Lead Generation for New Agents

You are finally getting started with new career and you know what would be useful? Leads! Clients! Commissions! Experience! How do we get there? Two words: lead generation. 

We are going to break down 5 ways you can gain clients as a new agent.

1.   SPHERE OF INFLUENCE 

2.  EXSPIRED LISTINGS & FISBOS

3.  OPEN HOUSES

4.  SOCIAL MEDIA

5.  PAID LEADS

1. Sphere of influence. This is your friends and your family and your inner circle that that know who you are and would want to refer you. This does not have to be a huge group of people. Use this group to begin your database. Create a list of people and collect their addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays and put them in an EXCEL sheet. Keep adding to that whenever you begin working with new people. Then the goal from here is simple; let everyone know you are an agent! Send them some business cards in the mail. Re-connecting with these people and letting them in on your new career journey is a great way to become top of mind when they are looking to sell or buy.  

2. EXPIRED LISTINGS & FISBOS. This way of finding leads is going back to the sales basics. It’s putting yourself in front of people that you know are considering selling their house. Expired listings are people who signed a listing agreement with an agent for a certain amount of time, but they were unable to get the house sold. That’s when you come in. You can reach out to these people and say hey—I know that it didn’t get done the first time, but I know I can sell this house. There are plenty of scripts online that you can download and practice. I suggest creating a routine where you do this every morning. You’d be surprised what comes out of consistency and a daily time commitment. Don’t be scared to be rejected, thicker skin comes with time.

3. OPEN HOUSES. This was one of my favorites when I was starting out in real estate. The way a new agent can benefit from an open house is by asking current agent in your or even wider, in your brokerage, if you can host an open house for them. What this does is put you in front of people that are in the market for buying a house. Sure, you will have some when 20 people come through or ones where 2 people come through. The trick is to be welcoming and knowledgeable. Be the expert in the room on that house, houses selling around it, and do a little background on that area as well. 

4. SOCIAL MEDIA. There are a couple different perspectives on social media and the housing market. More tradition folks will say it doesn’t sell houses, but I disagree. There were many times that social media has helped me put myself out there as an agent. People who knew me as me know knew me as a business professional. It gives you a platform to re-brand yourself and shares your interests. It also allows for real time conversations. When starting my new career, you wouldn’t believe how many times someone direct messaged me on social media and said “hey, I think I’ll be looking in a couple of months. Can you let me know the next steps?” Come up with a weekly strategy and share things that make sense to you! Be yourself! Show what makes you... YOU! That’s what encourages others to want to work with you.

5. PAID LEADS. There are many paid lead services out there that actually work. I have had great experiences and not so great experiences with a few. Some of their services you pay up front and some you pay once you get to closing and give them a percentage of the sale. I like to use ones that give you leads first and you pay with the sale because it gives you practice you get on the phone and get in front of people. Experience is the best way to learn, and it will make you a better agent. Check out Zillow , Opcity, and Rocket Mortgage to look into what they offer at this time and how you can get involved.