How to Generate Leads in Your Real Estate Business
In recent years when real estate agents think lead generation, they only think about internet leads. Although generating leads online has become a huge part of the real estate business, don't forget about the good ole fashioned ways of generating leads. Your lead funnel should capture leads from a wide variety of sources. Never rely on just a few methods, like the internet, to generate all your leads.
Think of lead generation as casting a giant net. Everything you catch in your net will go to your funnel. As leads move through the funnel they are in the conversion process. What do you do along the way to create trust, credibility and make yourself memorable? Real estate is and always has been a relationship business. People work with people they know, like and trust.
Here are some tips for generating more leads.
- Networking – Be pro active and build your network. This means interacting with people, yes, real humans. Get out there and Network. Meetup is a great place to meet people and have some fun. Stretch yourself outside your comfort zones. Go to Chamber, City Council, HOA, etc meetings. Create groups for things that interest you, outside of real estate. People will think of you for real estate once they get to know you. Be mindful of the fine line of self-promotion and a genuine interest in helping people.
- Discipline – Be patient and persistent. Doing something once or twice will not yield results. Again, it’s work. But the agents who are willing to work hard have a built in competitive advantage. Most leads will not yield instant results. It's the agent who has systems to keep in touch and the discipline to patiently and persistently follow up, who convert those long term leads.
- Branding – First Impressions Matter – Make the right impression from the start. Make sure once you get people to your website and Blog, they want to stick around and come back. Make sure they know what value you give, why they should use your services and why they should call you. Put a well crafted video message on your home page. Get lots of testimonials.
- Follow up! – What good is a lead if you don't cultivate it? Every day that a lead goes unattended you are losing ground exponentially. The key to success with handling leads is to have an aggressive and proactive system in place, even if it’s as simple as picking up the phone and calling your lead. There's a novel idea. Did you know that most people's complaint about Realtors is that they never call them back? Make it your goal to respond within 10 minutes and maintain phone contact with leads. You will be amazed at the response you get!
- Create Value – Keep people coming back for more. Think of what people can't do for themselves. One obvious is getting in to see a house. You have the key. Focus on hot properties (areas, price range, etc) and be the place people come to find them. Be a contract expert and local law, code and HOA specialist. Know the numbers in your market and report them. Give great service and remind people that you go above and beyond.
- Video – Teach, sell and entertain. Go viral. With Apps like Animoto or Videolicious you can create quick, fun videos and upload them to your YouTube Channel. Videos do very well in the search engines and should be a key tool in your Hyperlocal Marketing strategy. Pay per click ads on Facebook promoting your video are another good tool.
- Be Everywhere – Free is good. Surf around and create a free profile anywhere you can. You have to cast a wider and wider net. Especially now that over 90% of buyers begin their search online, you need to be in as many places as possible online to create visibility. Use Hyperlocal Marketing strategies to build up your presence in key areas of focus. Traffic Generation is key. Your net should bring people to one place eventually, your personal website – the place where you cultivate the relationship. Put content on your site that will keep people coming back. Follow up and direct people back to your site.
- Numbers – It's a numbers game – You can't do one, two or even three things and expect results. You have to pick up the phone and call more people than ever to stay top of mind. You have to shake more hands and get social. You also have to have systems in place to handle larger numbers of leads and contacts so you don't drop the ball. Agents who do the most business have systems in place to capture more leads, cultivate them, convert them, close them and get more business from them.
- Ask for referrals & testimonials– Create a system for asking and THANKING for referrals. Referral marketing is one of the most effective techniques for creating steady streams of prospects and clients. Remind active clients about the things you do for them along the way so when it comes time to ask for a testimonial, they know what to say. Testimonials are a valuable tool for creating credibility and generating leads.
- Spend a little – Buy leads from lead brokers and lead companies. Decide on your budget and then research lead generation companies. Do not enter into a contract for more than a month. And don't pay for leads up front. Pay on a referral fee basis on closing. Hire someone to do Craigslist ads for you. Create printed materials and WALK your farm and hand deliver a newsletter. Outsource the things that take time away from you making face to face connections.
With our clients, our number one goal is to build an online presence that projects an image of professionalism. We work hard to show our clients as the experts in their area. Building credibility takes time and is a team effort. We work closely with our clients to build a steady stream of traffic to their websites. We manage their online presence and help them organize their systems for follow up and asking for referrals. If you are in the real estate business for the long haul, consider outsourcing your online marketing and traffic generation to us. We do the work you don't have time to do, so you can get out there and do what you do best!
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