Follow-up in Real Estate is the big equalizer.
Are you implementing proper follow-up? Chances are you are an absolute rockstar, killing it with word of mouth and referrals. But when it comes to colder leads, a big source of frustration is the conversion rates and response from leads you received earlier in the week, and are just now contacting.
Without a doubt one of the most important pieces of being a successful realtor, lender, or broker is dominating your local market with solid follow-up. While often talked about, harped on, and sometimes beat into the ground like the proverbial dead horse, your follow-up will be what distinguishes you from all the others in your area.
According to a study done by the Harvard Business Review, leads that are contacted within 5 minutes of downloading your lead magnet, looking at the house you are promoting for sale, or have indicated that they’re interested in the service that you provide are 400 times more likely to pick up that phone when you call them and convert into a customer.
Now we all know that the often stated “speed to the lead” is incredibly important. But consider this fact… after 10 minutes of a prospect showing interest in a new home, in selling their house, or qualifying for a loan, the chances of them picking up the phone when you call them decrease significantly when compared to reaching out within the first 5. Leads contacted the next day are even less likely to pick up.
Now, everyone loves the warm lead that they get from a recommendation a family member a friend, and referrals are usually the best leads, because they already want to work with you. However, when you’re interested in scaling your business and you start reaching out to cold leads, that’s when the follow-up is just absolutely crucial.
In the case of a cold lead that is actually ready to purchase and looking for a realtor to work with, chances are they will work the first realtor to respond to them and give them the time of day. By delaying that crucial initial contact, there’s a significant chance that you are missing out and someone else is talking to the lead you paid to get.
Let’s be frank. We live in the world of Zillow, Home Advisor, Trulia, Lending Tree, and other aggregation websites where people can simply type in their name, number, and email and have their contact information blasted out to several different realtors, lenders, and brokers in any one area. This is what I like to call the Zillow effect, scrambling to fight over the same leads that are getting contacted by multiple different people at the same time.
This also highlights the importance of being able to generate a consistent amount of exclusive leads for you to follow up with. While there’s no guarantee that these leads won’t also be putting in their information in other places, it provides you with a bit more of an advantage.
Use Messenger Chatbots and CRM automation to help.
So here in lies the rub… how are you supposed to contact every new lead within 5 minutes of them expressing interest in your promoted listing, contacting you on Facebook, or opting in to your lead magnet online? This is where messenger chatbots, CRM systems an automated email sequences can really help you elevate your game, as well as your conversion rates.
Many, if not most modern CRM systems have the ability to set up automated text responses, email sequences, and sometimes even send ringless voicemail drops to prospects that express interest or opt into your offer. Some of these systems can even be templated to look as if they’re personalized to the individual prospect.
While you should always always always, whenever possible, reach out to a new prospect on the phone as soon as you get a lead, setting up these automation sequences will also help significantly.
But what what should you be doing in these follow-up sequences? What will really set you apart from every other real estate professional in the field?
Education of leads sets apart good Real Estate follow-up from bad.
The answer to that question would be education of leads. Especially in the case of new home buyers, more often than not they don’t even know that they’re able to buy a home, or that they can actually qualify to buy a home. This is where you come in, like a real estate superhero, and establish yourself as an authority in your local area.
For realtors and brokers, absolutely partner with a local lender that will provide you with materials to educate first time home buyers about all of their options, and how they can qualify for a new home. One of the biggest pain points that realtors can solve is the issue of renting.
While yes, not every prospect is qualified to own a home for various reasons, most people do dream of home ownership. If you provide the education and knowledge, and help guide them along the path, when they are ready to purchase they will come to you, because you have established yourself as an authority with your awesome follow up.
Be the “go to” guy or gal to supercharge you lead generation.
Does this require more time and effort on the part of the agent? No doubt about it. However, we’re getting to a point where the the key differentiation between those who do a significant amount of deals, and those who do not, is the follow-up process.
Online lead generation is a fantastic way to scale your business, build your brand, and establish your authority as the real estate subject matter expert in your area. But without proper follow-up, those efforts will be significantly less effective.
One of my favorite things to do (aside from generating tons of leads) for my real estate pros is help them identify where they’re failing in their follow-up process. Often times it’s their speed to the lead, or a lack of a follow-up system.
If you are ready to start crushing it, generating the leads that you need to scale your business, or you have the desire to build a team and want some help getting these follow-up sequences automated, click on the button below to get in touch.
So answer me this in the comments below… what are you doing right in your follow-up sequence, and how do you think you can improve?
