What are you so afraid of?
That thought is running through my mind almost every time I see realtors avoiding the most productive activity: Prospecting.
So what is it about prospecting that is so repelling? And how come most realtors try to avoid it at all cost?
We can analyze this until the end of time, but instead let's take a quick look at some real industry ratios and draw our conclusion accordingly:
Over75% of new licensees quit the business within their first 6 months.
Only 25% of those who survive this period actually make a livingout of it.
5% of those whosurvive it actually thrive in it and become top producers, making more than 85% of the income in the industry.
The 75% avoid prospecting at all cost. The 25% do some form of light prospecting and keep bouncing (one day yes, 7 days no).
The 5% are heavy duty daily prospectors.
Barbara Corcoran said it as it is: "the top earners in our industry are those who can take an insult and grow because of it".
How many times can you hear: "No!" Or any variation of: "we're not interested", "stop calling us", "we are not working with agents", "we already have an agent in mind", and every time you hear it, you go higher in energy, more motivated, more positive, happier and excited?
If you think about it, the faster you learn how to accept rejection, the better off you'll be. Remember it takes 6 months for most agents to quit. In my opinion, more than 90% of the quitters quit because they can not stand being rejected by someone.
Conclusions?
Real estate is a numbers game. For every 100 dials, you'll get 5 qualified appointments. For every 5 qualified appointments you'll take minimum 1 sellable listing. If your average sales price is $500,000, and your average commission on listing side is 3%, you'll make minimum $15,000 (minus whatever your commission split is) for every 100 dials you make. In addition, on an average sellable listing you'll get about 50 buyer calls (drive by's, internet etc). For every 50 buyer calls, you'll get about 5 contracts (if you follow what I teach when working with buyers). So that's another $50,000 in GCI at minimum (for those of us who know how to follow up, how to pre qualify, and how to negotiate deals).
So, you can make about $65,000 for 100 dials (this will change based on your average price range and commission split, but I'm sure you got the point).
And remember, the more you prospect, the better you get at it!
Now go make it a great game :)