Prospecting

Key Takeaways

• Prospecting is the ongoing work of finding potential clients, through the sphere of influence, farm mailings, referrals, and open houses, paired with a follow-up system.
• Prospecting is licensed activity in Washington. RCW 18.85.011(17)(d) counts advertising or holding oneself out to the public by any solicitation that one is engaged in real estate brokerage services as brokerage services.
• RCW 18.85.221 requires all real estate brokerage services to be conducted in the name of the real estate firm or its licensed assumed name, so prospecting pieces carry the firm's licensed name.
• A cold call is a telephone solicitation. RCW 80.36.390 requires the caller to identify themselves, the company, and the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds.

What It Means

Prospecting is the ongoing work of finding people who may become clients, then staying in front of them until they do. It covers calling a sphere of influence, mailing a farm area, asking past customers for referrals, holding an Open House, and any other deliberate method of starting conversations. The word names the activity rather than a single tactic, and a broker who does it well is running several methods at once.

The half most new brokers skip is the follow-up system. A name with no next contact date is a note, not a prospect. The course direction is to list every prospecting method the broker will use and build a system for follow-up, then load that plan into a calendar and a CRM as discrete tasks: ten calls to the sphere on Monday, five handwritten notes, a broker's open house from eleven to one. That system is what turns a lead into a Client.

Prospecting is also regulated activity in Washington, which surprises new brokers who file it under marketing. The rules reach the message before a single client exists. Our rundown of effective marketing strategies for Washington brokers covers the tactics, and the statutes below set the limits.

How It Works in Washington

Washington puts prospecting inside licensed activity. RCW 18.85.011(17)(d) includes advertising or holding oneself out to the public by any solicitation or representation that one is engaged in real estate brokerage services within the definition of real estate brokerage services. RCW 18.85.331 then makes it unlawful for any person to act as a real estate broker, managing broker, or real estate firm without first obtaining a license, and bars a suit for compensation unless the plaintiff proves it was licensed before offering to perform the transaction or procuring the promise of compensation. Read together, those two sections are why the solicitation call belongs to a licensee and not to an Unlicensed Assistant, and the license itself comes from the Washington Department of Licensing.

Whose name goes on the piece is settled by RCW 18.85.221: all real estate brokerage services shall be conducted in the name of the real estate firm or its licensed assumed name or names, and a firm must obtain a separate license for each assumed name before using it. A personal brand rides along with the firm's licensed name, it does not replace it, which is the same discipline that governs Advertising generally. Our list of seven advertising guidelines for Washington brokers works through how that plays out on a postcard or a sign rider.

Cold calling adds a layer. RCW 80.36.390 requires a person making a telephone solicitation to identify themselves, the company on whose behalf the call is made, and the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds. If the called party indicates they want to end the call, the solicitor must end it within 10 seconds, and once removal is requested the solicitor may not call that number again for at least one year.

Example

Renee is three months into her license at Sound and Summit Realty in Kent. She blocks 8:00 to 10:00 every weekday morning for prospecting and writes the plan into her CRM as recurring tasks: ten calls to her sphere of influence each morning, five handwritten notes, and one broker's open house from eleven to one on Sunday. She also picks a 220-home farm area near Lake Meridian and mails it a market update every six weeks, with the firm's licensed name on every card, because RCW 18.85.221 requires brokerage services to be conducted in the firm's name.

In week nine, one of those cards reaches Dale and Priya Okonkwo, who had been putting off a move for two years. Renee had met Dale at the September open house and logged a 30-day follow-up, so her call was a second contact rather than a cold one. She previews the house, prepares a comparative market analysis, and signs a listing agreement at $585,000. Fifty calls a week and 220 postcards produced that one listing, which is the arithmetic of prospecting and the reason the follow-up log matters more than any single tactic.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Prospecting is the whole activity of finding and following up with potential clients. Advertising is one channel inside it, and RCW 18.85.011(17)(d) sweeps public solicitation into brokerage services either way.
• A follow-up system is part of prospecting, not an optional add-on. A generated lead with no scheduled next contact produces no client.
• Prospecting pieces go out in the firm's licensed name. RCW 18.85.221 requires all brokerage services to be conducted in the name of the real estate firm or a licensed assumed name, so a personal brand alone is not enough.
• A cold call is a telephone solicitation. RCW 80.36.390 requires the caller to give their name, the company, and the purpose within the first 30 seconds, and to end the call within 10 seconds when the person asks.