Why are we always worried about finding leads? When you sit back and think about it for a moment, there is no scarcity of leads. There are too many, and that's the problem.

The first challenge is slowing down to decipher what a good lead is. When I considered how the business works, it was inevitable that I had to admit that without listings, there is no business.

Given that, the best lead is a listing lead. Every time I say that, I get a lot of negative feedback from agents with a big Internet buyer sales machine, but it doesn't change the truth about how the business works.

And by the way, like any top producer, I got sucked into the Internet buyer lead craze, and when I look back, I regret the lost time to pursue a better lead generation model.

My first step was to end my denial that some of the lead sources our business "gifts" us were bad. For far too long, I kept telling myself that Expired listings were lousy leads and that I was never going to grovel for listings. Wow was that dumb.

The simple truth is that an expired listing is a failure to consummate a deal and I suddenly realized that I could really help these people get their property sold so they could move on with their lives.

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that this mindset shift helped me create the best listing business I've ever had. If you need the proof, go here and look at my featured properties: https://thegriffin.co/featured-listings/

Most of those listings were previously expired and or we met the sellers from the new listings we created from those original expireds. I'm sure you'll also notice how expensive those listings are! Yes, real luxury listing leads hiding in plain site.

Without going too far down the rabbit hole about listing leads, suffice it to say that you could add Probate leads (someone had passed and left an administrator in charge of the real estate in the estate) and FSBO leads (For-Sale-By-Owner). In both cases, these sellers need proper insight and guidance as well.

Before you dismiss this post, let it challenge you. I wish I had done that much earlier in my career. By the way, it doesn't require a big resume; look at 21-year-old Annabelle Pereira, whose first listings were above the median price on our marketplace. (https://thegriffin.co/agent/annabelle-pereira/#agentTabs3)

Although there are many ways to procure new business, it's best to start with leads that are hiding in plain sight.