What I Learned About Sales From Fruit

Let me start this post by saying...I am a terrible gardner. Saying I lack any tint of green in my thumb is a tragic understatement. I am SO bad at gardening, that I don't have to water my plants because their tears take care of it for me. My pots even die.
When I DO accidentally get a bud of a strawberry, I only get 1 or 2 microstrawberries a year, and I always say the same thing. "It's not worth all the work."
So when I need fresh fruit...to the grocery store I go. I spend more per piece, but I don't have to wait. Someone else went through the painstaking process of planting, watering, tending to, and harvesting the fruit so I could have it. I am essentially paying someone else to do it for me.
Real Estate Sales works the same way.
When new agents ask me how to get leads, I tell them there are two ways...
First - You Can Be A Gardener
This involves meeting people, having conversations, and nurturing them over years and years by adding value, being a resource, and staying top of mind.
You might harvest some deals right away, but more than likely, it is going to take some time. Obviously, the better a gardener you are, the quicker the harvest will come. This is a skill you build over time. It takes ALOT of patience, and no matter how hard you push, you CANNOT speed up the process.
This is how I get my business. I like to be a gardener for leads, because I feel connected to every lead that comes in. This is a rewarding process, much like growing your own fruit.
Second - You Can Be A Grocery Shopper
Insert your favorite lead source here. Maybe you buy leads from a website. Maybe you pay for referrals. Maybe you get leads from your team and pay for them. These are the grocery stores. Someone else is planting, waterting, nurturing, and harvesting for you.
There is nothing wrong with paying for leads. In fact...when you are starving, and dont have time to grow your own leads, the grocery stores can be life savers!!! Some stores even let you pay for your fruit after you eat it (pay at close lead sources.)
I do pay agents who refer me deals, so that is my grocery shopping.
Which one is better? In my opinion, if I was starting all over, I would buy some fruit, and then use the seeds from that fruit to grow my own garden. After a few years of buying seeds and watering them, you will have a flush field of fruit to harvest later in your career.
Are you a grocery shopper or a gardender? Whichever it is, if you are looking for more tips on how to be a successful real estate agent,
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