Information contained in the prospect list needs to be constantly updated and expanded because people move jobs , companies go out of business , show disinterest or disrespect , habitually fail to return phone calls or emails , retire , change names , change email addresses , change business locations , etc . The “ active ” prospects in your network are the only ones that you may reliably count in determining the size of your network or lead base . Also , even with a sizeable “ active ” lead base , you may lose 20 % to 30 % of them per year for all the reasons stated . “ Warm ” leads should be perused to become “ active .”
After a reasonable time , such as 24 months of consistent followup and without response or success , you may elect to drop the prospect from your “ active ” list and discontinue active followup . Dropped leads should be replaced with “ warm ” leads that become “ active .” The other option is to email them occasionally with your standard email blast .
The quality of a prospect list can disintegrate overnight . In 2006 , my company was primarily using direct mail . We mailed about 1,000,000 letterform solicitations each month . Then , by September 2007 , the market crashed , and the leadbase list quality crashed with it .
Image by talha khalil from Pixabay
Hundreds of thousands of real estate agents , loan agents , investors , and builders / developers left the industry . My lead list immediately went up in smoke .
It was necessary to reconstruct a new list and start all over from day one . Prepare for this event ! If a crash in the quality of your leadbase occurs , consolidate the list down to your “ actives .” Email or call to verify that they are still there .
A poor strategy is to follow up the same prospects over and over , even when they display nonresponsiveness or disinterest . Lists are fluid and are constantly changing to be effective .
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
As the process becomes well lubricated through practice and experience , you can expect increasing momentum in business until you have so much business that you are forced to slow personal contacts and marketing . Assimilate the new incoming business , then get back on track .
Action Habits :
Remember the funny phrase ; “ Size Matters .” What size is your “ universe of active possibilities ?” Are there 10s , 100s , or 1,000s , of prospects that you may be able to directly or indirectly follow up or market ? You have a current network size of “ cold ,” “ warm ,” or “ hot or active ” leads . Each person that you have in your market system has a separate group of clients / prospects of their own . If you add the size of your network to the size of all the networks of each party that you market , you can establish a total or “ universe of contacts .”
The question becomes , do you and each person that you follow up have a large enough network and a consistent daily action habit to develop a sustainable and financially successful career ?
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