Real estate agents are always talking about how to turn leads.
Do drip systems work? How many times should you call them? How much time is necessary between calls?
What about text messaging? Is 53 texts a day too many? When is an in-person visit better than Facebook?
How do you make people want to use you out of the tens of thousands agents in any given sales area?
Despite the tendency to overthink it, converting leads isn’t rocket science, and you can do it no matter how tech-savvy you are, or how many social media accounts you have mastered.
You can succeed whether you are a first-year agent or a seasoned professional — 30 or 70 years young — you can all do it.
Start with being a resource
I know you are all at the edge of your seats, so I will end the torture.
Be yourself. And share a little bit of yourself if you can.
Don’t sell yourself. Don’t come across as smarmy. Just be real.
Give good information to a lead right away. Give contacts your professional opinion, and back it up.
You should know more than they do, so share that knowledge, share your perspective and share why you’re qualified to do so.
Throwing scripts and formulas to the wind
Sound easy? It should be. Because it should come naturally.
There are no scripts for this — no formulas and no definite wins. Listen to what people are saying, and respond to that.
Maybe someone is putting the cart before the horse. That’s OK; deal with it. Right now, handle the cart — or take it upon yourself to set the stage for some rearranging.
Answer whatever leads are asking; give examples; include yourself in those examples.
Be your charming charismatic self, or your our fact- and number-filled self, or your been-there-done-that self.
Be whoever you are, and you’ll become the solution. Then, you can flip the cart and horse the next time you talk — because you have just earned that lead’s trust. He or she knows you have some things in common, and you are the expert.
All the time, everywhere
The beauty is you can do this in person, at your kid’s soccer games or on Facebook (with a page dedicated to sharing information for your area, not information on you).
You can do it at open houses, in a blog on your site or when someone sees your yard sign and calls.
Do what you do; do what you like. But keep learning and expanding what you know and like, and start building relationships there.
The only thing that’s different about you is you — your experiences, personality, and history — so don’t hide it. Let this show everywhere, all the time.
You will come across as genuine and trustworthy — the best “you” there is!
Mary McIntosh is an associate broker at JK Realty. Follow her on Facebook.