products before.

This would be a booth to advertise my real estate company. Since there were no sales to be had at the booth, I really had to dig in to figure out how to attract people. I decided to offer a “Welcome Home” Gift Basket Giveaway.

I knew I didn’t want to talk to everyone about buying and selling… because that is not aligned with what I do. I only wanted to talk to those people who wanted info. I also knew that not everyone is eager to sign up for drawings because they are used to then being contacted to sell them something.

So, I had to figure out how to attract only those who wanted to know more about buying or selling real estate. It took some digging and asking myself the questions above. Mainly, who am I trying to attract, and what is their problem?

Then I offered information to be sent after the event. I offered things like a first time home buyer cheatsheet, home buying info, a free CMA, foreclosure info, off market property info… but the genius was adding the final box… -None- I’m just here for the gift basket.

The Results

Out of 53 sign-ups, 36 said I am only here for the gift basket. Cool, you will only be called if you win(I did leave everyone in for the drawing). The other 17 though, those are warm leads who want me to send them information!

16 future homeowners and 1 seller asked for information. That is a little over 30% of the people wanted more information. Several of them asked for multiple things to be sent to them. I find these people to be better than warm leads… they are motivated!

How You Can Do The Same For Your Business

So now, let’s look at some different ways you can employ this powerful technique in your business on a day to day basis.

In my business, I love assisting first time home buyers. I tend to use a lot of social media posts to attract leads to me, mainly Facebook and FB Groups.

Attracting First Time Homebuyers (FTHB)

In order to attract FTHB, I consider what most people think when it comes to their situation and the possibility of buying a home. I know from talking to many many FTHB, over the 20 years I’ve been in business, that most are concerned that they can’t get approved because of credit or they don’t have enough money saved to buy a home.

So, I talk about these two issues in a number of ways. I may do a post in a FB Group talking about the minimum credit score to get approved for a loan. Or maybe, I will talk about down payment assistance programs available in our area and the requirements. Sometimes, I offer a free list of 13 expenses they should be aware of when buying a home. Other times, I will offer FTHB classes or Q&A sessions.

A Note On Sellers

Let’s talk a little about sellers. In my rural area, there are many times that there just aren’t the right types of homes for all of my buyers.

In that case, I will set out to attract sellers. Now, this is a little harder. With reverse prospecting though it is easier than cold calling or door knocking! In this case, I advertise my assets, my buyers. This can be as simple as saying please help me, I have a buyer looking for a 3Bd, 2Ba house in this price range and this area, with these amenities. The last time I did this I attracted 9 sellers for my buyer to choose from. These were all off market, or FSBO homes.

The last thing I want to remind you about is, this is your business. You don’t have to do things that make you uncomfortable. You likely got into this business, at least in part, for the flexibility, or at least it’s a nice perk. So, be flexible in your approach. Give yourself grace and peace! Do things your way, you will love your business much more and things will get easier.

Article By

Cori Perez, MBA
Designated Broker/Coach
YV Wine Country Properties

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