Reposted with permission from Rachael Hite. 

Barbecues, vacations, long days by the pool — summer is upon us. But with all these fun activities, it’s easy to lose sight of your future goals. To help you get through this year’s scorchers, we’ve put together a simple summer prospecting checklist to make sure you don’t come back from summer vacation with an empty pipeline.

1. Follow up

Go back through your leads from the beginning of the year. Remember all those people who said they were going to list or buy, but then they got busy and you got busy?

Pick up the phone and call them. Leave a text instead of a voicemail. Email them with some current market stats, and send them a handwritten note if you have their physical address, .

2. Farm for new business

I know that it is hard to make time for new business when you are busy, but prospecting is an essential part of breaking the roller coaster cycle.

It is feast or famine for the many agents who do not have a great system in place. Make a commitment to do something after every transaction to maximize referrals or grab new business.

Old school business tactics such as “Just sold” and “Under contract in X days” still work.

You know what doesn’t work? Doing nothing.

3. Call back all leads

Lead generation experts are saying it will take an average of five to six communication attempts to reach leads. I have found that many new agents are finding luck with third-party site leads who state that they tried to contact the listing agent several times and never heard back.

Every call and inquiry could be a potential client for your fall and winter pipeline. It is easy to get busy with a hot listing and multiple offers, but do not let future customers fall through the cracks because you are too busy to return all calls.

If this is impossible for you, it is time to hire a full-time administrative assistant or partner up with a buyer’s agent.

4. SPF 100 your current business

If you are headed out of town, make sure to reach out to all clients before you leave. Next, make sure you have a dedicated agent to fill your shoes while you are away.

Customers do not care that you do not have cell service down at the beach. When there is a problem, they want it addressed right away. Make sure to empty your voicemail and return necessary emails each evening you are away.

There is nothing worse than having an emergency and trying to contact an agent who has a full voicemail box. Business should continue at the same pace and with the same level of customer service.

Make sure to have systems in place, or you may get burned while you are soaking up rays on the beach.

5. Make the list

Before you leave, write down five past clients or sphere of influence contacts that you need to connect with, and put that on your desk for when you return.

Contacting those people should be your first task when you get back. This way, you know you have a game plan for prospecting as soon as you return.

Are you ready to prospect this summer? What are your favorite ways to keep motivated during peak vacation season?

By day, Rachael Hite helps agents develop their business. By night, she’s tweeting and blogging for listingdepot.com.

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