Real Estate: A Full Contact Sport!

Leads...leads...leads. They have been described to me as being "golden." At one time I may have agreed but today, I am taking a very different position on exactly what the term lead means.

First of all, we use the term "lead" as a noun. If you look it up in Webster's there is no definition that even comes close to the way we use this term in real estate. I realize I am being petty since we use a lot of terms that make no sense to others in our industry, but still, without proper definition and understanding by all parties, how can we be effective in our business plans, marketing, systems and budgeting?

The terms "Lead," "Contact" and "Referral" have gone thru many shifts over the past 12 years since consumers started searching on-line for homes and real estate Agents. The problem is we haven't changed the way we manage these resources of potential business. I believe it is because we haven't re-defined the terms to match the market.

The goal with each opportunity is to bring it to closing. There is nothing like payday! In order to get a higher "lead to closing" ratio it is imperative that as a Broker, Agent and an industry, we redefine these terms and implement the appropriate business plans, tools and systems to turn these prospects into Contacts and, ultimately, closing. Looking at a bigger picture, the goal is to build a solid "Contact" database for future business and to build a business you can ultimately sell. Hence the coined phrase "Business For Life."

This article will help to redefine these terms and share Broker and Agent best practices used to manage leads and contacts. It is important to keep your mind open to all areas of your business where opportunity presents itself. We tend to think of leads as a potential Buyer or Seller. This is fine for an Agent but, if you are a Broker, you will want to add Recruiting opportunities to this big picture.