YES Talk 311- WHEN TO GIVE UP ON A PROSPECT
2 Nov 2023 · 3 min
Kevin Ray Ward (coach) answers a question about what to do when a lead lists with another agent and the property goes under contract. He advises keeping the contact in your personal circle (A/B team) because deals can fall through, the other agent may be incompetent, and long-term relationship persistence pays off — many sellers say they'll reuse their agent but few actually do, so consistent follow-up creates future opportunities.
Chapters
So what do you do with that lead that you've been talking to, following up, and they listed with somebody else and now it's under contract and it's like they listed. Once they listed, you can't really talk to them. And now it's under contract, you may have lost them. What do you do? Hey there, it's your coach, Kevin Ray Ward. So this just happened as a great question from one of our coaching members. And they've had somebody they've been following up on the property was listed, it was just about to expire, and then went under contract. And it's like, what do I do with this relationship? What do I do with these people? Do I just keep them in my personal circle or do I let them go and throw them away? And here's the answer. You always keep them in your personal circle. Keep them in your A team for now, because several reasons. Number one, the deal could fall through and everything could blow up. And they're now looking for another agent. Now what are the odds of that happening? I don't know. 15, 20, 25%. Most agents are incompetent. Their experience is probably not going to be great. Okay? And even if they do get it closed, you keep them in your A team, continue to talk to them, continue to build a relationship. You may move them to your B team, but you keep them in your personal circle. Because in a year or two or three, when they get ready to sell again or they know somebody looking to sell again, their previous agent, they 90% chance has not ever talked to him after closing. Okay, I want to be clear on this. When, when NAR does their survey of buyers and sellers, they ask them, will you use the agent, your same agent again next time you move? And they typically, it's in the 80 percentile. 80, 85, 89% say, yeah, we'll use our same agent again. And the reality is only 11 to 13% actually use their same agent again. Okay? Over three quarter of them say, three quarters of them say, yes, we're going to use our same agent. But less than 15% actually use their agent again. Why? The agent disappears. All you got to do is be the one who maintains a relationship and you over time become their new agent, even though they've never done a deal with you. So never give up on a relationship. Because the game is a game of who stays the course, a game of consistency. It's a game of attrition. Because most agents, whoa, they're falling out. And if we lose buyer agency of these class action lawsuit and all that, and that you're going to lose 3/4 of the industry, 2/3. 3/4 of the industry are going to be gone over the next three or four years. So guess what? Those who are still standing are going to have a lot of open market share. Make sure you keep those relationships that you got.