Why Your Farm Isn’t Producing Enough Real Estate Leads

There’s no doubt about it. It’s frustrating to be working a geographic farm and getting few, if any, good real estate agent leads. You think you’re doing everything right but the results just aren’t panning out.

Should you give up and move on?

Not necessarily. There are many reasons why your geographic farming efforts may not be working. And the good news is, many of these can be remedied.

Consider the following.

• Low turnover. If you got just two listings in the past year from your farm, and only four homeowners there have listed, then you’re batting .500. That’s more than the highest paid slugger in the MLB! So, it’s important to compare the results you’re getting with the current turnover. Turnover plays a big role. If it’s low, then you’re not going to get that many listings no matter how effectively you farm the area. If turnover is low now but likely to increase in the years to come, you could be in the ideal position to generate a lot of leads down the road. So, like a good mutual fund, you’ll want to stay invested. If turnover is too low, and bound to stay that way for years to come, then consider shifting your focus to a potentially more fruitful farm.

• Too much competition. Sometimes an area has an ideal turnover rate with plenty of potential new listings coming up every year. The trouble is, it’s being farmed by everyone! So, it’s difficult to stand out and get noticed. There are a couple of things you can do in this situation. One, you can move on to a less competitive farm. Or, two, you can out-farm the competition to eventually “own” that area. There are plenty of examples of competitive farms where one or two agents get the lion’s share of the listings. How do you out out-farm the competition? With a great geographic farming system.

• Forgetting the Snowball Effect. On an actual farm, you wouldn’t expect to reap a harvest in June if you only planted seeds in May! The same is true of real estate geographic farming. To use another analogy, it’s like a snowball rolling down a hill. It starts off very small but, in time, gradually grows bigger and bigger. If you’re disappointed with your farming results so far, think about how long you’ve been diligently working the area. If it’s only been a few months, then don’t give up. You may be on the cusp of starting to see some good real estate leads coming in.

• Inconsistent Contact. Next to low turnover, the most common reason for an agent not getting enough leads from a farm is inconsistent contact. It’s not enough to knock on doors every so often and mail a few postcards. You need a consistent, month by month, series of communications that keep your name top-to-mind and positions you as the go-to agent. Only a comprehensive real estate marketing system can do that for you.

Bottom line: if you’re concerned about your farming results, don’t give up on the area until you’ve reviewed and carefully considered all these possible reasons.