A lot of times people ask me what they can do to be a better salesperson and more effectively grow their business. And while I certainly don't have a silver bullet, one size fits all answer, I will bring up something Realtors™ can do right now that can have a significant impact on their business.

"What's that?" you might be thinking.

Become more proficient in differentiating "good" prospects from ones that are less so. In other words, if a friend of yours provides a referral, then right off the bat our natural assumption is that this is a "good" prospect.

Meaning they've probably expressed a desire to get another home. They usually have an idea as to where they want to buy it, and generally speaking, they're serious about moving the process forward.

Again, all the components of what a "good" prospect looks like.

But for the sake of discussion, let's say that after contacting this person and talking to them a few times, it becomes apparent they aren't nearly as far along in the process as you thought. Sure they say they want to buy a house, and yes they took a little time to talk with you over coffee, but every time you follow up to show them some neighborhoods, they're either distracted while talking on the phone, or are so busy right now that they "need to call you back".

Except that call back never happens.

And not only that, but after doing this for the past few weeks, you're still not sure if they're any closer to buying a home than they were 2 months ago when they first got started.

At this point, you are now working with a "bad" prospect. Not a bad person necessarily, just an individual who's no longer a good fit for buying or selling a home over the next few months.

Which again isn't a problem: Different people have different timelines for when they want to move forward with different things in their lives, and buying a home is no exception. The problem comes in when you spend a bunch of your time, money and effort trying to get them to move forward when, for whatever reason, they don't want to.

As opposed to spending that same effort on finding the people who do want to move forward within those same few months.

And it's making that distinction – which prospects are serious about the process and which aren't – that can go a long way towards your eventual success during this current downturn.

I mean let's think about it: During a down market, you don't have nearly as many resources, economic or otherwise, at your disposal. This means that the time, money and effort that you do have has to be spent on people who are serious about the process.

It can't be spent on people who say they're interested in buying a home, or talk about how much they'd like to buy a home. Instead, it needs to be spent on people whose actions show you that they're actually interested in buying a home – not just looking like it.

Anyone else is just a drain on your precious resources.

And believe me, that's a hard lesson to learn in a down market like this, because by definition we don't have enough prospects to begin with. So when we do find one, our natural inclination is to hold on to them for dear life, and just keep hoping they will eventually decide to pull the trigger. Even though very little has been demonstrated in that regard.

But here's the thing: Successful agents realize they can't change people's behavior or desire to do something. But they can go out and redouble their efforts in finding more people who actually are serious for buying a home over the next few months.

So instead of sitting around complaining about the situation or calling this referral every other day, they think to themselves, "All right, it looks like this person wasn't as serious as I originally thought, so let me go out and find some more people who are." And as counter intuitive as it may sound, it's that thought right there that can help you survive this market. So what else can you do instead of banging around with those "bad" prospects? How about network at the Chamber of Commerce or other areas within your local business community? What about following up with some of your past clients to see if they know anyone who's ready to buy or sell a home? Or what about even having a conversation with your original "good" prospect (who's now gone "bad"), and ask them what their timeline is. You don't want to be accusatory or demanding, but a frank conversation about what they're looking to do and when they think it will happen is absolutely acceptable in my book.

Who knows what's changed that they might not have told you.

The point is to do something thing that will move your business forward.

And speaking of moving forward, if you'd like some more ideas on how to get more business in today's tough market, just email info@agitoconsulting.com (Subject: Today's Tough Market), and we'll be sure to send out our free report right away.

Because remember, successful Agents do things that make them successful…and the opposite is also true. So go out there and do something that will make you successful today!

Published: July 8, 2009

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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.