The real estate industry is one of the most competitive around. Agents can't afford to be in the dark about what their competitors are doing to generate leads and get more listings. Traditionally cold calling, door knocking, sitting open houses and direct mail were the most popular ways to generate leads. Of course, one can't forget sphere of influence and family and friends for referrals. If these methods of prospecting are working for you, that's great. But these brut force prospecting techniques take a lot of time and may not generate enough leads for you to have a constant stream of people ready to do business with you. Some agents have found a way to do just that. And once they follow up on those leads, they are able to get more listings using the same system that captured the lead in the first place. Here's how they are doing it.

By using automated call capture systems, agents are able to generate leads 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They are doing this by offering quality information to people looking to buy or sell their home. It is that simple. For most people, buying and selling a home is confusing, stressful and maybe even a little scary. Most people will likely feel like they are drowning in an ocean of things that they do not know or understand. By offering free reports on their call capture system such as 10 Questions You Must Absolutely, Positively Get Answered Before Selling Your Home and The 4 Most Important Things You Should Know Before Buying a Home, agents can present themselves as an expert willing to help. Savvy real estate agents offer these kinds of reports in ads, on sign riders, postcards and even on the back of their business cards. When the buyer or seller calls the toll free number call capture system to receive their free report, their name, address and phone number are all captured for the agent to follow up on. Once the agent has a face to face appointment with the prospect looking to sell their home, their call capture system also helps to make sure they leave that appointment with the listing.

One of the hardest parts of being a successful real estate agent is differentiating yourself from the rest of the pack. When an agent using a call capture system shows up for their listing presentation, they are going to be able to show the prospective clients how he or she is not just like all the other fish in the sea. Before going to the listing presentation, the agent will record the information about the home into one of their call capture system extensions and also load a listing flyer or floor plan of their home. Once at the potential client's home, the agent tells them that they will be offering free-24/7-recorded information on their home. The agent then directs the homeowners to go ahead and call the toll free number with the extension for their home. They are impressed with the recorded information and the ability to have a faxed listing flyer with even more information automatically sent to them. The homeowner can even press a key to speak to the agent and when the agent's phone rings right then and there, they feel confident that the agent is going to be ready and available to speak to potential buyers. More often than not, that agent is going to leave that appointment with a new listing.

There are tried and true lead generation tools that real estate agents use like cold calling, door knocking, sitting open houses and direct mail. And now there is also call capture. Agents all over the country are finding call capture to be a great lead generation tool as well as a great hook for getting new listings. If you are not using call capture in your business, you will want to check it out for yourself. This is one boat you don't want to miss.