Everything you do or you don’t do in real estate has a huge impact on your business. The type of leads you have and the way you use them to your advantage influence the properties you buy, and ultimately affects the offers you make. If you want to be profitable and to grow in this competitive industry, it is imperative to make the most out of your leads.
To build a value machine for the long term and to ensure that your seller leads will always stick to you instead of migrating to your competitors, here are some of the things you can do to best take advantage of your real estate seller leads.
When it’s the best time to call your leads? The answer is simple: right away! If you call the homeowner right away, you will notice that he will be much more willing to work with you. Most homeowners want to sell their houses fast, and they will look for real estate agencies that can help them accomplish that. The faster you call, the better your chances for a successful lead.
Additionally, if you call the homeowners ASAP, you will pretty much eliminate the competition from the start, because they won’t have to search online for home buying agencies. They will see that you are interested in helping and will be captured by your enthusiasm. If you also make a great offer, your leads will be compelled to choose you over your competition.
During the initial conversation, it is paramount to uncover the motivation of the seller. The more motivated the homeowner is to sell his property, the easier it will for you to close the deal and get a good price. Does he want to avoid foreclosure? Does he need urgent money for relocation?
Whatever the motivation, you can use it in your advantage to strike a great deal and become the saving grace for your leads.
A successful investor knows how to make business and is ready to listen to his potential leads. In addition to uncovering the real motivation of your leads, you need to have good listening skills. If a homeowner starts to complain, simply listen to him and try to build a bridge between you and him. This will help increase the level of trust he has in you, which in turn gives you more chances to convert this potential lead.
Most homeowners who want to sell their houses end up working with the investor they trust the most. Interestingly enough, they prefer confidence and trustworthiness over money. Thus, instead of making a great offer your leads can’t refuse, try to get their attention by listening to them and by telling them exactly what they want to hear, in order to make them gain confidence in you.
Here are some of the basic questions you need to ask your potential leads in order to maximize your success:
What are your expectations from an investor? You need to find out what they want and step in, ensuring your leads that you can meet their needs and even exceed their expectations.
Sometimes you might not reach your leads. Truth be told, many homeowners are stressed out and overwhelmed with calls, so they might choose not to answer their phone. In this case, you should first leave them a voicemail where you present your offer. It is wise to have a script that you can follow to the T and further personalize it according to the specific needs of your clients.
Next on, make sure you leverage the power of email marketing and sms marketing. A follow-up system that is properly designed can do wonders for your agency. At this point, your leads might still not respond to your voicemail, text messages or e-mails. However, you need to press on. Send them an e-mail with a free CMA offer or a relocation package, send a special mail, make another follow-up phone call to give something away and ultimately send trivia or contest e-mails and text messages.
The name of the game is “follow-up”. Never give up, but be confident that ultimately the doors will be opened for you. Some of our leads came after more than 3 months of continual follow-up.
Build a strong pipeline of potential deals and make the most out of the follow up tools you have at your disposal. Ensure that the team members who are making the calls are eloquent and persuasive enough. Of course, they might make some mistakes along the way, but you need to stay motivated and never accept failure.