It can be rather difficult, in today’s complicated and competitive environment, to generate sufficient leads on properties that will convert. Maybe no one’s visiting your site or reading your blog. Or perhaps cold-calling and going door to door isn’t panning out the results that you need.
Luckily, there are a few practices you can keep in mind as you attempt to increase your leads. These may seem obvious, but they work and will benefit you, your leads, and your business as a whole.
1: Get Referrals and Reviews
A type of marketing that isn’t in any danger of going out of style is word of mouth. Being able to generate positive buzz about your business is of paramount importance, even in (or perhaps especially in) this digital age.
According to an article from the Consumerist, about 70 percent of customers rely on reviews before making a purchase or decision. This is due to the near-endless options available to people. Buyers—or in our case, sellers—are, according to the article, “looking to others, peers and strangers alike, to glean from their opinions and experiences in order to validate the[ir] choices.” Use this to your advantage. Get clients to give you positive reviews you can showcase to draw others to your professional, reliable services. This doesn’t take much time or effort on your part, but the potential rewards are great.
People place noteworthy stock in online reviews, but those are frequently from total strangers. There can be an understandable amount of skepticism in regards to trusting online reviews from people you don’t know. Pair reviews with referrals. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that approximately 64 percent of home sellers found a real estate agent through a referral from close friends, family, or even neighbors—in other words, trusted, personalized sources. All you have to do is stay connected with past contacts and maintain relationships, which can take time but is an excellent investment.
These high percentages have the potential for high conversion and should be a regular, integral part of your sales tactic as an agent.
2: Don’t Fear Different Kinds of Leads
Sometimes the best way to increase your leads is to think outside the box. Never take a possible lead for granted, be it expired real estate listings, an FSBO, or a divorce case (RCS-D). Aim for people who are truly motivated to sell—those who want to get out of their house as soon as possible.
However, be careful not to be too overbearing; rather, be patient and sympathetic, as these kinds of leads can find people in difficult emotional circumstances. But just because they can be more taxing in one sense doesn’t mean that they should be ignored. They’re out there, waiting for the right agent to come along and help them make the sale, so be that agent.
3: Go Digital
Everyone is online, and you should be too if you’re going to reach the maximum possible number of clients. Have a website (with reviews) and even a blog. But there’s more that can be done with the Internet in regards to marketing and spreading your message and your business.
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Get on social media. Beyond just plugging that you’re a real estate agent in every other conversation—don’t do this, as it’s annoying—you can actually use certain program to advertise yourself. Get better response rates with Facebook Messenger ads (creating real-time conversations), use LinkedIn search options to locate promising leads, and send out real estate hashtags on Twitter. These are just a few options out of hundreds available with social media.
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Use prominent platforms. Most buyers and sellers rely on Zillow and other real estate sites—house hunting is a prominent part of the field. As such, you should be active on the biggest sites, with profiles and perhaps even premier accounts to up your lead numbers.
Market to mobile. These days, phones are where many go for communication, be it surfing Twitter, texting, or checking email. If that’s where people are spending their time, that’s where you want to be. Create email campaigns with services like Mailchimp or be even more direct with automated text messages, which can be arranged for you by quality CRM services.
