A contractor or real estate lead providers are often the first people called when a family starts fixing up their home to sell or buy. They’re also the prime contact called when someone starts buying a home. This kind of knowledge of potential real estate business and access to potential clients means a contractor could be one of your best lead providers generation tools.
To find out how to occupy great real estate leads through trades contractors and lead providers, keep reading.
Meet Local Contractors
Before you can start building relationships with local contractors, you have to meet them. You can start by hosting a breakfast networking event and inviting many of the local trades people in your area, or go simple and just call up contractors or home service leads providers to ask if you can take them out.
That first meeting gives you an opportunity to meet the individual face-to-face, find out if a relationship could benefit you both and get your name and face in their mind.
Set Up a Lead Trade
A lead trade is just that – an exchange of leads. For example, if you had a client who was selling, but wanted to do some repairs to improve the appeal of the house, then you would give that client your contractor’s name. In turn, if the contractor had a client who was fixing up a home to sell, then he or she would give them your name.
A lead trade is a reciprocal, non-binding agreement that basically says “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
Maintain the Relationship
Going for lunch and exchanging business cards won’t build a relationship. To stay on top of a contractor’s referral list, you have to maintain the relationship and your level of contact.
Try to send a monthly reminder to all your referral contacts, whether it’s a simple note and your business card or a flyer with all your current listings and sales. Also, always remember to send a thank you for any referrals, particularly referrals that become sales.
Go Beyond Contractors
The home improvement business goes beyond contractors. You can find exclusive real estate leads possibilities with painters, carpet cleaners, cabinet makers and more. To tap into these less competitive lead markets, simply implement the same tips and recommendations outlined above.
You can get leads through contractors. Just focus on meeting them, setting up a lead trade, maintaining the relationship and going beyond contractors to more specialized home improvement professionals in the area.
Write articles and have them published in newspapers, websites and article directories to help people find you. Once in circulation, these articles last a lifetime and will generate quality leads for you forever. Make sure your topic is well researched and provides value to the reader. You’ll have a prospect turn into a customer for life.
Public Speaking
Speak for free at your local associations in your city offering advice that can help them. If you go online or look up your local yellow pages you’ll find a list of clubs and associations who would love to have a guest speaker address their group from time to time.
Another way to lift your profile with speaking is to team up with an already established speaker and offer something that they are not covering or have expertise in. This way you’ll get great exposure to their existing clientele which could be in the thousands.
Be Better
Be better at all the things that you do. Stand out. In the case of best lead providers , do you deliver a pre-listing kit to your prospects seeking an appraisal? If you do, make sure it is spectacular. Include some copies of your newsletter, throw in your testimonials (especially if you have them from famous people), add some media stories about you, and finally, throw in a discount coupon on advertising, signage, etc, if they proceed with you in listing their property.
Prospecting is hard work. It’s something that you’ll have to do over and over again. Positioning, on the other hand, will reap you benefits forever once the people know you as the expert and come looking for you.
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