There seems to be a feeling of security in having a lead. We feel warm and good about our situation and ourselves if we have leads. The problem is leads don’t put braces on kids’ teeth, put food on the table, or make the house payment, let alone allow that exotic trip to a secluded South Pacific island. When we truly evaluate leads, they have little value in dollars.

What are the leads you currently have worth? What are the leads you have in your database, the ones you mail to constantly, worth? What would someone pay you for those leads? When I say “pay” I mean in cash, today.

Most leads are worth very little. The reason is they have rarely been qualified or picked over with the ones that are not worth saving being given their unconditional release. Often, we handle and hang on to our leads as we would our grandmother’s china. But leads should be put under fire to see how strong they are. When you put something under fire, you find out if it’s pure. If you were to heat gold up to a very high temperature, you would see the impurity in it. You could then work to remove the impurity or decide to throw the whole thing out and start over. Leads need to be handled the same way.

If you don’t put your leads under the fire of scrutiny, you will never know their value. The quality of your business is not in the number of leads you have; the quality of your business is based on the quality of the leads you have today, right now! I would rather have two strong, qualified leads that want to buy or sell in the next week than twenty-five leads that I have not qualified. The two are worth money; they will allow me to get paid now. The twenty-five are worth nothing. The two are mine; they are working with me. The twenty-five are probably in twenty other Agents’ databases, as well. Think about it — what client will generate enough income for twenty Agents?

We all struggle with complacency in our lives; complacency is part of human nature. But complacency is something we must guard against at all times. The best guard is to remove yourself from situations that could increase your complacency. Having twenty-five leads will make you think, “I have enough.” But if you have only two leads, you will go out and look for more; you will put effort into finding other good leads. Truly, you have more with the two than with the twenty-five. Not investing your time into people who are not going to buy or sell separates “Champion” Agents from the rest.

Being highly skilled at qualifying the people you come into contact with really means the difference between just making a living in real estate and becoming wealthy. Time is our most precious commodity, and if you invest your time in people who will not give you a financial return, you will have periods of struggle in your sales career.

You must have the courage to qualify your leads. It takes courage to ask the questions that will ferret out those leads that lead nowhere. It takes courage to walk away from someone who may buy a home in the next millennium, while you look for someone who will buy or sell now. It takes courage to ask the tough questions that may cause your prospect to squirm and feel uncomfortable. But for the sake of your finances, your self-respect, and your family, you must have the courage to qualify your leads daily. And if you find that, after qualifying your leads, you don’t have enough of them, go and find more leads and qualify them all.

We all wish there were an easy path to the top of the mountain. Ultimately, though, to get to the top, or even to begin to move up the mountain, you have to climb. You have to risk where you are today to get where you want to go. You have to qualify and get rid of the poor leads, so you can really focus in on the good ones. Remember, no one ever stole second base while having one foot still on first.