Experiencing Abundance in Your Real Estate Business
It's always intriguing when I hear an agent say that business is slow. What this normally means is that this agent has relied on a particular way of generating leads and this approach is no longer working for them. But they keep doing it anyway.
Many times the approach that the agent has been using to develop new leads is a very reactive one--waiting for the phone
to ring from sign calls, old clients, and advertising. When the market is hot this is all an agent really needs in order to make
a decent living. But when the market changes, continuing with this approach can spell disaster.
When you feel that business is slow for you it's normally a sign that you're not doing enough prospecting. Yes, that's right, the
dreaded "P" word. There's nothing that can have you develop great business over time like consistently getting on the phone and calling people in your territory or walking up and down the streets knocking on doors and talking with them face-to-face.
If you're ever thinking that business is slow in your territory think about this--how many agents are currently working in your
territory? Just make an educated guess. Then after you've come-up with a number realize that all of these agents are currently making a living while working in your territory--right now! And what this means is that they are closing a lot of transactions that you are not involved in as an agent--right in your own territory. So the problem really isn't that business is slow in your territory, it's that you currently aren't closing enough of the transactions that are going down in your territory to make you the kind of money you want to be making. The business is there and being done in your territory, it's just that you're not closing as much of it as you really want to at the moment.
Prospecting is the fastest, least expensive way to generate new business. It takes you from being in a reactive state, hoping
that business comes your way, and puts you in a proactive state, being someone who is taking the bull by the horns and is out there creating your own destiny in your real estate brokerage business every single day. And it truly transforms you from
wherever you are right now into a state of abundance and excitement, too!
Have you ever noticed how prospecting can seem like a less than desirable activity to do when you're thinking about it
beforehand, but then once you've been doing it for 15-30 minutes or so it's much, much more enjoyable than you thought it would be? It's simply one of those little tricks that our mind tries to play on us from time to time. Sort of like the feeling we
sometimes have beforehand about going to the gym and exercising vs. how we really feel once we're there actively doing it.
When you prospect consistently you live in a state of abundance. You do so because you're actively connecting with people who tell you they will be looking to buy, sell, or lease in the coming weeks and months. This translates into opportunity for you. And even though a lot of the people you will come in contact with through your prospecting will tell you they don't have any real estate needs for the foreseeable future, you feel great because you're actively doing what you know is the best thing for you to do to develop your business. And the process of connecting with people in itself brings about great feelings for you. When you're prospecting consistently you find many more leads to work on than you do when you're not prospecting. These are people who will be closing transactions on property in the weeks and months ahead in your territory. And know with certainty that all of these leads will consistently be going to your competition instead of you each and every day that you decide to not prospect.
The more you prospect the more you come across the people who have real estate needs in your territory. These people are always out there for you but you have to be willing to turn over the rocks in your territory in order to find them.
There is always plenty of business out there to keep you earning great amounts of money. The fact that all of your competitors are constantly closing transactions that you're not involved in definitely proves this. You just have to be prospecting enough to dig-up this business for yourself instead of allowing the business to go to your competitors instead.
Time is one of your most valuable assets as an agent. The more time you spend prospecting the less time you'll have to work on the smaller, more marginal transactions. You'll be uncovering so many great leads that you'll simply let go of the marginal leads and won't work on them. But when you're not prospecting very much you'll cling to the marginal leads and work on them like they're the last opportunities left for you on earth.
Here's the true beauty of prospecting consistently:
WHEN YOU'RE PROSPECTING CONSISTENTLY YOU GET TO WORK ON THE TOP LEADS IN YOUR TERRITORY AND THROW AWAY THE MORE MARGINAL ONES.
You can only work on so many deals at one time. So when you're constantly prospecting, digging-up an abundance of leads in your territory every single week, you get to work on the best leads in your territory and throw the other ones away. When you're not prospecting, or are prospecting very little, you can only work on whatever leads fall into your lap. And these leads are normally not very good leads either.
When you prospect consistently you are in complete control of your own destiny as an agent. You uncover and capitalize on many great leads that would otherwise go to your competition, and you toss aside the smaller, less desirable leads once and forever.
Let the other agents talk about how slow business is in your territory. Let them work on the more marginal leads. You know better.
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