Circle prospecting: A step-by-step guide for realtors

What is circle prospecting?

Circle prospecting is a lead generation strategy real estate agents can use to both gain more potential buyers, and more potential sellers. It involves agents focusing on contacting homeowners within a specific area, usually in an area surrounding a property that’s just sold, listed or hosting an open house.

After a property in an area has just sold, other local homeowners are more likely to sell their own property. This is dependent on market conditions and valuations, however it is a key time to reach out and contact these people in order to gauge interest.

How to Utilize Circle Prospecting

You can focus on two techniques when utilizing circle prospecting; an area where you just sold a property, or an area you wish to get into where a property just sold.

Homeowners are always more curious to learn about market values when a property in their area has just sold, and having solid evidence of a good return on their investment provides the confidence they need to make the decision to list.

You can get in touch with people in the local area and inform them, as well as also discussing potential selling opportunities within the area. You can also focus specifically on new listings as these kinds of properties attract attention from both buyers and sellers within an area.

As well as these, you can also focus on Hot Markets. Hot Markets are areas where the demand for property is high, however the property inventory in the area is low. In these areas, competition is fierce so sellers are much more likely to be interested as their return on investment will be higher.

Contacting Locals

There are many strategies you can use in order to contact local property owners. This can be everything from guerrilla marketing, to utilising local neighbourhood websites.

Canvassing an area is a good way to meet the local people and even get a better understanding of the area of interest. You can print flyers to post through doors, and you can even go door to door and chat to the homeowners within the neighborhood. This method is both cost effective and builds trust with face to face communication. However this method is also time consuming, so if you wish to contact more people in a more time efficient manner, using neighborhood websites is the way to go. This could be local Facebook groups, Reddit pages or even dedicated websites or apps that may be set up in certain areas. You can curate a post for these forums to appeal to as many people as possible, as well as reach out to people through direct messages.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that using both of these methods will give you a better chance of acquiring more sellers, so doing a mix of the two might be in your best interests.

Your Message

Crafting a compelling message is essential to maximising your acquisition of business within an area. Ensure you tailor your message to the specific neighborhood, as well as taking into account any recent market activity or trends.

As well as this, you also need to highlight your expertise within the area, and cover how you can help homeowners achieve both their real estate goals and maximise return on investment.

Keep in mind that buying a home is a very personal decision, so showing compassion is necessary. Don’t forget to include a call to action, this is so homeowners know how to contact you to discuss any plans or thoughts they might be having. It would also be a good idea to include an incentive in order to get people to reach out. You could potentially include a free market analysis, or a free consultation on their potential selling options.

Ensure Your Follow Up

Following up on any inquiries is also paramount as building relationships with people is key. You can do this by offering trustworthy information and advice, as well as having an open line of communication. Providing value to homeowners is also important. You can compile a list of valuable resources that homeowners can use, as well as creating some of your own.

Potentially offering ebooks or blog posts for homeowners to utilise could be a good start. This will help position you as a trusted advisor. Finally, a little bit of persistence will help you to nurture leads. You can do this through regular communication and personalised updates on all things property that will be relevant to that specific homeowner.

Key Considerations

Ensure all your canvassing and prospecting activities are legal and above board. This includes both local laws and data privacy acts that help protect people.

Going outside of this can both waver people’s trust in you, and hurt and damage your livelihood. Tracking your results will help you to see data as a whole, and make informed decisions on how to optimize what you are doing. It’s also important to maintain a professional and ethical approach to all you do.

As previously mentioned, showing compassion and patience to people choosing to make a big life decision is paramount, and will also help you build a better and reliable business moving forward.

Conclusion

Circle prospecting focuses on acquiring leads within a certain area, usually where recent properties have sold.

Benefits: You can leverage local interest & market activity for leads.

Target Areas: The best target areas are places with recent sales, new listings, hot markets, areas with development.

Contact Methods: Use online platforms, local businesses, direct mail, calls, email, social media and go door to door to reach out.

Crafting Your Message: Ensure your message is personalized, highlight any value, and have a clear call to action.

Following Up: Nurture leads, build relationships, seek referrals.

Key Considerations: Data privacy, professionalism, track results.

By implementing a well-defined circle prospecting strategy and consistently providing value to your target audience, you can effectively generate leads, build a strong local presence, and achieve long-term success in the competitive real estate market.