Knowing how to nurture your leads is one of the most critical skills successful real estate agents possess. While every agent has a different way of doing business, it's imperative to be proactive and creative with lead nurturing to stay ahead of the competition.
Below we’re sharing how to nurture leads and convert them into customers. Whether you’re using a lead generation agency, or relying on your own marketing methods, the ideas that follow can go a long way in helping you achieve more success as a real estate agent.
Authentic Communication Is Key
The first and most critical element of communicating with leads is authenticity wins every time. Successful real estate agents know you can't just send a simple email and expect your customers to buy from you. You need to provide them with information that they find valuable and then present the option of buying a home or property at the end of the communications cycle. It’s like dating in a way. You don’t propose marriage on the first date and expect a yes!
Realtor leads want more information before they're ready to buy a home, but this means that you have to keep tabs on them and contact them regularly. Utilizing the proper marketing methods can make all the difference in you becoming a top real estate agent.
Real Estate Lead Management - List Segmentation is Necessary
Managing your leads list can be hard if you don't have a way of tracking who visits your website or fills out a form, which is why lead management systems such as Agent Legend are so helpful. Using one will help you stay organized and keep your leads cataloged even if they don't buy right away. Agent Legend makes it easy to keep in touch with your leads even when they're not ready to buy. Once they are ready, because you’ve been in contact, you'll be the first person they think of!
Leveraging Your Influence
The most successful real estate agents understand that their sphere of influence is their bread and butter. This can look like asking people who are already connected to you to spread the word about what you're selling via social media or phone calls. It can also mean offering discounts on properties or services in exchange for referrals.
While other means of marketing yourself as a real estate agent is great for branding and can help you acquire hot leads that you can nurture, there is nothing quite like a referral and word of mouth. After all, people are more likely to buy from a friend than from a stranger.
The best way to turn your influence into a hot lead is to provide something that your ideal prospects want. If you’re selling, it needs to be at a price they can afford. If you are trying to land listings, the perks need to meet the client’s sales expectations (i.e. how much their property is worth, what they will take home, and your commission fees).
Leveraging Other's Influence
This is a wonderful way to get more eyes on your business and connect with more potential customers. Instead of spending money on leads, give a local influencer or blogger some information – whether a guest post or just a link to your website – that will benefit them, and then ask if they'd mind sharing the article.
Creating a Free Gift/Workshop
Creating an eBook or other gift is one of the easiest ways to start building your real estate email list. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. For example, you could team up with a local home stager and teach a free workshop on staging a home to help it sell faster.
You'll need to have some sort of opt-in form on your website so you can capture email addresses and other pertinent data for future communication. Once you have a list of email addresses, start sending out short newsletters to the subscribers, letting them know how things are going, and when you have a new book/webinar/offer, send it to all of your readers at once via a newsletter.
Aiming for Local Influence
You can also reach out to local businesses that are relevant to your product or service and ask if they'd be willing to share some of your content with their social media followers in exchange for something from you too. You can find local businesses to partner with through social media groups in your area and by asking around at networking events and other business-related gatherings.
How to Get Even More Referrals
The Close reported that, “The typical Realtor receives upward of 30% of their business from repeat clients or referrals.” And yet, even with this statistic, only 11 percent of real estate agents ask for them!
Successful real estate agents understand that the number one way for getting even more referrals is simply to ask. Ask every person you have worked with. When you ask a client for referrals, it allows them to think about the time they had while working with you and whether they would be happy to recommend someone else.
If they are unwilling, ask them why? They might clue you into a way to improve your business! Of course, if they are willing, you have one more source for new prospects.
Pro Tip: Your past clients will be more likely to say yes if you give them something in return.
Whether it’s an incentive like a gift card to eat, or a percentage of the sale, offer something that gives them skin in the game. Then, once you’ve acquired the new lead, begin nurturing it immediately in hopes of making more sales and gaining an unending flow of leads.
Want help keeping your lead list organized? The secret weapon of successful real estate agents is Agent Legend. Get started for free and get on the fast track to becoming a legend in real estate!
