The Pareto principle aka the 80/20 rule, suggests that 20% of our actions are the cause for 80% of the results. At the same time, it suggests that 20% of the salespeople make 80% of the income in their company .
A closer look reveals a different conclusion. Nationwide, 10% of the real estate agents, known as "the game changers", the elite of top producers, are making 90% of the income in our industry.
In a real estate sales training event (with over 5,000 real estate salespeople), I decided to interview some of the elite producers. My goal was to find out what is the ONE thing in common top producers do, that gets them the majority of the money.
The question I asked was: "What is the ONE thing, one activity that your business could not exist without?". More than 80% of them answered firmly: Prospecting! calling people and making NEW contacts, day in, day out.
I discovered that the majority of these agents prospect a minimum of 4-7 hours per day (10-12 contacts per hour). So if we count contacts, they never stop prospecting until they hit a minimum of 40 new contacts per day (200 per week).
The ratio of contacts per listing appointments set was around 20 to 1. So for every 20 contacts they get a qualified listing appointment. A qualified listing appointment is an appointment with a seller who answers YES to the following question: "If what I say during my presentation today, makes sense to you guys, and you'll feel confident that I can sell your home for the price we agree on, would you be ready to list your home with me?". If the seller says no, they simply cancel the appointment. If the seller says Yes, they go on the appointment.
I was very surprised to find out how many of these elite agents (closing over 100 sales a year) would refuse to go on a listing appointment unless the sellers agree over the phone to list with them.
Another point I wish to mention is, most of these agents are getting daily referrals while prospecting. They clearly play the numbers game and get to enjoy the benefits. If you play high numbers (40-80 contacts per day), you can afford the luxury of canceling appointments unless the sellers agree over the phone to list with you.
How many contacts are you making everyday?
Are you willing to go meet a seller if they aren't willing to commit to list with you?
One thing for sure, When you call:
- highly motivated sellers
- highly motivated referrals
- past clients
- sphere of influence
you will come across a lot more YES's than if you cold call.
Top producers prospect first thing in the morning (do you?). They never allow anything/anyone to deviate them away from this activity. While prospecting, they don't check their email box, texts or post on social media. They simply call (or door knock) until they get their desired outcome (although many of them take 5-10 minutes break every hour to take notes, make remarks and reminders and schedule appointments and follow up calls).
In addition, I discovered that most top producers stand up while prospecting and many of them place a mirror in front of them while prospecting so they could see their own facial expressions while calling and they ALL follow specific scripts (click here to email me and receive complimentary access to my scripts).
The easiest way to achieve success is to find someone else who've already achieved what you are going after and copy their actions. So here you go. If the elite top 10% of top producers never stop prospecting, what do you feel you should do?