The birds are chirping, the temperature is rising and spring is in the air. And you know what that means? The start of another busy selling season for Realtors® across the country.

But with so many choices (and so little time) for building your business, what actions can a new agent take to get more business right away?

Create a Formalized Sales Pipeline.

Simply put, always be on the look out for people ready to buy or sell their home … and have a trusted place where you can store those names.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen agents make the mistake of only looking for prospects ready to buy or sell their home "right now" -- not this week, or this month, but "right now" -- and completely overlooking everyone else.

And while I recognize the importance of working with "serious" buyers, the problem is that not everyone you meet will be ready to put their house on the market that day, even if they are "serious" about the process.

But when you have a formalized sales pipeline in place, which is simply a trusted area or "bucket" that you can reference for contacting these folks over the next few weeks, then building your business becomes a whole lot easier.

Why?

Because prospects are more educated today than they were even 5 years ago, and most need some time to get "up to speed" with how the process is going to work. So while you might be ready to help them right away, they might need some time to get organized.

Which is fine, as long as you do two things:

• Ask some qualifying questions up front to gauge their level of seriousness about the home buying process, and

• Have a pipeline in place that captures the names of all that potential business.

And it's that pipeline, or lack there of, which in my mind causes most new agents to fail. I think we've been so conditioned to only finding "serious buyers," that we forget we're talking about the sale of an individual's largest personal asset.

Think of it this way: When you went out to buy a personal computer, did you just go to the store, scope out a model and pull the trigger on a $1,200 investment?

If you're like me, probably not. As a matter of fact, you might have even done some research on online. Talked to a few friends who knew the industry, and THEN gone to Best Buy or Dell to pick up a machine.

The point?

Even though you were "serious" about buying a new system, that didn't mean you were ready to meet with the Best Buy sales person right away.

The same is true for anyone looking to buy or sell their home.

You want to have a pipeline in place where you can "catch" all of this business, and contact these folks two, three, or even four months down the road -- when they will be ready to buy (or sell) their home.

And that's the beauty of a formalized sales pipeline. You'll literally have a list of qualified prospects who have:

• Expressed an interest in buying or selling their home, and

• Have met you before.

That way as the date gets closer, you can shoot them an email, give them a call and see how things are shaping up.

More times than not, it's those contacts which will result in new business.

During my next article I'll share the exact pipeline process that I've used to help grow my business. It works, it's cheap and it's shamefully easy to use.

But if you'd like some more ideas on how new agents can get more business during this busy Spring Selling Season, then email info@agitoconsulting.com (Subject: More Business this Spring) and we'll send out a free report on how you can do just that.

So in the meantime, get out there and start building your pipeline!

Published: May 1, 2007

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As a popular speaker and author of the resource How to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, Brian specializes in helping busy agents get more leads and close more deals - even in a market as "challenging" as this. For a free report on 2 Easy Ways to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, just email my office and we'll send it right over.