Knowing how to prospect in real estate is your gateway to endless opportunities and an essential part of being a successful real estate agent. 56% of agents in a survey conducted by the National Realtors Association say that getting the first conversation or meeting is the most challenging part of a typical sales circle.
If you’re new to prospecting in real estate, here’s our in-depth guide based on our popular session at Bayut Academy. We take you through the essentials of prospecting and share our top tips for mastering this useful skill.
What Is Prospecting?
Prospecting is the process of finding new contacts and turning them into leads in order to grow your business.
The aim of prospecting is to develop a database of likely customers, communicating with them having an end goal in mind. By end goal, it could just be setting up a meeting, arranging a viewing or creating a listing presentation for them.
Prospecting is the number-one activity that you should be doing daily to achieve long-term success as a sales professional. It outranks every other skill, simply because you can’t really do much in sales unless you first have people you can sell to.
Prospecting is NOT to be done occasionally or only when you think business is slow. It is an everyday task, that requires ‘discipline’ and requires commitment. All you need is the right amount of hard work and perseverance and you’re good to go.
Why Prospect?
- Ensures a steady flow of clients
- Protects you from the effect of customer turnover or delayed purchase
- Helps you replace new customers with those you have lost
- Allows you to position yourself as a trusted advisor amongst your clients.
Prospecting has evolved over the years, with technology also making a difference in how people prospect. Let’s look at the key differences between prospecting in the past, or traditional prospecting, versus prospecting today, or modern prospecting.
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
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MODERN PROSPECTING
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Trade shows
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Bayut and dubizzle
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Cold Calling
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Social Media Groups
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Articles In Publications
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Warm Calling
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Advertising In Print Media
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Sharing Insightful Content
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Direct Mail
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Social Media/PPC ads
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Door-to-door Sales
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Email Marketing
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TRADITIONAL PROSPECTING
Sales Letters
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MODERN PROSPECTING
Searching Customer Profiles
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Where do you find your prospects and how do you reach out to them? To answer this question, we’ve divided the prospect types and how you can reach them in the table below:
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Referral Prospects
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Portal Prospects
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Organic Prospects
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Pay-Per-Click Prospects
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Database Prospects
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Referral Prospects
Your past clients
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Portal Prospects
Phone leads from Bayut.com
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Organic Prospects
Social media audience
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Pay-Per-Click Prospects
Sponsored ads on Facebook or Instagram
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Database Prospects
Database of contact numbers
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Referral Prospects
Your existing clients
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Portal Prospects
Email leads from Bayut.com
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Organic Prospects
Email database leads
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Pay-Per-Click Prospects
Google adwords
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Database Prospects
Database of old enquiries
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Referral Prospects
Your own network
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Portal Prospects
WhatsApp leads from Bayut.com
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Organic Prospects
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Pay-Per-Click Prospects
Google display ads
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Database Prospects
Database of owners
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If we compare the prospects in terms of quality versus quantity, we can say that referrals and Bayut and dubizzle leads would be considered the highest quality, while database prospects would be at the bottom (although you have a higher quantity of database leads). This is because, with a referral, you have a higher chance of them working with you, unlike someone you’ve prospected from a database.
We’ve organised the types of prospecting in the chart below, indicating the quality and quantity of leads per unit of effort.
This chart does not mean one type of prospecting is better than the other.
You can use this to understand the amount of effort required for each type of prospecting.
For example, maximum effort is required in attaining a lead from “database” while minimum effort is required in attaining a lead from Bayut and dubizzle and referrals.
Activity Time
Read the scenario provided below. You are Sara, a real estate agent (you) and a project at Dubai Creek Harbour. How would you share details about the property to an email lead from Bayut who has requested for more details.
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Types Of Prospecting
There are two broad styles of prospecting, active and passive prospecting:
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Active Prospecting
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Passive Prospecting
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Active Prospecting
Activities that require your ongoing time and effort in the moment
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Passive Prospecting
Activities that run on autopilot
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Active Prospecting
Examples: Setting up open houses/events, Calling your database
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Passive Prospecting
Examples: Digital marketing campaigns, Email newsletters
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- Do your research well before you make a call or start a conversation. Having a thorough understanding of the property and being ready for any questions the client may have is important. If you’re on a call with a potential client and they feel like you’re unsure about the property, they may hesitate to work with you.
- Always use the client’s name, instead of Ma’am or Sir. People appreciate being called their first names and it’s a subtle way to build rapport
For example, “Hi, My name is Dan from Star Real Estate Dubai. The reason I am calling is because you had registered your interest in a property in Dubai Opera District.”
- Focus on solving a problem, rather than just selling a property. Understand your client’s needs, so that you can cater to them better
- Maintain a natural flow of conversation. One tip to doing this is asking open-ended questions (questions that prompt a conversation, rather than yes/no answers), such as “what are you looking for in your dream home”. If you’d like to hone your conversation skills, check out our guide on Nailing the First Conversation.
Common Misconceptions About Prospecting
Myth: Prospecting is about ‘talking a lot’
Fact: The best salespeople are active listeners.
It’s not about who talks the most, but who asks the right questions to drive the conversations forward.
Myth: Prospecting is for extroverts
Fact: You need to believe in yourself, your product and the value the product can add to the client.
If you believe in it, your confidence will shine through
Myth: If I serve my existing clients well, I don’t need to prospect
Fact: Taking care of existing customers is something that we all do.
Successful real estate agents will tell you that they do not allow their time to be allocated to existing clients.
Checklist For Successful Prospecting
- Set a goal
- Allocate dedicated time
- Follow a consistent schedule
- Implement different techniques
- Evaluate different techniques
- Be a value provider
- Know that prospecting is not selling
Prospecting isn’t all roses and rainbows; there are days when you may face rejection or find yourself wondering if you’re just wasting your time.
If you ever find yourself in such a situation, remember that having the right mindset is the only way to achieve success. You can check out our guide on the Mindset Of An Agent to understand the frame of mind that can lead to success in real estate.
Curious about what your prospecting style is? We have a self-assessment for attendees of our session at Bayut Academy, where you can find out your prospecting style.
Some advice from the experts on having the right mindset to prospect:
- Stay consistent and keep working on your conversational and research skills
- Value relationships over transactions. Remember, real estate is a people-focused industry
- Let your clients know how you can help them (by offering value).
Continuous prospecting can be quite beneficial for you. It can help you:
- Expand your network
- Keep your business pipeline full
- Position yourself as an expert
- Make you feel confident.
To summarise, we would like to encourage you to prospect every day and never give up. Set time for it, commit to research and reach out to as many prospects as possible. Consistent efforts and constant improvement can definitely help you set yourself up for success.
If you’ve found this article informative and are looking for more resources to take your real estate career to the next level, visit our Content Corner on the Agent Portal. You can also join us at Bayut Academy, our in-house series of trainings for real estate professionals in the UAE