The following text explains how to generate leads through circle prospecting with recent buyers and sellers. One of the most common questions we get from realtors is how to do circle prospecting effectively. Circle prospecting is a lead generation strategy that focuses on outreach to homeowners who live near recently listed or recently sold homes. Here’s a quick guide on how to get the most out of this strategy:
- Look for areas with a high volume of recent home sales. This could be a subdivision, gated community, or even a street with a lot of new construction.
- Research the homeowners in these areas to see if they’re likely to be interested in selling. Look for things like whether they own their home outright, how long they’ve lived there, and whether they have any liens or mortgages on the property.
- Realtors can then reach out to these homeowners with a personalized offer, such as a free home valuation or an offer to help them sell their home quickly and for top dollar.
- Following up with these homeowners regularly is key to turning them into clients. Stay in touch with them even if they’re not interested in selling right away.
Circle prospecting is a way to generate leads by targeting a certain area. Tampa Realtor generated 200 leads in a day using this method. The article goes on to share her effective circle prospecting strategy, plus seven tips and scripts you can use to generate leads using this method.
What Is Circle Prospecting?
Circle prospecting refers to contacting all homeowners surrounding a specific listing in order to generate leads. The idea is that by showing social proof with the listing, you will be able to create more interest and eventually close more transactions.
Video: Circle Prospecting Reimagined
In today’s market, it is difficult to find new and innovative ways to generate leads in the real estate industry. Many people pitch their ideas to me, but very few are truly innovative or new. This is because it is not easy to be innovative.
We were excited to see Tampa Realtor Christina Griffin’s presentation at Tom Ferry’s Success Summit because it was new and inspiring. With guidance from Tom, Christina came up with an innovative circle prospecting strategy.
In Christina’s strategy, she uses a mix of modern technology with an age-old lead generation technique. By watching her presentation, you can learn more about her strategy as well as get some tips from our own coaches on how to improve your own circle prospecting skills.
Before You Circle Prospect: Don’t Let ‘Cold’ Leads Slip Through the Cracks in Your CRM
It’s not enough to just generate leads through circle prospecting – you need to follow up with them as well if you want to be successful. A lot of agents make the mistake of not following up with their leads, and then wonder why they’re not making any money. If you want to be a top-producing agent, make sure you follow up with your leads!
Deep Dive: Christina’s Circle Prospecting Strategy That Got All Those Leads
Christina took something that has worked in the past and updated it with new technology.
She began by finding a new listing and then using the technique of circle prospecting to reach out to homeowners in a circle around the listing. She sent them a targeted message letting them know about the listing.
Instead of doing things the traditional way, Christina brought circle prospecting into the 21st century.
She started by gathering the cell phone numbers of people who lived near her listing from a company called Cole Realty Resource. She then checked the Do Not Call (DNC) list, and using software called Slybroadcast, left each of them a message on their voicemail. This is a crucial part of the strategy. Slybroadcast does not ring their phones—instead, the message goes straight to voicemail (you can do this with Realtorfuel as well).
The simpler your message is, the more likely people are to pay attention to it. This is especially true for marketing and lead generation.
It is better to have simple, straightforward copy in ads, since this is more likely to encourage leads to take a specific action.
The Results…
Her results were truly astonishing:
The realtor sent 1,200 messages to cell phones in a two-mile radius of her listing, and received 200 calls in response. The volume of calls was so high that her call coordinator from MyOutDesk couldn’t keep up.
From 200 calls, Christina and her team got two new listings and four closed buyer deals – all from a simple, high-tech circle prospecting strategy that didn’t require cold calling, door knocking or Facebook advertising.
Why Do Real Estate Agents Use Circle Prospecting?
Many agents make the mistake of thinking that their goal when circle prospecting is to create an immediate transaction. However, this is not always the case.
You should try to develop a long-term relationship with potential customers so that when they are ready to sell their home, they will think of you first. It is important to ask for their business as soon as possible, but even if they are not ready to buy or sell in the near future, you should not give up on them.
