When it comes to leads, are you a leader or a follower? Do you have a strategy for finding prospects and turning them into customers and referrals? Regardless of their origin, it is important to make the most of the leads that come your way.
Here are seven strategies endorsed by eNeighborhoods to help you get the most out of your lead management program and turn those prospects into customers and referrals!
1. Show your neighborhood knowledge
The Internet has whetted customers’ appetites for all kinds of real estate information. Educated buyers and sellers make the best customers, but the Web has also raised customer expectations. Many consumers master the search for information on their own and are no longer impressed by folders full of MLS and printed web pages.
Agents who provide relevant local information can quickly build lasting relationships with customers. When you bolster individual property information with knowledge of the neighborhood buyers are interested in, including school, crime, home prices, and resident demographic information, you demonstrate a level of expertise few agents can match. By positioning yourself as a neighborhood expert, you avoid pinning your hopes of doing business on one property.
2. Timing is everything
Most people end up doing business with the first real estate agent they talk to, so quick response is crucial. Research shows that many people expect a response from real estate agents within an hour of requesting information. Many brokerages now reward agents who respond quickly with additional leads or other incentives.
Your strategy should include a plan for both the initial response and continued contact. For example, your goal may be to answer phone calls within two hours and emails within the same business day.
Create a professional tracking package
Many agents prefer to establish face-to-face contact as soon as possible with an introductory information pack. Be sure to have both your presentation materials and leave-behind materials ready. Your tracking package may include:
– A cover letter / thank you letter summarizing your initial contact
– Your resume, including professional accreditations such as REALTOR®
– Relevant reports, such as CMA and neighborhood reports
– Examples of marketing materials, including brochures and newsletters
4. Have a unique value proposition
All agents understand the importance of creating a unique impression, but it’s more important to make prospects feel unique. After a brief introduction, the best agents shift their focus to making Guides feel like the center of the universe. To convert leads into sales, personalize materials and presentations as much as possible. Put your client’s name on sample brochures and reports. For a knockout meeting, take a digital photo of the prospect’s home beforehand and incorporate it into your pitch materials.
5. Make it mobile
Even if you don’t know a Blackberry from a Bluetooth, it’s important to maintain a “mobile office” for responsiveness. More than ever, it’s important for brokers and agents to do their jobs—manage phone calls, client contacts, and access listing information—without being tethered to a desk.
It’s easy for potential customers on the Web to submit multiple requests for information, and the agent with the quickest response often wins the business. There can be a learning curve involved in adopting mobile technology, but agents who can instantly get current property information from a phone or PDA are one step ahead of those who need to call the office.
6. Divide and conquer
While some prospects are close to buying or selling, many are clearly in the research or evaluation stage. Some brokerage firms have developed separate strategies for hot prospects and those with longer time horizons. Some have automated lead management systems or staff dedicated to prioritizing and distributing leads, but this task often falls to individual agents.
Regardless of who is managing leads, an efficient qualification and distribution strategy can help increase conversion rates. Even in a smaller office, having a system in place can help you respond faster and zero in on more qualified leads. If you’re buying a lead generation service, take a look at how lead management is handled and whether it fits the way you work.
7. Track the quality and cost of leads
The best home solution for you will depend on your goals, business requirements, budget, and your style of work. You may need to evaluate several lead sources and management strategies before finding the one that best suits your individual needs.
It takes time to track the lifecycle of individual leads, but it’s the only way to get the most out of your investment. It is certainly preferable to a lead generation strategy that falls short of your expectations. Be sure to schedule a reasonable amount of time for your evaluation period. A solution that works well at first may not work consistently over time.
This article is an excerpt. See the full report, Seven secrets to convert real estate prospects into clientsa [http://www.58freeleads.com/report.asp]