Last Updated on April 7, 2017

You don’t need to make a single outbound call or prospect in any way. It will take you just minutes to set up. And (best of all) you can do it all on a “poor-boy” budget. In fact, I know agents who have added more than $6-figures a year in commissions with this one system alone. Step #1: Get a “Fix” on Your Perfect Buyer The first step is simply to know what kind of buyer you want to attract. It’s that “market selection” thing I always talk about. You want to locate the “hot buyers” in your market – segments of the market where the buyer activity is high. This way you’re “fishing in a stocked pond” right up front…thereby maximizing your chances of success. How do you do this? By spending 30 minutes on your MLS computer and identifying market segments that are more active than others. You want to look for segments where the sales activity is highest in your market. Maybe there’s a price range that’s hot. Or a geographic area. Or maybe there are types of homes that are selling well (such as luxury, resort, beach or horse properties). Step #2: Find a Few Great Homes to Use as “Buyer Attraction Magnets”. OK, so you’ve found a hot market – a segment with great potential. Now you need to ask yourself, “What are buyers really looking for?” Answer: “The perfect home!” So lets go out and find “the perfect home” you can use to attract your buyers. You want to locate several truly great homes in that market…homes with great locations, wonderful features, priced right, etc. You’re looking for homes that perfectly match the type of buyer you want to attract. Conduct a MLS search based on the “hot markets” you found from Step #1, and the right homes will soon be staring at you from your computer screen. Now all you need to do is select a few that really stand out. If you need to preview a few, that’s OK. You’re looking for truly exceptional homes. Some of these homes could be your own listings. Some could be with your brokerage. And some are listed by other brokers. If you don’t own the listing, you’ll need to contact the listing agent/broker and ask them if you can help them promote their listings with a special advertising program you’re creating (after all, they want to sell their listings and here’s free advertising). If your broker has listings that match the type of buyer you’re targeting, then ask him/her if you can use those listings. It’s likely the agent/broker will welcome you helping to promote their listings, but if not, move on to your next listing from your search. Step #3: Create Your Buyer-Generation Promotion(s) OK, you found the hot market – or several markets. You found a bunch of “buyer attraction magnets” (listings) that perfectly match the type of buyer you’re targeting. It’s now time to get buyers to call you. There are really 2 steps here: 1) Select the right medium for your promotion, and 2) create an irresistible message practically forcing buyers to call you. Let’s look at each one. First, when looking for the right “medium” for any advertising, you need to ask yourself, “Where does my target market go to locate information that is important to THEM?” Think about it. You’re looking for buyers. Where do THEY go to look for information when in their situation? Maybe they look through the classifieds in their local paper. Maybe they look through “homes” magazines. Maybe there are homeowner newsletters their friends read that may bring a listing to their attention. Once you find a medium you want to use, it’s time to write an irresistible message buyers can’t refuse – our second step in the process. The best way to write a great home promotion is to locate the “free bonus” you got called “Classified Ad Secrets” you received when you signed up here at Agent Inner Circle™. That little manual will teach you how to write any type of ad for a home…an ad that will cause people to call! If you don’t have a copy of “Classified Ad Secrets”, then click on the “Free Welcome Gifts” link under “Handy Links” in this newsletter – you can download it right there. You’ll also want to get a hotline, or some way to take calls when you may not be available. People are also more receptive to calling a recorded message because they can hang-up. They’re in control. And don’t forget, if you use a hotline, make sure you program it to page you when you receive a call. This way you’ll be talking to the prospect when they’re truly interested in real estate. Timing is everything. Step #4: Convert Callers to Commission-Producing Buyers If you’ve followed these steps correctly, your phone will ring (or your pager will go off) with calls from people interested in the home you have advertised. What do you do now? The first thing you should do is respond as quickly as possible. Believe it or not, agents lose more than 70% of leads because they never even responded to the prospect inquiry, or responded so late it was a dead lead. Shameful! Odds are the calls you receive will be from the exact type of buyer you’re trying to find – whether it’s a price range, area, or type of home. Your goal is to try to sell them the home you have advertised, or another home that better matches their needs. Don’t forget your focus here: you’ve generated an inbound lead. You already know something about your caller before they call (because the ad they called on actually qualified them). And that’s crucial information. So how do you convert an inquiry to a client? First, talk about the home you had advertised. Understand its unique features so you can speak with authority. The purpose of your initial discussion is to establish credibility as a top agent and build a relationship. Second, ask questions about their needs, and LISTEN. They will give you important information about themselves and their needs that will become very important in converting them to a client. You’re looking for what I call “bridges” that will create a unique bond with the client – a “common connection” that will take your relationship to a new level. When you find something in common, or discover specific needs, you need to then communicate how you share the same interest, or have a specialty in what they need. Finally, if you feel there’s a sincere interest, you need to schedule an appointment with your prospect. You need to close the lead. So make them an OFFER to help. Perhaps it’s a customized list of homes. Perhaps it’s an appointment to talk about their needs. Or maybe you’re going to send them a report, or simply get them on your Service For Life!^® subscriber list if they’re not ready to buy yet (www.serviceforlife.com). The point is, if you don’t learn how to transition your prospects into a close, all your previous efforts will be wasted. If you’re new to this process, practice your closing techniques in front of a mirror so it becomes second nature for you when working with prospects. Final Thoughts… One thing you should understand about this little strategy: It’s scalable. You can test your promotion for relatively little money. If it fails, you’re out only the cost of a small classified or flyer. But if it works (getting leads and buyers for an acceptable cost), then you can “scale” the strategy by multiplying the number of ads and homes in any publication. You can basically name your income. So will you use this strategy in your practice? Want to know a secret? Statistics say that less than 1 out of 20 agents will actually use this strategy. A bunch of agents will think of all the reasons why they can’t do it – some will even email me with wacky criticisms or why it can’t be done. A bunch of agents will say they’re too busy previewing homes or running papers or attending meetings to actually create prospecting systems for more business and income (too busy to make any money). And a bunch will read the article, say, “that’s really interesting”, and forget they ever saw the article by lunchtime. But there are one or two agents out there who’ll really grasp this idea and take action. And it’s those agents who become the top 5% big producers in real estate. They simply take action. Which one are you?