How do you wake up to those not just warm but full-on hot leads from real estate agents day after day? Add value to the real estate agents’ business to convince them to work with you.
Picture this: you wake up in the morning, pour a cup of coffee, and check your email. You’ve got messages from friends, maybe a note or two about an upcoming deal, some junk mail. Nothing out of the ordinary here, right?
Oh yeah! And you’ve also got dozens of high-quality leads from expert real estate agents in your area. They’re just turning them over, handling all the heavy lifting, pre-qualifying and preliminary back-and-forth and turning these rock-solid leads over to you. There’s no need to pinch yourself because, believe it or not, you aren’t dreaming. You’ve simply mastered the art of Agent Enrollment.
All the gurus, coaches and podcasters are bombarding investors with tips, tricks and must-tries, charging tons of money for their insights and expertise. It makes sense—what’s better than getting free leads on autopilot, and having them land in your inbox morning after morning? Really, I can’t think of anything, can you? And the best way to do that is, hands down, with agent enrollment.
Now the question is: how do you get there? How do you wake up to those not just warm but full-on hot leads from real estate agents day after day?
That’s up next. But first let’s take a step back and talk about what agent enrollment is and what it isn’t.
What is Agent Enrollment?
Agent enrollment is, simply, engaging and building a relationship with every real estate agent in your market.
As a real estate investor, you need properties. And who wants to sell you their properties? Motivated sellers. Now take it a step further. Who knows motivated sellers—and lots of them? BINGO! Real estate agents.
Real estate agents are in the market, have boots on the ground, and speak with multiple sellers on a daily basis. If there’s a motivated seller, chances are they’ve already sniffed them out. Your job is to convince those agents to send you those leads. How do I do that?
Adding value to the agent’s business is an asset to convince agent to work with you.
Real estate agents are paid on commission. They want their deals to be as big as possible. Real estate investors are motivated by price; they want low-cost properties. Do you see the immediate disconnect between investors and agents?
But here’s the catch. While agents would rather their deals be larger, if they can quickly turn properties, that’s a huge incentive for them to work with an investor.
Your Real Estate Investor Edge
Real estate investors can be a gold mine for agents because of the potential for serious volume. But that doesn’t mean local real estate agents are going to be lining up around the block to send you leads.
Now the next question: how do you convince them to work with you and not with other real estate investors clamoring for their leads? You add value to the real estate agent’ business to convince them to work with you.
The best way to add value is through cash and time.
Offering the agent a cash close—no jumping through hoops, no banks, and the guarantee of a fast, seamless transaction every single time—is an enormous asset to real estate agents. To be able to bring their clients a qualified buyer who wants a quick close, one who pays cash and closing costs, and can structure the deal with a few seller-friendly add-ons is a huge win. If agents know you have the potential to sell their properties fast without any bumps in the road, they will come to you. Make sense? Good. Now the next step is to implement your agent enrollment process in a big way. Here’s how.
BUILD YOUR LIST OF AGENTS
Use the MLS to start building your list of agents.
Run a search for all transactions in the last 12 months and export it right into an Excel file. This should provide you with the seller’s agent and buyer’s agent names, phone numbers and emails. Upload this list to an email service provider like MailChimp or Aweber and boom—you’ve got an agent list.
If you don’t have access to the MLS, you can use Google to find agents, buy a list, or form a partnership with an agent in your area so you can get access to the MLS.
This is one of the most important tools you’ll have as a real estate investor. You’re going to use this list to contact agents on a weekly basis, ideally by phone (initially) and email (every week). So really focus on this first step and make sure your list is as strong as it can be.
DELIVER YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH
Your list is now in place. It’s time to pick up the phone and start calling agents!
But this isn’t a dial-for-dollars—you can’t just call without a plan in place. You need to be prepared with a script that lets agents know who you are, why you’re calling, how you can provide value to their business, and what they need to do next. This all needs be done in the first 10 to 15 seconds of the phone call.
The best part? If you deliver this script correctly, it works 99% of the time—really. But if you try and fly by the seat of your pants with no real plan in place, agents won’t take you seriously or worse, will hang up on you. Not ideal.
Know exactly what to say that will get agents to send their best deals your way! Here’s a sample elevator pitch script here. Click here to download
HANDLE ANY OBJECTIONS
Even though this script is solid, real estate agents will definitely have some questions for you to make sure that you’re worth their time. Keep in mind that lots of investors are probably coming their way, trying to get their leads, too. So you need to make sure you really stand out and that you can roll with any objections that come your way. Some examples?
Here’s a simple tip:
Just say yes to everything. It’s a simple conversation. YES! YES! YES! Get the agent to send you the deal so you can do your due diligence.
BUILD A FEEDBACK LOOP
In the beginning, agents will probably send you subpar deals. If you don’t respond to their outreach, these valuable contacts will stop sending you deals. And that’s no good.
Since you don’t want to discourage agents, it’s extremely important to provide feedback to every agent, every time. Let them know why it is/isn’t a good deal for you, so they: 1) see that you’re serious and 2) can make sure that the deals they send your way syncs with your investing strategy.
Staying in constant communication will also keep agents engaged, always a plus. It builds the relationship and makes them feel that all-important connection to you, which will ensure they send more deals your way. Everyone wins.
One last note: When a real estate agent helps you close a great deal, shout it from the rooftops. Make sure every single agent on your list sees how good and lucrative it is to work with you. Send a quick note that says something like:
”Look at Jan. She just made an extra $10,000 from a deal we partnered on. Do you want to make an extra $10,000 this month? Look at what Jan did. All she did was send us deals that weren’t really a good fit for what she normally does. We took care of the rest!”
Do you see how simple agent enrollment can be? Now imagine the possibilities, imagine the best real estate agents in your market sending you the best deals every single day. No more pounding the pavement and posting flyers or sending direct mail that goes nowhere and costs a fortune.
With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to getting amazing deals emailed directly to you for free. Really, what could be better?