8 Proven Prospecting Methods to Build Your Real Estate Business

Purchasing real estate leads can be effective, but can also be expensive to maintain. Learning new and creative ways of "who" to target can be a terrific way to future-proof your business.

But where should you focus your time? See a list of eight proven prospecting methods below:

1. Neighborhood Prospecting

A geographic farm continues to be one of the best ways to market yourself as a real estate agent. And luckily for you, as a REALTOR® you have access to RPR (Realtors Property Resource®) to help power your neighborhood prospecting every step of the way. Leverage RPR's search and mapping to compare neighborhoods based on important stats such as turnover, absorption rate and competition. Then use RPR to generate labels and/or a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) export to populate your CRM. Reports such as the Market Activity Report and Property Report also make terrific "leave-behinds" as you prospect the area. See for yourself with this how-to on setting up your geographic farm.

2. Circle Prospecting

So you just got a new listing? It's time for circle prospecting. Circle prospecting is a lead generation technique designed to let the surrounding neighbors know about your listing, open house or recent sale. Usually, this is done by sending a postcard or mailer to a few hundred homes around the subject property. RPR makes the process of getting these contacts quick and easy. To get started, look no further than RPR's mapping.

From the map, make sure Type/Status is set to Public Records. Then locate the neighborhood of the subject property and then choose Draw. Next, select Radius and click on the subject property to create the center point, and then drag out. Once you've achieved the desired distance, click again to set the shape. Now choose Search in This Area. Grab labels or CSV export by selecting Mailing Labels above the map.

3. Open House Prospecting

You're getting ready to hold your open house. You've prepared by ensuring the home looks its best and is staged well. Yet, beyond that soft landing, serious homebuyers will want the facts about your listing and the area. Stand out with each prospect walking through the door by providing client-friendly reporting on all the details that matter most: the property, neighborhood, schools and local market.

Use the RPR app to create data-packed reports on the spot and text or email them as the conversations happen. This is a great opportunity to build your brand and create a wow factor with each potential prospect that comes through the door. Learn what you should be doing at your next open house here.

4. Niche Prospecting Strategies

Focusing your business on a real estate niche is a great way to target a specific group of people you'd like to be working with. You can establish a specific real estate niche for just about anything: location, properties, or even the type of prospects. In many cases, it can all start with a search in RPR. Find expired or distressed listings, luxury homes, absentee owners, and lots more. For examples of how RPR's search and filters work, check out this article or watch this video. Once you have the results you want, watch this video to create your mailing labels or CSV export.

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5. Sphere of Influence (SOI)

Most successful real estate pros will tell you that long-term success comes from nourishing relationships and converting contacts into clients. And more times than not, those clients come from your own sphere of influence (SOI). Your SOI is a group of your personal connections. These are people you know well, plus loose connections and acquaintances, too. A few SOI examples include family, friends, social media friends, friends of friends, coworkers and community connections.

Nourishing your SOI takes time. Make sure to start by building the list itself. Identify your connections. Compile them into a spreadsheet or CRM. Then layer on your communications and touchpoints. If you send out a regular newsletter or mailer, use RPR to include consistent market updates or trends.

6. Social Media Prospecting

Social media prospecting as a real estate pro really is a no-brainer. Also one could argue that social media prospecting is an extension of the sphere of influence and past client marketing. Although it's hard to disagree, it's also unique enough to deserve its own callout.

Social media has been growing in popularity for years, and is now as commonplace as any traditional media. Today it's one of the fastest ways to spread information. And the more connections you have in your network, the more people you will likely reach. Social media also happens to be a terrific place to ambiently build and showcase your real estate expertise.

This is where RPR can help. Compile real estate trends covering your local market, including inventory levels, new homes, open houses, home ownership tips and much more. For a few examples, check out this article on creating Instagram sharables and this one on using RPR and Canva to make shareable market charts.

7. Past Clients

Any successful REALTOR® will tell you when it comes to earning repeat business, past clients are where it's at. Over time, this can become a significant portion of your overall business. It's much easier to retain an existing client than it is to attract a new one. But to be successful, you need a plan to stay in touch.

This can involve social media, events, mailings, phone calls—if you're interacting, it counts. Be sure to have some of your touch points revolve around real estate and their current property investment. For example, with the low inventory and high appreciation over the last few years, most homeowners have gained significant equity in their homes. Consider sending an equity checkup, because chances are your past clients will be very curious.

As their REALTOR®, you have a unique position to be able to keep them in the loop on what may be their largest single investment. To start sending the equity checkup, you'll need to get the current mortgage balance. Then using RPR, perform a current CMA on their home. Once you have a solid understanding of its current value, generate a property report. (Customize and trim down the report to just showcase the essentials.) Now simply take the home value and subtract the mortgage balance to arrive at the total equity in the home.

8. Prospecting Letters

Okay, so this is not really a niche. But prospecting letters certainly can be a useful method of outreach when it comes to your prospecting efforts. For a few examples, check out these articles from Tom Ferry, Fit Small Business, and one from The Close.

The Many Paths of Prospecting

Prospecting comes in many forms. Whether it's nurturing repeats and referrals, or digging for new leads through a variety of methods, it's important to keep laying tracks that lead to listings and buyers.

RPR offers data, tools and reports that can power up your prospecting efforts across the board. Be sure to take advantage of the valuable resources that RPR puts in the hands of every REALTOR®.

To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.