Real estate agents often think of circle prospecting as analogous to farming. Just as farmers sow seeds in the hope of harvesting a crop, agents make initial contact with homeowners in the hope of future business.
You’re accomplishing several things through real estate circle prospecting.
- First, you’re asking for business right now.
- Second, you’re putting yourself on their radar if they want to buy or sell in the near future.
- And third, you’re building authority for your personal brand as an agent.
Letting surrounding homeowners know that you just listed or sold a home in their area will show them that you are capable of doing your job.
In conclusion, circle prospecting has many benefits that can help you win new business.
Circle Prospecting vs. Other Types of Real Estate Cold Calling
Cold calling is not easy in any industry, not just real estate.
Although it may seem difficult, contacting FSBOs and expired listings can be a successful way to get leads. This is because there is a lot of competition among other agents and ISAs. As soon as a listing expires or a home is put up for sale by the owner, many agents will try to contact the lead.
Even if you are the best possible person for the job, it is difficult to get anyone to hire you if you are the twentieth person to call them and tell them that you can help them sell their home.
Circle prospecting means calling people who are not likely to have their homes listed, and have not had them listed recently.
There tend to be fewer challenges from other agents when cold calling, so the homeowner may be more likely to talk to you.
That is, if you come with the right approach.
How to Do Circle Prospecting Right
Although it may be daunting, cold calling can be boiled down to simply informing people that you buy and sell homes in their vicinity.
Technically, putting up signs in current clients’ yards and stuffing flyers into mailboxes would qualify as circle prospecting. But more often than not, when people say “circle prospecting”, they are referring to actively cold calling the surrounding homeowners.
If you have a plan and are thoughtful about it, things will hopefully go well.
Before you get started, there are a few core components that go into a successful circle prospecting strategy:
- Finding phone numbers
- Having the right mindset
- Using the most effective script
- Following up
Let’s analyze each one closely to help you have a successful start.
Finding Phone Numbers for Circle Prospecting
The first step is the easiest part of the process.
There are many companies in 2021 that will provide you with contact information for people in a given geographic area. However, that doesn’t mean those people are interested in your product or service.
Although it is important to check “Do Not Call” lists, keep in mind that people who have put their numbers on these lists are not likely to be pleased to receive your call. Most likely, it will be a waste of your time and could even harm your reputation in the long run.
Having the Right Mindset
Having the right attitude is key to successful cold calling.
It is really important for sales to be motivated in order to achieve success. The only way to maintain the motivation to make numerous phone calls is to tell yourself a positive story about why you are doing it.
Here are a couple key things to keep in mind as you work your way through your next circle prospecting campaign:
- You’re working for yourself and your family. You’re building the life you want to live. You’re working hard to increase your GCI so you can work less and spend more time with your family.
- On the client side, you’re making the process simpler for them when it comes time for them to buy or sell a house. You’re building a relationship with them so they don’t have to worry about searching for and sifting through a bunch of agents to find the right one. When it comes time to buy or sell, you’ll get it done for them better than most other agents would.
Tell yourself positive stories, and it will help you build positive outcomes.
Using the Most Effective Script
I would disagree with other agents and teams.
I believe that the most important thing to remember about scripts is that they should be used for assistance, not as the sole source of information. It can be very off-putting for an individual if it seems as if you cannot answer questions or respond to conversation without referring to a script.
The most critical thing to do is have a real conversation. Here’s how to make that happen:
- Start the conversation using the lead’s name, tell them you just recently listed or sold a house near them.
- Ask them if they would also be interested in selling.
- If no, ask them how long they plan to live in their current home.
- Ask them why they picked their current home.
- See what they would look for in a new home.
Prepare questions and responses, but don’t lean on a script too much.
Let the conversation happen without steering it too much, speak at a similar pace to them, and be friendly while finding out what’s going on in their life. Keep what you say concise. Even if they don’t plan on selling soon, see if it’s okay to send them periodic updates about market trends and homes being bought and sold near them. Add them to your contact list.
Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up
If you want to be successful in finding new prospects and building your customer base, it is important to follow up with potential customers.
