There's No Such Thing as a Bad Lead

I recently asked a room full of agents—from brand-new to those with 30 years of experience—the following question:

Are leads an issue?

The answer was surprising.

While the overwhelming response pointed to the fact that getting leads isn’t an issue, I was surprised to hear it from such a majority considering the diversity of agents in the room.

As the conversation continued, there was a wide variety of answers when it came to the quality of leads. And when I explained that there’s no such thing as a bad lead, I was met with much more objection. I was challenged in regard to the fact that it’s not leads that are the issue, but rather, the quality of the leads. I answered by explaining that the determination of the quality of one’s leads is a direct reflection of one’s leadership abilities.

Your energy, enthusiasm, knowledge of your marketplace and the real estate business itself—along with your willingness to make a difference in the lives of those leads—all speak to you, your leadership, your character and your ability to succeed at a high level or not. While I know this may be considered argumentative, it speaks to a huge issue in our industry: lack of personal responsibility.

There are hundreds—maybe thousands—of companies out there who will gladly take your money and do the things you used to do on your behalf. There’s no threat of anyone ever taking over your business or making you obsolete as long as you’re in charge and you take the time to stay in touch with your leads and your database. You must also take responsibility for what’s going on in your business, as well as what isn’t.

Leadership is about attitude, and so, too, are leads. There are no bad leads, but rather, leads that aren’t yet ready. Your willingness to nurture leads—whether through automation and systems or through an old-fashioned card file system—will determine what happens with the leads and whether or not you can get into a long-term relationship and get them to know, like and trust you.

As a leader, it’s critical that you’re enthusiastic. At the point that your lead made the inquiry, they were enthusiastic enough about what they were looking at to go through the motions. You have to bring that back, even if it’s days later when you connect. It’s a good leader that realizes that rejection is part of the growth process, so take the time to find solutions to “no” answers from your leads. Last, but not least, remember that the quality of your business is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions you ask.

One of the reasons I’m so honored to be a Master Coach at Workman Success Systems is because of our unique approach to teaching systems and operational excellence as it applies to leads and managing them.

The truth about leadership is that it begins with leadership of self, so manage your time in such a way that lead generation activities get done, that your priorities around health and relationships are achieved, and that you’re able to make time to systematize your lead management so that you have more time in the future to do more of the fun stuff.

Rick Geha of The Rick Geha Real Estate Team began his real estate career at age 22, and has been selling for over 36 years; he has run, managed or owned real estate offices for the past 23 years. His love of people and mentoring their passions has led him to a successful career as a speaker, trainer and coach. Over the past 15 years, he’s led more than 1,000 classes and workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada and has presented keynote addresses to thousands of professionals from all industries and walks of life. Rick is proud to be someone who’s spent nearly three decades helping people worldwide discover and walk their path to personal freedom and is currently a coach with Workman Success Systems. Contact him at Rick@RickGeha.com. For more information, please visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com.