The most valuable asset you have in business is your time. How you tackle new leads will often be the item that eats away most of your day. One of the things that make seasoned investors so savvy is the ability to know which leads are worth pursing and which will ultimately be a waste of time. This is not to say that every lead shouldn’t be worked to the fullest, but experience will tell you which leads really want to sell and those that are just seeking information. The quicker you can decipher what is a real lead and what is not, the quicker you can start maximizing your time.
A common mistake that many new investors make is thinking every call that they get is a lead. By definition; a lead is a call or email that you receive that should lead you to a deal. In order to determine exactly what their intentions are, you should ask the right questions and more importantly listen to the answers. Instead of trying to blurt out questions from your script, you should go with the flow and listen to what they are saying. Oftentimes, they will tell you what they want, when they want it and how much they want for it. If this isn’t realistic, you can keep their information and follow up with them in the future, but your time is better spent elsewhere.
If you still think a deal is possible after the initial phone call, you should meet with the seller as quickly as possible. As not every call is a lead, not every lead will turn into a deal. There is a huge difference between being an investor that strives to get deals done and those that constantly bang their head against a wall. At some point you will have to either get the homeowner to sell or walk away from the deal. This point could be in a few days or as long as a few months, but devoting your time and energy to one deal that may or may not close is not productive.
The reality is that most of the leads you get will not turn into deals. The simple math with any marketing tells you that 80% or more of the people you reach out to you will either never call you or never close. That leaves a small percentage of leads to get deals from. This doesn’t mean you have to squeeze every second trying to work the calls you get to the point that it takes away from other more important tasks. Your lead generation should be a constant cycle with deals closing and new leads coming in. If you get stuck on every potential lead that comes in with a very little chance of closing the process will slow down and eventually stop. Your phone will ring again if you stick with your marketing and you will have other, better, deals to choose from.
There are only so many hours in a day and only so much you can do. Every lead should be worked to the fullest, but you need to know which ones take priority. Your time management throughout the day and on every new lead will go a long way on determining your success.
