Realtors spend about $9 billion every year on advertising. Furthermore, from that data, 56% of that sum (a little more than $5 billion) is spent on purchasing leads. It’s reasonable to assume that there’s an immense amount of value associated with purchasing leads. However, there’s a massive difference between leads of a buyer and leads of a discernible buyer.
Top performing agents aim their sites on the discernible buyer over just the broadly stroked “buyer.” They understand the emphasis that needs to be put on qualifying and scrubbing their leads rather than just purchasing a plethora of generic leads.
Below are 6 ways top performing agents are enhancing their lead strategy to outperform the rest. The industry average lead response time is 3 hours and 8 minutes. Top performing agents who utilize lead response and scrubbing tools available to anyone (but only few choose to adopt) respond to leads within a whopping 5 minute window.
According to Inside Sales, the odds of a lead being converted are 21X more likely when responded within 5 minutes as opposed to a response within a half hour. Just because a lead isn’t ready to convert now doesn’t mean that it won’t ever be ready. Inman suggests that the number one mistake real estate agents make with leads is they give up on what they think are “dead-end” leads. Inman notes,
“[…] That’s why it’s imperative that you nurture your leads. You spent time, energy and money generating the lead, now nurture it. Stop treating the ones that don’t buy or sell immediately (most of them, by the way) like they are lepers. Start treating them like the absolute gold that they are. It takes thought, time, energy and, yes, even some money, to set up a beautiful lead nurturing process. But that time, energy and money will pay off. Huge. In massive returns.”
Now you might be thinking you don’t have time to nurture leads that might only be actualized 6 months or perhaps a year from now. Top performing agents don’t actively pursue these leads day in and day out. They use passive technology in order to keep these leads nurtured over the long haul. Not all lead generation is searching and purchasing leads. Sometimes, you need the leads to come to you.
Top performing agents utilize an effective marketing strategy to get their name and reputation out to the public and have the potential customers come to them. The National Association of Realtors® reports that 44% of all buyers research online before reaching out to a Realtor®.
If you’ve been having trouble building and advertising your brand, check out our guide to building your brand.Did you know that the millennial market makes up 33% of the present day real estate housing market? Not that many realtors know that.
Furthermore, since millennials have delayed home buying longer than any previous generation, the demand to enter into the home buying market is set to explode. There are deliberate and effective strategies top performing agents use in communicating and doing business with the largest generation in United States History.
As it pertains to their lead strategy, these agents know what form of communication is preferred. Studies indicate that 86% of millennials would prefer to communicate via text message over a phone call. If you are an agent who is focusing on this niche market, there are tools that you can employ to exploit this opportunity.
For being such a competitive industry, you aren’t working in a vacuum. Many top performing agents utilize referral networks.
For many agents, referrals from former clients, family, and friends often have the highest closing ratio of any other lead source.
Bruce Ailion, a 37 year veteran realtor who earned $450K GCI last year, has a unique source for leads: other realtors. “My favorite lead source is a referral from another agent. Most Realtors come upon several people a year relocating out of the area.”
In short, referrals allow you to make money off of leads without lifting a finger. Just because the deal is done doesn’t mean you send your customer off into the “rising sunset.” Your past customers are going to be your most valued lead going into the future.
A great experience is likely to reward an agent with repeat business.
25% of real estate agents generate more than 50% of their business from repeat clients; across all real estate transactions, which accounts for 12% of all residential real estate volume, or $56 billion. These figures are staggering.
Furthermore, the National Association of REALTORS® conducted a survey concluded that 89% of buyers would prefer to use their agent again in future purchasing.
Top agents know that going through the rigmarole of capturing new business (a task 7X more costly) than capturing a repeat customer. Old leads with a great experience associated to the purchase are converted into future qualified leads.
If you’ve been struggling with your lead strategy, perhaps it was due to ignorance of knowing what was out there. Maybe you have been going down the wrong road for quite some time. Either way, with the strategies listed above, you are set to dominate your local area with what leads may come your way. If in any way you are having trouble trying to find the time to enact any of the listed strategies above, Verse is here to help. While generating buzz and brand awareness is crucial, as mentioned earlier, saavy agents know that success demands the use of every trick up your sleeve.
Essentially, you should be drumming up clients by any means necessary.
In that vein, our friends over at Follow Up Boss have some fantastic resources at their disposal. Namely, they discuss some timeless tips to generate leads for any business. Many of these will no doubt be ingrained into your real estate psyche already, but there are some gems that are often overlooked and worth implementing into your business strategy.
Furthermore, for those less interested in broad strokes and want more of a cheatsheet , there’s a great list of easy to use (and FREE) lead gen ideas that is certainly worth checking out.