Re: Any Advice for a Guy in a Slump? - Posted by TRandle
Posted by TRandle on March 12, 2000 at 15:56:24:
Stacy,
What’s this? Looking for a little pick-me-up? I know you know what you need to do to get the phone ringing. I also know from personal experience that balancing the JOB, the family with little ones, and the REI biz is not easy. My newspaper ad does not seem to drop off after a while, but it does come in waves. I also was in a drought until recently (since September), but that was due to getting pickier with my deals (larger margin and less risk) and the desire to spend a decent amount of time with my wife and kids.
It also depends on your approach. Previously, I was doing a serious prescreeening over the phone (either me or answering service initially). If you do this, you will need many more leads. What I’ve found is true to Kaiser’s mantra: “Do the deal at the kitchen table!”. I’ve lost several deals because I didn’t get the paperwork signed at time of agreement, but it’s much easier to get a deal after a face-to-face. Therefore, due to my limited time, I can’t follow up on as many possibles as I could otherwise.
I agree with Hal that active pursuit of leads and realtor networking is a good idea, but I get plenty of leads right now with my passive advertising. To me, one method is not necessarily better than another - it’s a matter of having ENOUGH out there. I got our first couple of deals by calling ads in the paper, another one came from someone looking at the first SFH, another from a realtor, a couple from our paper ad, a couple from our bandit signs, etc.
It depends on what you want to do and your goals. If you have a short-term goal of being full-time, I don’t see how you can generate enough leads without doing as Hal suggests. I know of others in my town who do almost no advertising because of the network they’ve created. An important lesson that Steve Cook reminded me of in Atlanta was to work backwards. In other words, once you’re clear on the goal, you can work backwards (all the way to the number of leads you need and how to get them) to determine the action steps necessary to achieve that goal. Hope that helps?.
