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You can lead your client to a house, but you can't make him buy.

As a licensed Realtor, you know that lead generation can bring you business. However, it's not always easy to get real estate leads; when you do get them, they don't always work out. With odds like this, you need to delve into what makes good leads and what makes bad leads - and you need to know how to make the most out of all of them.

I feel your pain. Once upon a time, I was a licensed Realtor; like you, I fretted over leads on a daily basis. My e-mail inbox was inundated daily with offers to purchase lead generation services and my cell phone rang off the hook with calls from telemarketers begging me to spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars to sign up for their "guaranteed" leads.

Before I became a Realtor, I worked for the Dark Side: I was a telemarketer for a lead generation service. I learned a lot about good leads and bad leads (and everything in between) - and I became an expert on how Realtors can make the most of any leads.

When you get a real estate lead, it isn't always from someone who's actually in the market. You may find that you hear a lot of, "Oh, I'm not actually looking," and "I just wanted some information." Although any exposure is good exposure, you've just wasted your valuable time making that call if you don't leave them with something to remember you by.

VALUE
Regardless of how you got the lead (even if they're not in the market at all), you can still take the opportunity to turn it into business. While you're e-mailing or personally contacting a real estate lead, offer your potential client something of value. Just offering them access to your MLS database isn't worth giving up all of their personal information any more - they can get that somewhere else without entering their phone number and e-mail address these days.

Something of real, tangible value will make sure that you're getting the most exposure possible. Think about those little calendars that stick to the refrigerator; consider mouse pads and ink pens. These things cost a pittance compared with some of the lead generation tools out there - and they're something that will be seen every day. According to the National Association of Realtors, a potential client sees these things and equates them with credibility - you've somehow managed to establish more credibility than the next Realtor on the list.

HOW TO HANDLE THE LEAD
Naturally, you want to follow up on leads as quickly as possible. If the client has found you

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