Some agents are doing quite well amid the ongoing pandemic, but many are not. And those who have experienced an unexpected slowdown in sales might want to consider cutting costs — at least until business picks back up.
If you’re looking to reduce expenses for the time being, you might want to consider cutting your lead spend. With the high cost of today’s leads, it’s not hard to generate your own real estate leads for less. In fact, if you’re willing to invest some extra time, you can create your own leads for free.
Chad Goldwasser
Years ago, I sat down with Keller Williams’ two-time top agent worldwide, Chad Goldwasser, to discuss free ways for agents to generate their own leads. Together, we came up with over 100 lead-generation strategies that any agent can implement, regardless of experience level.
In the video below, Goldwasser shares several prospecting methods that he’s used personally to find and convert frustrated sellers. He also covers the two scripts he relies on for those initial conversations with expireds and FSBOs.
There’s even an additional script at the end for making just-sold calls after you’ve won and sold a listing.
Spending time vs. spending money
Goldwasser relies on REDX for numbers and dialing, which starts at $59.99 for expireds and $39.99 for FSBOs, but it’s important to note that you don’t have to.
In most states, you can find contact information for expireds via tax records. And for FSBOs, browsing sites like ForSaleByOwner.com is a fast, easy way to get homeowners’ numbers. So, rather than paying for a REDX plan, you can opt to invest your own time to achieve essentially the same result: a list of leads.
If you have more time than money right now, it might make sense to do the lead-generation legwork yourself to keep expenses down. When business picks back up and you’ve got less time to generate leads, services like REDX will still be there.
Warning: Do not call
Before you start prospecting, run your list of leads against the Do Not Call registry. Scrub any numbers you find on the registry from your list. Do not call anyone registered on the donotcall.gov website; it’s not worth the risk.
The Federal Trade Commission, which is responsible for enforcing telemarketing violations, issues fines up to $42,530 per illegal call.
Also, some states have their own do-not-call registries, so do your research. Be sure that you know both national and local laws regarding telemarketing before prospecting to protect yourself and your business’s reputation.
Pat Hiban sold more than 7,000 homes over the course of his 25-year career in real estate. Now, he dedicates his time to helping others succeed as agents and investors. As host of the Real Estate Rockstars Podcast, Pat interviews real estate experts to explore what works in today’s markets. He also founded Rebus University, an online training platform for real estate agents and sales professionals.
