Most experienced real estate agents will agree that a buyer or seller leads is little more than an opportunity, and the farthest thing from any guaranteed generator for your business. What you do with your leads – and more specifically whether or not you convert them into clients and then close them as home sold / bought – has always been what’s distinguished the average realtor from one’s who regarded as being especially successful.
Here at Real Estate Leads, we know the value of our service for getting more leads as a real estate agent but we also understand that, again, we’re only providing you with more in the way of those opportunities.
So the objective becomes clear; how do you maximize your conversion rates? The first question you need to ask, though, is to what extent are you making that a priority? If you’ve been in the business long enough you’ll know that there a great many realtors for whom a high conversion rate is regarded as ‘nice if you can have it’ and not an absolute necessity. They’re usually fortunate to have a reason for such indifference, but if you’re one of the majority for whom it’s absolutely essential to be successful with your business then you’re well advised to read on.
The F Pairs are Everything
Converting real estate leads and closing more sales all come down to two things – follow-up and fulfillment. As regards the first of those two, one of the things a realtor needs to understand and embrace is that you must follow up with you clients, and that’s working with the understanding that 8+ of every 10 clients is not going to be the one taking the initiative for second contact.
If you’re not the type who feels comfortable being the one that initiates a follow up with a client, especially ones that didn’t seem particularly ‘warm’ to begin with, then you need to get over that and quick or you’re in the wrong profession.
Apparently follow-up is so hard, it’s believed that somewhere in the vicinity of 48% of agents never even follow-up once with a prospect. Not a single time. Never. Needless to say, that’s just not going to cut it if you want to be converting real estate leads more effectively.
So the question then becomes if that means that 52% of agents follow-up with a prospect at least once. It’s true, but that stat isn’t an impressive one. Fair to wonder why that other 48% of agents are in the business to begin with, and particularly as every realtor is somewhat at a disadvantage to begin with due to the fact there’s never really been enough of the pie to go around.
If you’re not ‘competing’ with your business generation efforts, you’re probably not going to get a sufficient return on your investment of time and effort, even if that time and effort isn’t what it should be given the nature of your chosen profession. Think about that.
Alright, so what about realtors who follow up twice? That statistic is even worse. Only 25% of agents contact a prospect a second time. After 1st contact, approximately 75% of them let their prospects drift off. Sure, it may be that they’re not interested, or that they’ve changed their mind. But more troubling is that it seems that in many instances the inquiring realtor is simply not managing their database effectively enough to keep track of who to contact and when. If you’re skills aren’t up to snuff there, it’s perfectly acceptable to go ask someone for assistance. Do you want – or perhaps need – to be successful in this profession?
3rd Time CAN Be the Charm
Let’s look at this a little more deeply. What about a 3rd contact? Only 12% of agents make three or more contacts with the prospect. That means 88% of agents didn’t bother trying to follow-up with a prospect after the 2nd contact. Again, we can safely assume that if the contact remains a ‘warm’ lead that any realtor would of course follow up with them.
It has long been understood in this business that the process of coming to a decision to actually go ahead and sell a home (or buy one, albeit to a lesser extent) is often a drawn-out one where couples are inclined to keep their cards close to their chests and not show that they’re leaning one way or the other. That is, until you follow up until they’ve made that decision – whenever that may be and whatever amount of time has passed before you made your original introduction to them.
Here’s the biggest kicker…
3% of sales are made on the 1st contact
2% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
7% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
9% of sales are made on the 4th contact
76% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact (a real eye opener for many!)
Further; 88% of real estate agents share 10% of all sales, and 12% of everyone who shares the same profession as you are sharing 90% of the sales, and in large part because they have no hesitation to be contacting their prospects three or more times.
Simply put you’ve GOT to get over your fear of offending a prospect by contacting them “too much.” It’s the nature of the business, and if you don’t do it, then another realtor will be. Plain and simple. That fact in itself should dispel any reasons you’ve had in the past for not following up in a timely manner and doing so as many times as necessary until you can make a sound determination on the status of your prospective client.
Don’t think you are badgering them. And even if they do think that way, again that’s the nature of the business and they’re likely to be participating in it the same way you are, just in different roles. When they are ready, willing, and able to consummate a transaction, you need to still be there.
So there it is, in all its simplicity – you can never follow up too much!
Also, if it’s too much for someone, they’ll tell you. They might tell you directly, or unsubscribe from your email list, or some other method of implied refusal. The key is to not stop following up until they buy, sell or tell you clearly and definitively that they’re not interested or that your ‘pushiness’ is not welcome.
That’s the reality of it, and you need to have an attitude and perspective that’s in line with it. Again, it’s a big part of the very nature of the business within which you’re making your living.
Fulfillment
Fortunately we don’t see the need to go as extensively as we did regarding the need for follow ups. Fulfillment refers to the entirety of what you are giving them, the full sum of everything you do to be of assistance to them in their selling or buying of a home.
The most successful realtors have learned the best ways to anticipate their questions and other needs, and provide answers, resources, and resolutions.
Fulfillment is much easier than follow-up, but the important point to grasp here is that fulfillment requires follow-up in order to accomplish it. Simply by following-up, you are meeting their number one need. By following-up you are there to answer their questions as they arise. And if they’re going through that deliberative process, you can be 100% certain there will be questions, and significant ones at that. By following-up you are anticipating their needs. By following-up you are able to provide answers, resources and resolutions.
Right then, so are you willing to do what it takes to be a part of the 12% who close 90% of real estate sales in Canada. We imagine the answer to that is yes, and in the interest of generating more ‘opportunities’ we recommend you register with Real Estate Leads here and enjoy qualified online-generated home buyer and seller leads that are delivered to you exclusively and for your own protected region of the country.
Get onboard now, and lay claim to your region of choice. And once you’ve established contact with those folks, make SURE you follow up sufficiently!
