By Lee Woodward
Real estate is about people and property. Each day we need to communicate with a solid volume of our target audience if we are to find the dormant opportunities that are out there. Prospecting is about quality, multiple, staged contact points that build relationships and provide value by educating people about the marketplace.
Great software (like Complete Data) is needed to manage this process as it allows us to capture all detailed information about the people and property we come into contact with; information that can then be recalled on demand and sorted into precincts, becoming the centre of our contact targeted marketing. Of course, it is not possible for a human being to remember every detail about thousands of prospects, so that’s why having a database of detail and depth is your business super fund.
We now understand that prospecting is the practice of creatively searching for new business. Do it with consistency and professionalism, and it will keep you in the industry. Many agents do not operate to a plan or understand the amount of phone calls required and letters to send each day. For your knowledge, all agents should be completing a minimum of 35 scheduled tasks a day, where a scheduled task is determined as one to which you assign an action, for instance to call back on a particular date.
Let’s say you meet a prospect today and they say, “I am not moving for a few months, however, keep in contact with me.” You would attach an action plan (a trail) to their contact record in your chosen database, which on specific dates in the future, will prompt you to send a letter, email, SMS or make a phone call. This frequency of contact builds trust and can provide value when you send property brochures, open for inspection emails and just sold information.
An important feature of your chosen software is its ability to produce your own custom comparable market analysis, which is a detailed document of all your work in the area. Your database system needs to have the capability to collect and store all property photos, pricing and timings of the market and then have the ability to be collated into a smart looking report within just a few mouse clicks. This interesting, continuous marketplace study is of great value and will become your ‘marketing sticky’, which you will recall is a reason why people stick with you. By giving your prospects great reports as a gift every six months, they learn new information from each contact and will remember you if and when it comes time for them to sell.