“Always push to determine truly whether or not a contact should be consider a prospect worthy of follow up by asking the right question."
WHAT IS A PROSPECT?
We spend a lot of time in our mastermind class figuring how all the aspects of the real estate business work. A few years ago, everyone was excited because consumers were all going online -- so going online worked effectively to drive business. That worked for a while, but then the market was all over the place as the biggest companies were building apps, the market was flooded with new technologies and so forth. Now we need something else. So, as we explore the question of prospecting, we have to ask, "What is a prospect?" A prospect is a contact who is going to buy or sell property in the next 12 months or so.
THERE IS A CRITICAL MOMENT WHEN PROSPECTING
Real estate scripts are a huge aspect of this business. When you're going through your script (or flying by the seat of your pants, whichever method you use), the goal is to figure out whether they can become a prospect of yours. That critical moment when prospecting is when you say to a lead, "I'm so-and-so from this company and I'm calling because..." That "because" is critical. It tells the lead that there is something in this for them.
THE ULTIMATE PROSPECTING QUESTION
If they get past the "because" and start talking, the conversation can really wander off into the poppy fields, figuratively. There needs to be an ultimate, cut to the chase question so that we will know whether or not there's an opportunity. We can't tell you where to fit the question into the conversation, but you must ask them, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to sell or buy in the next year?" If you don't know the answer to that question, you don't whether the person is even a prospect. An 8 to 10 is worth following up with.
3 LAYERS OF PROSPECT TO FOLLOW UP
The three layers to follow-up: 1) Upgrade them using MLS access. 2) Give them what they need -- your strategies. 3) And lastly, call or visit a prospect based on a rate of frequency that makes sense.