The main goal of circle prospecting is to create new business opportunities, even if they might not be ready to purchase anything yet. This involves taking care of potential leads, so that they will want to do business with you when they are ready.
Remind your clients that you are a valuable resource for information on their local real estate market. Send them updates on market conditions and let them know when it might be a good time to sell their home.
If you’re looking to keep your brand in front of potential future business, using a platform like Realtorfuel can be a huge asset. You can set up an automated circle prospecting follow up sequence that is triggered when someone tells you they’re just starting their search and not planning to act until some point in the future.
Go to the Automations tab to create the type of sequence you want, whether for buyers or sellers. Having separate sequences for each will help keep you at the top of their minds and turn them into clients.
7 Circle Prospecting Tips & Scripts for 2022
If you’re an agent who doesn’t like the idea of using Slybroadcast but still wants to get better at circle prospecting, here are seven circle prospecting tips for 2022 from real estate coaches Chris Linsell and Sean Moudry:
1. Don’t Make Your Circle Too Large
When starting out, real estate agents often make the mistake of making their circle of potential clients too large. They mistakenly believe that if 50 homes is good, then reaching 200 homes will be even better. However, this strategy is actually more costly, time-consuming, and less effective.
The reason this is not effective is because when you reach out to people who live further from the house you originally bought or sold, that transaction becomes less and less relevant to them. For example, if you closed on a two-bedroom bungalow for 20% more than the asking price in neighborhood X, someone who owns a seven-bedroom mansion in neighborhood Y is not going to care about that. Furthermore, if you contact them with this information, they will think you are not interested in what they need, and you will just come across as a salesperson who is only trying to make money.
Instead of targeting a large number of homes, try targeting a smaller number, around 50. Also, make sure that the homes you do target are similar to each other, at least to some extent.
2. Don’t Overthink It
When you’re first starting out prospecting, it’s easy to overthink your scripts. This is because most agents want to do a good job and they study the scripts carefully.
A script should be like an outline for a story. It should be used as a general guide to start and maintain a conversation, but never forget that this is a conversation. Yes, you want your lead to set up a listing appointment, join your email list, whatever. But if you overcomplicate your script, you’re going to come across like a robot.
Christina’s script is as follows: “My name is Christina Griffin, and I work with the Griffin Group at Coldwell Banker. We’ve just listed a new property in your neighbourhood XXXX. If you or anyone you know is looking to move, please give us a call.”
3. Get Over Your Fear of Door Knocking ← This One’s Important!
The vast majority of new real estate agents are absolutely terrified of making a cold call and having the lead hang up on them. However, this fear is nothing compared to the phobia they have of door-knocking. If you don’t believe me, try it out for yourself. Find a new real estate agent and ask them to accompany you on your door-knocking activities next week.
Door knocking may seem daunting, but it’s really not that bad. Most people are not rude, and you may be surprised at how many people appreciate your bravery. It makes sense when you think about it. You just showed them that you’re a hardworking salesperson who isn’t afraid of rejection. And isn’t that the goal of lead generation and marketing?
4. Understand That Circle Prospecting Is Not Just About Getting Leads
Another mistake new agents frequently make with circle prospecting is giving up if they don’t get leads right away. Circle prospecting takes time, effort, and money, so it’s important to be patient and not give up if you don’t see results immediately. Circle prospecting is just as much about marketing as it is about generating leads, so even if you don’t get any leads right away, you’re still building your brand and creating awareness for your business.
You might, for example, send out postcards in May to people who have just sold their homes, but you might get a phone call in September from a homeowner who is thinking of moving. Or you might send out that postcard in May and then go door-to-door in September, and the homeowner might remember you from the postcard. So don’t worry if you don’t get any leads right away. You will be increasing brand awareness and preparing potential customers for future contact.
5. Use Multiple Outreach Methods to Increase Your Response Rate
Although Slybroadcast may be effective, it may not work well for everyone you contact. Some people do not like text messages, might consider voicemails to be spam, or they may simply not respond when you call. To maximize your response rate, use a combination of other marketing tools like postcards, texts, phone calls, and door-to-door visits over the next few months.
