Converting online leads does not have to be hard, but it does require a strategy.
I have outlined a simple model below that you can follow to attract, nurture and convert online leads. Sound interesting?
You will be successful with this strategy, the key is doing the work. Like going to a gym, you could have the world’s best trainer, but only you can lift the weight and manage your diet. If you are too busy to implement these tasks yourself, then find people on your team that can take leadership roles and are accountable to the actions (like making phone calls), not the results (how many converted).
The reason is that everybody can control/influence their actions, but no one has control over if/when someone else chooses to do work with them.
Alright, let’s get to it.
“Activity breeds results”
Here is a strategy for converting online home seller leads into listing appointments. It works over and over again, provided the steps are followed.
1. You need to attract seller leads.
It doesn’t matter what technique or channel you are using to attract sellers online. If it is working keep doing it. This article assumes you already know how to generate seller leads online.
2. Follow-up with all lead inquiries immediately with these 3 objectives.
Send all leads an email that…
- Remind them how they found you.
- Layout the next steps that you want them to take
- and build rapport
Follow-up as quick as possible. Real Estate demands an irregular schedule. Agents that are most successful with this strategy have an assistant or system make the initial follow-up.
Remind them how they found you
Start your email with a quick reminder of how your lead found you. This is important, as crazy at it sounds, often people forget that they made an inquiry as life can get busy.
“Thank you so much for coming through my Facebook Offer”
Layout the next steps
Next, you will want to highlight the next steps your lead can expect from you and what you need from them. Here’s an example snippet you could include in an email. You could say the same thing on a phone call as well.
“Thank you so much for the information you provided, I am currently researching the property and will most likely need a few more details so please expect a call from me in the next hour or two.”
Build rapport
First, get people excited about the market.
“Your timing couldn’t be better, currently the market has really started heating up.”
Then create trust by communicating your intentions, professionalism and trustworthiness.
“Just a reminder that this is complementary and completely confidential. Also I do not expect you to “list” your home right away, I am more than happy to provide you the exact value of your home so that you can get an opportunity to see what level of service I provide for my clients. “
Finally, include a testimonial. A positive referral creates the best form of business, and a strong testimonial is a close second. It shows the fact that someone else is putting their reputation on the line to recommend your services.
“I know you do not know me yet but I wanted to share this quick testimonial with you from a past client, feel free to learn more about me by clicking this LINK.”
Closing remarks
End every email with an action step. This keeps the conversation between you and the lead alive – and it keeps the momentum moving in the right direction.
“Looking forward to chatting shortly, and if it is more convenient for you to send me photos of your home so I can see inside instead of a walk through feel free to reply to this email with those pictures.
Your Name
Phone
Brokerage
p.s. As a bonus to help you keep a pulse on the market I will keep you posted periodically on properties selling in your area.“
With StreetText you can setup an automated email response that is sent to every lead inquiry on your behalf. This way it doesn’t rely on a busy person having to send it.
3. Make the phone call
You can choose to make the first call yourself, or have someone on your team do it for you. Darryl Reuter keeps a list of all his inquiries with him so that he can follow-up through the day while driving between showings. Whereas Isaac Verge has his assistant reach out to all prospects via phone on his behalf. Find a follow-up workflow that is executable for you, your team and schedule.
If you get voicemail
You: “Hi (First Name), this is (Agent) with (Company)
You went through my home valuation site and requested the value of your home, could you please call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx or feel free to respond to the email I sent you today.”
When they answer
Here’s a good script that you can use when making your phone call.
Lead: “Hello,”
You: “Hi is this (Their Name)?
Great, this is (Your Name) from (Brokerage) you had requested the value of your home.
Did you have a chance to go through my email?
Lead: “No”
You: “That is okay, when you get a chance I recommend taking a quick look at it. And just a reminder this is completely free, confidential and I do not have any expectations that you will list your home. But I do have a few questions about your home to help prepare that evaluation for you..”
Lead: “Okay”
— If they are interested, keep going with this
You: – Go into what you found so far, what you need and try to set up an appointment to hand deliver the valuation. If they ask for you to email it, say yes, and then ask what works for you to call back and review it with them over the phone.
