Being a real estate agent requires, before all else, a human touch. Real estate can be a difficult industry, as the stakes are very high for both the buyers and the sellers. There must be a sense of trust between you and both the owners and buyers. The job is two-sided, because you have to sell property and do real estate prospecting, to bring in new sales mandates.
To sell or rent goods, it is essential to have a comprehensive portfolio of properties. You will have to bring in new property mandates very regularly, otherwise you will be unable to even start a sale. This article goes through some of the best advice and methods to finding success in real estate prospecting.
What are the various real estate prospecting methods?
1. Follow real estate ads
Identify the best ads
The first method in real estate prospecting is to simply follow the real estate ads of individuals in order to find properties.
Often, because of their budget, individuals try to sell their property themselves, using websites or social media platforms. You should find the most enticing ads and call the individuals who are looking to sell their property.
Our advice:
Go for properties that are priced slightly higher than average market prices: they will more likely be still available when you contact the prospect, making it easier to bring in the property mandate.
Phone prospecting
Nothing is better than an initial phone call for facilitating a sale. It will help you understand the situation, grasp the client’s attention, and create a relationship of trust with them. A successful phone call is essential to bringing in a new mandate!
If you can create a sense of trust with the prospect from the first call, they will be more likely to give you the property mandate over other estate agents.
Trust and a human touch are at the heart of successful real estate prospecting.
Getting exclusive rights on the property
A good way of getting exclusive rights on a property is to sign it for a short mandate. You can extend your mandate at the end of the period, if you show your client that you have made tangible progress in selling their property.
2. Do “conversational” prospecting
The idea is simple: creating a network of trust with people who will end up giving you the sales mandate to their properties. This is a long-term strategy that requires a lot of dedication and empathy. It remains, however, the way to bring in new mandates, especially exclusively.
The method consists in speaking with people in the neighbourhood, especially business owners, to create relations of trust. Do not forget to tell them that you are an estate agent.
You will need to have empathy and the ability to truly listen to people. If these discussions are a pain for you, “conversational” prospecting will surely be arduous and ineffective for you. Never forget that this is only an effective long term strategy.
3. Canvas people with flyers
Canvassing is an essential part of an estate agent’s job. A classic prospecting method is to put flyers in letterboxes.
It is a rather fastidious method with little direct results (there’s a 1 in a 1000 chance of obtaining a property with this method) but it enables you to get your name out in your area and sector.
Whenever a prospect will want to sell their property, they may remember you from your flyer and contact you. Make sure to work on your agency’s image, as this will bring prospects in the long term.
4. Make the most of word-of-mouth
Satisfied clients are often a salesperson’s biggest asset! These clients are very likely to recommend you or seek you out for another mandate.
Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth! During slower periods, you should call past clients and check in on them. This will make them happy, making it almost certain that they will contact you when they need to give a mandate to an estate agent.
Also, make sure to leave your business card with satisfied clients. They may use it to recommend you to their friends and family.
Our advice:
We do not recommend going through a syndicate. The relationship between an estate agent and owner is based entirely on trust, and syndicates often have a very bad reputation among owners and tenants in buildings. We recommend you go for direct estate prospecting!
Having the right tools to follow mandates with noCRM
It’s not enough to just know the best estate prospecting methods! You need a good tool to keep a trace of your prospects and not forget any follow-ups, in order to contact clients at the best time.
noCRM is a very useful tool for real estate prospecting, as it lets you:
- Automatically fill your contact list with tools to follow new ads. Using a tool to follow ads lets you send them to noCRM and thus have potential available sales mandates.
- Quickly create new leads and prospects within the software, with whichever information you want. If you still don’t have all the information about an owner or their property, you can still create a lead.
- Have a trace of all the prospects you have contacted. This will let you know which method (call, email, etc.) you have previously used with a prospect, so you can continue the conversation where you left off.
- Define reminders for prospects via email, phone calls, etc.
- Efficiently deal with past clients. You can set up regular reminders, keeping up communication and maintaining the relationship of trust.
Our advice:
Remember as much as you can about conversations you have had with prospects and write it all down in your CRM. Once you see them again, you can discuss specifics and create a laid-back atmosphere and show that you can truly take care of them. For example, ‘How did your daughter’s exams go?’
You now have some great advice to go out and do some real estate prospecting. In order to bring in new sales mandates, you need to be known by as many prospects as possible and, perhaps more importantly, you always need to create a sense of trust.
Having the right tools that are adapted to your job are essential to creating a sense of trust with clients and obtaining new sales mandates.
Frequently asked questions
An estate agent needs to have a human touch and create a sense of trust with both property owners and buyers.
Make the most of word-of-mouth, as recommendations from past clients will bring in new prospects.
You can put flyers in people’s letterboxes. This will not directly bring in new clients, but help get your name out to prospects.
