How to Consistently Generate More Leads
It’s important for real estate professionals to maintain a healthy pipeline of leads. When the market is like it is right now, you may feel like you already have too many leads to handle. But unless you’re always prepared with a healthy lead pipeline, you could be surprised at how quickly the situation changes. Prepare for the unpredictable nature of the real estate market with an arsenal of lead generating tactics always in full swing. Here are a few tips and strategies to help you generate more leads for your real estate business:
1. What Are the Best Leads?
Before you try to strategize how you will get more leads for your business, it’s important to know what the best kinds of leads are. What are the best leads, you ask? The very best leads aren’t from online (the kind you would purchase through paid advertising). The best leads are from the people with whom you’ve already developed a meaningful relationship with. If you’re starting from ground zero with no connections, start with the people you already know; tell your family members, friends, former colleagues, anyone else you feel is appropriate that you are starting a career in real estate. Be patient with your “pre-real estate” relationships, though. It can take months, even years, for people to trust you as a real estate agent. Nurturing these new and current relationships will generate more referrals and repeat business.
2. Call Clients
Make it a habit to speak with roughly 50 or more clients each week. Don’t just leave a message hoping they’ll return the call, make it a point to reach them and have a conversation. If you work a standard 5-day work week, that’s only 10 calls a day to clients. It’s a small gesture that can go a long way for your business. Create time blocks at a certain time each day to make these calls so they don’t get shuffled to the side when something more important comes along. The morning is usually the best time to reach everyone before they become busy with their own schedules throughout the day.
3. Meet New People
Whether you are new to the real estate industry or you’re feeling discouraged with your current connections, it’s always a great idea to expand your network and meet new people. It’s not too late to set a new year’s resolution of meeting new people this year – so log off social media and get out the door! Make it your mission to get face-to-face with new people as often as possible. Some ways you can meet new people is volunteering, talking to neighbors, joining a gym or other activities in your community, and attending real estate events. These are just a few examples, but think outside of the box to think about how you can reach more people who might be interested in your services. Don’t wait for them to find you, find them first so you’ll be top of mind when they do need you.
4. Don’t Neglect Leads
Did you show a prospect a few properties before they realized they weren’t ready to buy? Don’t throw their contact information out! Even though this prospect may have not been ready, they may have other connections in their life who are ready. Keep them on your email list as long as they allow you to, send them postcards and/or informational content sharing developments in the market, and you can even leave the occasional voicemail reminder that you’d love to help them find their perfect home when they’re ready. It’s important to not be redundant or come off annoying to these kinds of leads. It’s a good rule of thumb to not repeat your close if you’ve already pitched it to them once before. Instead of nudging a stalled buyer every few months with “Ready to buy yet?”, try asking instead: “Would you be interested in joining our seminar for first-time home buyers?”. This is a much easier close and will keep your leads from feeling uncomfortable or pressured.
5. Stay Top of Mind
You’ve worked on your relationship with current clients, built on relationships with people you already knew, and you’ve made an effort to meet new people and get their contact information, now what? The next step is to put together a strategy for strengthening those relationships and staying top of mind. In addition to the phone calls and the occasional face-to-face interactions, you can nature and further grow your contacts through content marketing. Share valuable and useful information that will be relevant to your contacts and demonstrate your expertise. You can share content through email, social media, blog posts, postcards and thank-you cards, and even text messages. Figure out how each of your contacts prefers to hear from you. You can use the analytic tools on your CRM or your social media platforms to look at your demographics and other analytics that will help you figure out how to better reach your audience.