— Or, if they are respond that they were only curious
Lead: “I was just curious”
You: “That is totally fine, I will be able to send you a range on your home that should be pretty accurate. And as you get closer to selling I will, for free, be able to come through and give you a super accurate price closer to that time frame. As the price of course could be different then than it is today.
Oh and by the way would you like me to email you occasionally properties that sell in your area so that you can keep a pulse on the market?”
— Continue the conversation
4. It actually does not matter if you get them on the phone. Add them to your email campaign.
The reality is that it is hard to book an appointment in the first phone call.
This is good news believe it or not, why? Because it is the reality, so knowing it helps set your expectations. And because it does not affect your conversion rate.
As important and great as that first phone call is, you do not have to rely on it to win the listing.
Because of these two principles:
- Online Lead Dilemma: Leads that come online are often start their search 10 weeks before they are willing to take action.
- Peaks and Valleys: Leads go through peaks and valleys of interest as they approach that “action” and it can change suddenly, what you need to do is position yourself as the agent they chose when they take action.
Next, add your prospect to your drip email client. Make sure you have email permission first. With StreetText we make sure that we ask all your leads for email permission.
We recommend MailChimp if you don’t have an drip email client. It’s free for up to 2000 subscribers.
Watch a quick video of me explaining how to do this with MailChimp
Here’s why drip email works.
For example: Jane (a potential home seller) fills out your Seller campaign because her husband and her are bouncing the idea around of selling in the summer. However they consider themselves curious at this point and not motivated. They do not want to “waste an agents time.” They become your lead, you leave a voicemail and add her to your weekly “Why did it sell so fast” email. You email her weekly so she has a pulse on the market. 5 weeks in her husband receives a promotion and they decide to list their home, and reach out to you.
However you did not manage to get her on the phone and your first interaction is 5 weeks after the day she became a lead. 3 weeks later you have sold their home and have an offer on a new larger home.
This is because of two more principles:
- 70% of people will work with the first agent they speak to.
- Providing short valuable emails start conversations when a leads hits a peak interest point.
5. Set the frequency of your emails and stick to it.
Pick the same time and day of each week or every second week. I recommend setting a reoccurring reminder in your calendar.
Darryl Reuter uses this very strategy. His assistant sends out emails every week to his list. As his leads request more info he is able to tailor the content for their search.
In his interview on adding consistency to his business Darryl says, “I’ve seen the backend of it start to snowball where we have a few hundred people now that are on the foreclosure list, or another list that we’ve setup for them, and that’s just starting to come back to me big time. People see the branding now, they see it every week. The ratio of emails I get back every week are starting to go up. ‘Hey, I noticed this one… what about this one… could you show me this…’ We are getting interaction almost weekly now where before it was just sending out the list to people.”
The 5 steps above work, follow them to grow your business.
6. BONUS: IDEAS
Here’s how you can take this strategy above and beyond.
- Hand deliver or mail the CMA.
- Mail a hand written thank you note: “Thank you so much for the opportunity to do an evaluation on your home, whenever you are ready I would love to complete the evaluation for you”‘
- Add their property address to your mail outs marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
Hope you found this model useful. Wish you the best in your business. Feel free to investigate StreetText and how we can help you grow your business.
Gary Keller who wrote The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (Highly encourage you to read this!) lays out a powerful concept.
It is best to work from proven models and then once the model is in place you can further innovate the model. In other words rather than reinventing the wheel follow what works, and then innovate on top of that to go further.
To learn more about why online leads are so important to your business read Online Leads Dilemma.
Complete Email Script
"Thank you so much for the information you provided, I am currently researching the property and will most likely need a few more details so please expect a call from me in the next hour or two
Your timing couldn't be better, currently the market has really started heating up.
Just a reminder that this is complementary and completely confidential. Also I do not expect you to "list" your home right away, I am more than happy to provide you the exact value of your home so that you can get an opportunity to see what level of service I provide for my clients.
I know you do not know me yet but I wanted to share this quick testimonial with you from a past client, feel free to learn more about me by clicking this LINK.
Looking forward to chatting shortly, and if it is more convenient for you to send me photos of your home so I can see inside instead of a walk through feel free to reply to this email with those pictures.
Your Name
Phone
Brokerage"
