Step 1
Block one hour a day, before anything else
Put one hour on your calendar every workday, at the same time, before email and before showings. Treat it like an appointment with a client. The admin that usually eats this hour, such as replies, updates, and paperwork, is the work to hand off first.
You do
- Keeping the hour, every day
Hand off
- Drafting the replies and updates that would otherwise eat the hour
Step 2
Start with the people who already know you
Your sphere is the warmest list you have: past clients, friends, family, and everyone who has sent you a referral. Call them with a real reason, such as what their home is worth now, a sale on their street, or the anniversary of their purchase. Ask one question at the end: who do you know who's thinking about moving?
You do
- The calls, and the ask for a referral
Hand off
- A price range for the home of anyone in your sphere who asks
Step 3
Work one farm until people know your name
Pick one neighborhood or one set of buildings and stay with it. Each time a home there lists or sells, tell the neighbors, by phone, at the door, or with a flyer. Hold your open houses there. People choose the agent whose name they've seen on their street, so the same farm every week beats a new one every month.
You do
- Choosing the farm, and showing up in it
Hand off
- A just-listed or just-sold flyer to share in the farm
Step 4
Bring something useful, not a pitch
Every prospecting contact should give the owner something: a price range for their home, recent sales on their street, or a net sheet that shows what they'd walk away with at a price. Useful information earns the next conversation. A pitch ends this one.
You do
- Explaining the numbers to the owner
Hand off
- A CMA for the owner's home
- A seller net sheet at the price you discuss
Step 5
Log every contact the same day
At the end of the hour, every person you talked to goes into your CRM with where they came from, what they said, and the next step with a date. Count your conversations and appointments each week. After a month, your own numbers tell you which part of the hour to give more time.
You do
- Deciding the next step for each person
Hand off
- Adding each contact to your CRM with the lead source, tags, and your notes
Set it up once
Send Reddy this message once, in your own words. Reddy saves it as a playbook and follows it each time that work comes up. You can read and change it in the Workspace.
When I tell you about an owner I talked to while prospecting, add them to Follow Up Boss with the lead source and tags, and save my note on the contact. When I send you an address, pull comps and send me a CMA I can share. When I give you a price and the commission, make a seller net sheet at that price.
Where Reddy fits
Reddy prepares what you bring to each contact. Send it an address, and it pulls recent comparable sales, gives an estimated value and a price range, and sends a client-ready CMA as a PDF. Give it the price, the commission, and any payoff, and it sends an itemized seller net sheet as a PDF, asking for anything it still needs instead of guessing. For a listing you have with Reddy, it makes a just-listed or just-sold flyer.
After the hour, tell Reddy about each conversation, and it adds the person to Follow Up Boss with the lead source and tags and saves your note. It writes your replies as drafts in your own mailbox, and you send them. The calls, the doors, and the relationships stay with you.
Questions agents ask
What is real estate prospecting?
It's the outreach you start yourself to find people who will buy or sell: calls to your sphere, work in a farm, circle calls around a new listing or sale, and conversations at open houses. It's daily work, not a campaign.
How do real estate agents get their leads?
From people who know them, such as past clients and referrals; from a farm where their name is known; from open houses; from social media; and from paid sources. Track where each client came from, and spend your time on the sources that bring closings.
How much time should a real estate agent spend prospecting?
Start with one focused hour every workday, at the same time, before anything else. A short hour you keep every day beats a long session you skip when a deal gets busy.
What is the difference between prospecting and lead generation?
Prospecting is outreach you start, such as calls, doors, and notes to your sphere. Lead generation brings people to you, such as ads, a website, or social media. Most agents need both, and both feed the same pipeline.
How do I write a real estate prospecting letter?
Give one reason you're writing, such as a sale on their street, one useful fact, such as what homes like theirs sold for, and one easy next step, such as an offer to send a price range for their home. Sign it with a number that always gets answered.