Hi, 

I have been thinking about the buying and selling process, and I got to wondering about the differences in method from agent to agent. I spoke to a seller agent whose biggest issue was soliciting leads, which came to me as a surprise. So, I was wondering what do you feel is the hardest part of the process? And what do you do about it? 

If you are not performing Lead Generation and Procuring New Clients on a daily basis you will NOT be a successful Real Estate Agent. It is that simple. Lead Generation is literally the most important thing you could ever do in this business. It's also the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th most important thing you could ever do in this business.

Another way to look at how to effectively spend your day as a Real Estate Agent is this; Let’s imagine that you are an amazing Chef. In fact, you are the greatest Chef to have ever cooked a meal in the history of the world. On top of being the greatest Chef in the world you are also the worst hunter in the world. You could not hunt if your life depended on it. If you were to be transported out of your kitchen and into the jungle where you needed to hunt your food before you could cook it would you survive? No of course not. You would die of starvation because your cooking skills are irrelevant if you have nothing to cook. Real Estate is the same way. If you cannot generate the leads you will never get the opportunity to show them your Real Estate knowledge and skills.

Below is a breakdown of how I spend my day. If you aspire to sell 100's of properties every year this is how you should spend your day. You will notice that this is a 12 hour work day (7:45am-9:45pm; squeeze a lunch & dinner hour in there where you see fit) and only 4 hours or 1/3rd of it is spent servicing existing business. That means that 8 hours or 2/3rd of your day needs to be spent on Lead Generation and Procuring New Clients.

• 7:45am –EMAILS– (30 min) Respond to emails from the previous night.
• 8:15am –FOLLOW UP- (15 min) Call, text or email people you have contacted while from your previous marketing or driving for dollars. You will learn about driving for dollars later on in this list.
• 8:30am -SOCIAL MEDIA- (30 min) Accept social media requests. Send out new social media requests. Post 1 post on your various social media accounts. This could be an advertisement for a property you are selling, a helpful article that has to do with Real Estate. Make sure to stuff it with #hashtags, share to groups, ask people to like & share as well.
• 9:00am –MARKET TO EXPIRED LISTINGS- (1 hour) Lookup the expired listings in a certain zip code over the last 12 months and send out a letter to the property owner. It does not matter if you have already contacted the property owner. Contact them again.
• 10:00am âMARKET TO FSBO ON CRAIGSLIST- (30 min) Go to Craigslist.com and send a text, email or phone call to everyone who has posted a property FOR SALE in the last week. It does not matter if you have already contacted the property owner. Contact them again.
• 10:30am –MARKET TO FOR RENT ADS ON CRAIGSLIST- (30 min) Go to Craigslist.com and sent a text, email or phone call to everyone who has posted a property FOR RENT in the last week. Remember at any given time landlords are usually one push in the right direction away from selling their rental property.
• 11:00am âMARKET TO FSBO ON ZILLOW- (30 min) Go to Zillow.com and send a text, email or phone call to everyone who has posted a property FOR SALE in the last week.
• 11:30am –MARKET TO FOR RENT ADS ON ZILLOW- (30 min) Go to Zillow.com and sent a text, email or phone call to everyone who has posted a property FOR RENT in the last week. Remember at any given time landlords are usually one push in the right direction away from selling their rental property.
• 12:00pm -SOCIAL MEDIA- (15 min) Accept social media requests. Send out new social media requests. Post 1 post on your various social media accounts. This could be an advertisement for a property you are selling, a helpful article that has to do with Real Estate or something about your day while working as a Real Estate Agent. Make sure to stuff it with #hashtags.
• 12:15pm –FOLLOW UP- (15 min) Call, text or email people you have contacted from your previous marketing or driving for dollars. You will learn about driving for dollars later on in this list.
• 12:30pm -EMAILS– (15 min) Respond to emails from this morning.
• 12:45pm –PHONE CALLS– (15 min) Respond to any missed phone calls from this morning.
• 1:00pm –SERVICE YOUR EXISTING BUSINESS- (2 hours) Use this time period to process your existing deals. This may include talking to your existing clients, showing homes to buyers, negotiating purchase agreements, touching base with the title companies, lenders, home inspectors and appraisers to ensure everything is on track to close on time, getting all the necessary forms or disclosures signed, or anything else that requires you to close transactions on the existing deals you have in the works. If you do not have any existing business to service during this time block use this time block for MORE LEAD GENERATION & PROCURING CLIENTS!
• 3:00pm -SOCIAL MEDIA- (30 min) Accept social media requests. Send out new social media requests. Post 1 post on your various social media accounts. This could be an advertisement for a property you are selling, a helpful article that has to do with Real Estate or something about your day while working as a Real Estate Agent. Make sure to stuff it with #hashtags.
• 3:30pm –LEARN & TRAIN- (30 min) There are many websites that have helpful tips and tricks for marketing, lead generation, cold call scripts, dealing with FSBO etc.…Hit Google hard. So much knowledge is out there. You should always look for ways to refine your skills and improve your craft.
• 4:00pm -EMAILS– (15 min) Respond to emails from this afternoon.
• 4:15pm –PHONE CALLS– (15 min) Respond to any missed phone calls from this afternoon.
• 4:30pm --DRIVING FOR DOLLARS- (2 hours) Drive around your neighborhood of choice and look for FSBO or FOR RENT signs. Stop at the home and leave marketing materials for the owner to contact you. Save the owners contact info in your phone so that you can call, text or email them about their property later.
• 6:30pm –SERVICE YOUR EXISTING BUSINESS- (2 hours) Use this time period to process your existing deals. This may include talking to your existing clients, showing homes to buyers, negotiating purchase agreements, touching base with the title companies, lenders, home inspectors and appraisers to ensure everything is on track to close on time, getting all the necessary forms or disclosures signed, or anything else that requires you to close transactions on the existing deals you have in the works. If you do not have any existing business to service during this time block use this time block for MORE LEAD GENERATION & PROCURING CLIENTS!
• 8:30pm -EMAILS– (15 min) Respond to emails from this afternoon.
• 8:45pm –PHONE CALLS– (15 min) Respond to any missed phone calls from this afternoon.
• 9:00pm -SOCIAL MEDIA- (15 min) Accept social media requests. Send out new social media requests. Post 1 post on your various social media accounts. This could be an advertisement for a property you are selling, a helpful article that has to do with Real Estate or something about your day while working as a Real Estate Agent. Make sure to stuff it with #hashtags.
• 9:15pm –FOLLOW UP- (15 min) Call, text or email people you have contacted from your previous marketing or driving for dollars. You will learn about driving for dollars later on in this list.
• 9:30pm -EMAILS– (15 min) Respond to emails from this evening.

@James Wise

WOW James, thank you for that very detailed list of your day!!!  I will definitely use the lead gen tips you included!!! Thank you very much!!!