Lead Generation: What Works?

I am often asked about lead generation systems: What online services work? Where should I be investing my money? What's the best product? What do I like? What do I use?

You know what? It's not really relevant what I like and what I use. Yes, I have some preferred things and, yes, there are some things I won't use. But the reality is that any lead generation system or leads are only as good as you, who's working them.

Agents will sit there and make these sad faces and go, "I don't have any business. I'm not working out, this isn't great." The reality is this: it's how you handle those contacts and those calls. If you're not in the mood to make contact with a new client, guess what? You're not going to make a conversion. So suck it up, buttercup, as they say. Cheer up, put a smile on your face, and do your job. Because no one's going to hand you business. It's not an easy industry and if you're not going to put the effort into it, you're not going to get the return on it.

So, lead generation systems--what works, what doesn't work? The question is, how do you work? Are you working on them? Are you following systems? Are you keeping notes? Do you have drip campaigns?

Systems are essential. They're the most important thing you can have. If you don't have good systems in place, maybe you have a lender or someone in your marketplace who's got product that they're willing to give you and you can work with them for the pre-qualifications.

There's a lot of services like that. My friend in San Antonio works with Sente Mortgage. Sente and her partner are going to start working with agents to help them get the lead conversion, get more business, and give them qualified buyers. Find partners that you can work with to get the resources necessary, and then you both benefit from it.

So, lead conversion--any system is only as good as the person who's working it. Understand that you need to connect with the people, they need to trust you, and if you're going to be a pushy-pushy salesperson, a lot of people are going to push back on you. So connect, serve, and the benefit of all of that is going to be that you get the business.

And just remember--sometimes our job is to simply help people realize that it's not the right time to buy or sell real estate. You can't force something to happen if it shouldn't happen.

For more from Maya, visit her blog at mayaREguru.com.

Stay tuned next week for more from Maya!