Are You Generating Leads or Simply Creating Them?

Create-To cause to come that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

Generate-To cause to come that would be by a vital or natural process.

It’s always interesting to me (from a coaching stand point) the have’s and the have not’s of this business. As unbalanced as an Irishman at a Wake (wait for it…), the number of small business owners (Yes, that includes Real Estate Agents) successfully generating leads is incredibly out of whack! 

Creating Leads vs. Generating Leads.

I was doing some consulting the other day with an agent when I happened to peak over at his facebook wall at a post that struck me. Seems there was an agent who proudly commented on their wall that they had made 60 FSBO appointments. He exclaimed, “Now that’s someone who is doing it.” Doing what?

What this agent was doing was creating leads. What do I mean? Well, since we already know these folks want or need to sell their homes, there was little in the way of generating anything…including a lead. In my view, all this agent was able to do was convince 60 people who already have (or had) their homes on the market to talk to them about their homes…on the market! So, unless this agent has some super fix-a-FSBO formula that magically solves their problem, she is working very hard and not very smart!

So, why do very few new and or struggling agents (or small business owner) commit to a true, honest and successful lead generation program? You see, as I illustrated with the FSBO appointment taker, generating leads takes time. It takes lots of effort. And, it means having a little something called patients! With 4 out of 5 successful sales usually not coming to fruition until the 8^th to 12^th  time your talk to that person, most of us don’t  have the fortitude to truly build rapport nor establish the trust and worth needed to generate a lead.

If it’s what we have to do to be successful…why don’t we just do it? 

Many of us don’t like to Lead Generate! It’s hard and many of us don’t do it very well…if at all. So let’s look at it like this, if you were to talk to someone you knew and asked how their day was, that’d be easy, right? Now do that with someone you don’t know. My experience is you’ll probably not have the same conversation. Why? Because the person you don’t know is automatically defensive or at the very least, not too forthright with their answers. Generating a lead is the same thing. You’ve all heard the old saying, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Generating a relationship based on trust and caring is lead generation. Talking to someone with an agenda other than their well being is tantamount to Creating a Lead…that’s the difference!

The ‘X’ factor.  

So, what makes lead generation so tough for some? Why do some of us suck at it so badly? Is it because we don’t know what to say? Probably…but we can fix that! Is it because we don’t like to hear the word “NO”? Certainly…but we can fix that too. So, what’s the reason so many do so poorly at Generating Leads? It all starts with your motivation to call the lead. What are you thinking about? What’s your mindset? Is it about money or is it about building a relationship? Those two are not always mutual so perhaps the breakdown begins there?  

When I’m presenting my listing clinic and I ask the question, “What is the first thing you think of when you meet the sellers at a listing appointment for the first time?” The responses vary from the ordinary to the extreme but very few ever get the right answer. I tell them, “The first thing you think of is your commission!” The general look on everyone’s face tells me that’s exactly what most of them think of! And, when you waltz into that appointment with only one thought…”What is 3% of $500,000?” You’ve already lost the listing.

Lead generation is hard for some because they don’t try (or want to) build rapport. They don’t try to build a relationship or connection…they just want to create a lead that gets them paid! And here is the kicker gang…I haven’t met a seller (or buyer) yet that wants to be a lead! They are not interested in becoming a number…they are interested in knowing you’re interested in them…and their real estate needs!

Take your commission out of the equation. You don’t get paid if you don’t get the listing! Turn that lead into an ally; generate a lead that gets you into a relationship. Make the appointment about them. Turn the meeting into a conversation about what they want and need from their experience.

In the end, I repeat this over and over again, “I don’t get paid when I take the listing…I get paid when I sell the listing.” So for me, it’s all about generating rapport, generating trust and ultimately generating those leads so I can generate some commissions!

Photo courtesy of sebas