Recently I was engaged to give a one-day workshop on lead generation. As I sat there listening to my introduction, detailing my work profile and highlighting the number of years I have been working in Sales & Marketing, it suddenly struck me that most of what I was going to speak about I learned in the last two to three years. All the previous 30 odd years of working in the field were of little consequence.

It reminded me of attending a Kotler lecture a few years ago. For many, Kotler is considered the father of marketing, and he was, for many years, my marketing guru. He related a story of a former student bringing his University copy of the first edition of his seminal text book and asking him to autograph it. He refused, saying that much of what was in that book was now useless and he wouldn’t want to sign his name to it. He suggested he buy a copy of his new book, and that he autographed.

It brought home to me how much has changed in business techniques and the rate at which it is changing. Just a few years ago I myself was beginning to feel left behind, by the new breed of younger marketers. Then I stumbled across a few good videos on Digital Marketing and after a few months of studying and experimenting, I experienced an eureka moment. It just came to me, I understood how the new digital technology, especially social media and mobile technology had changed everything. The technology had flipped marketing on its head. And building on my understanding of basic principles, I was able to make significant strides and now consider myself having caught up with the front pack of runners, using the metaphor of a marathon.

The new technology has allowed the buyer to choose how they ‘spend their time’, and most of them choose to be on their mobile devices, working with, or entertaining themselves with information, when, where and how. Therefore, to find buyers, communicate with them and sell to them, starts with their mobile devices.

And since all Real Estate sales start with leads, Real Estate lead generation is rapidly moving towards mobile devices. Traditionally, lead generation involved, person to person networking, physical mail outs and ‘front yard’ signs. These are still effective but compared to generating leads on mobile devices they now come in second. As buyers come to trust their mobile devices more and more, there is a strong tendency to look to them to provide the most up to data and reliable information. They are made aware of agents and their listings on their mobile devices. And they turn to their mobile devices to find ‘most knowledgeable’ agents.

As a traditionally successful Real Estate agent or broker you will have to do, as I did, and go ‘back to school’ to learn the new mobile techniques of lead generation. And if you are a new Real Estate agent or broker, then I urge you to leap forward and ‘skip the land line’ and go to the head of the class with ‘Mobile Real Estate lead generation 2019’.