How to Effectively Turn Real Estate Leads Into Customers

Most real estate agents understand that the key to winning more listings is doing more appraisals.

However, it’s also possible to focus on improving your efficiency and turning more of those leads into new business by taking a close look at your processes.

If you’re able to find ways to fine-tune your marketing, you could dramatically improve your overall results.

Not All Leads Are Created Equal

Before you start the downward spiral of thinking that all your leads are ending up in dead ends, it’s important to remember that not everyone you come in contact with is equal in terms of when they are ready to list their house to sell.

You can have a database full of leads that will include referrals from one of your previous clients alongside a lead from someone who downloaded your ‘how to sell a house’ e-Book. Clearly, these two people might want the same thing, but one is going to be a far stronger prospect.

It’s important to make sure you qualify the leads that come in. That way, you can prioritise where you place your time and energy.

This will dramatically improve your ability to convert leads, and will also save you a lot of time. 

If you are low on leads, a great way to increase them is by utilising your social media channels for marketing efforts. To help, here are four tips to turn Facebook into one of your top real estate marketing opportunities.

Nuture Your Leads

Once you’ve been able to qualify the type of lead you’ve got, you need to take that person through your sales process. It’s often said that following up is the most important part of the process.

For a red-hot lead that wants an appraisal on their home, that means you’re going to want to act fast, do your research and prepare your marketing materials.

For an online lead, that could involve sending them information about the current state of the property market and keeping them informed of sales that are happening in their area.

However, it is always important to keep your leads as warm as possible. Just because they aren’t a lead from a direct referral doesn’t mean you should put them on the backburner.

Act Quickly

Regardless of who the lead is or where it comes from, as a real estate agent you must act quickly and reach out to that person and determine what they need.

The vast majority of listings are won by the agent who acts first, so your main job needs to be getting in contact immediately.

Solve Problems

Sales can often become just a numbers game, whereby the more people you speak to, the more business you’ll ultimately win. While that statement is true for the most part, it’s important to remember that you’re dealing with people who are likely wanting to sell their largest asset.

Regardless of how a lead comes to you, when you make contact with a new prospect, don’t just focus on making the sale, focus on listening to what they actually want and need and you’ll not only build trust, but you’ll also likely end up improving your conversions.

Ignoring Your Best Source of Leads

Oftentimes agents are so quick to want to move onto the next listings that they can forget one of the best sources of high quality leads - your past clients.

Try and find ways to stay in touch with previous clients and they will likely be fans of your work, especially if you did a great job for them.

By improving the quality of the leads coming in, your conversion rates are likely to improve.

Make the Most of Your CRM

In the current age of technology, one of your best assets is going to be your CRM. Your CRM should be able to do a lot of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to identifying where your time and energy is best spent on any given day.

Take the time to ensure that all the leads coming into the database are well organised with notes on a prospect's timeline, preferences, and any other key information.

Your CRM can help you become more efficient and will ultimately increase your conversion rate for very little extra work. Not sure your CRM makes the cut? Read through our CRM checklist to ensure your current system has everything you need.

Track Your Results

It’s always important to continue to do more of what’s working and less of what isn’t. Keep track of where all your leads are coming from across your various marketing efforts.

You’ll likely find that 20 per cent of your focus is bringing in 80 per cent of your business. Keep placing emphasis on your best sources of leads. That’s not to say that you should stop doing everything else, but if you want to improve your conversions, your best prospects should be where your time is spent.

For one of the best solutions available, turn to Eagle Software for a cutting-edge real estate CRM that allows for total automation and drives results. To see how this solution works, book a demo today. 

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