Think back to the last client you met. How did you meet them? Were they a family friend, past client or maybe a referral? People choose to work with real estate agents for a number of reasons. But all those reasons started with trust. This is true even for the home buyer who walks into a local brokerage for the first time. They may be referred by the front desk to the first available agent. Ultimately, the relationship is starting on the basis that they are working with a professional at a reputable company.

When I ask Realtors where their new business comes from, they usually say it’s from referrals. Referrals are great, they are almost always in the purchase-decision phase. Meaning they are ready to buy or sell today. But, referrals are outside of your control. At worst a referral is an unpredictable outcome. At best you’re taking the action of asking your sphere for referrals, but it’s completely dependent on their decision and conversations. So when someone tells me they only work with friends and referrals, what they are really saying is they are not in control of the demand driving their business.

Maybe you’ve noticed this trend. If the market speeds up, business speeds up, if the market slows down, business slows down. Maybe you’ve also noticed other agents who always seem to be busy. Today I’m going to teach you how to use the skills you’ve developed to work with and generate referrals to meet clients online.

Let’s assume you are a good human being, someone who serves your clients well and has a good reputation in town. Maybe you’ve tried or considered digital lead generation. But, ultimately the referral was always an easier option.

I have good news.

Building an Evergreen Business

If you can turn a referral into a successful transaction for you and your client. You can turn online leads into successful transactions as well.

Meeting a client online can be thought of in 3 stages. Capturing the lead, engaging the lead, and getting an appointment with the lead.

If you do handle phase 1 and 2 right, phase 3 will be just like meeting a referral. You will have had a conversation with the lead, you will know a bit about them, and will have established trust.

Unlike referrals, when you have a lead generation system in place, it is consistent and repeatable. Also, unlike referrals, it costs money. Most companies are willing to pay at least one-third of what a client is worth to acquire them. Fortunately, lead-generation for Realtors can be much better than that. However, if you’ve never done this before, be prepared to spend upwards of $1500 and waiting up to 3 months before seeing your first result.

Have I sold you yet? Don’t worry the rewards are well worth it. A business with an ever growing database of interested leads and potential clients that are planning to buy and sell even in the slow times. But it’s best to go in knowing full well the investment required.

Let’s start

1. Generation & Capture

Capturing the lead. There’s more and more science being released every day on how to increase conversions on your lead capture. But I’m not going to go into the details. Instead, below I will break down the best source of paid traffic and what you will need.

When you are capturing leads you will want to know what the lead is inquiring about, you will want to know your leads contact details and their preferred method of contact, and you will want to know their timeline for buying or selling. The last detail will come into play in the response and follow-up.

1. You need a Facebook Ad

2. You need the right targeting

3. You need a Facebook budget

4. You need a process to collect, verify and qualify the lead information

5. You need a process to auto-respond to the leads

6. You need a follow-up system

Don’t have these setup? No problem, we know this is a lot so we’ve done the work of setting this up for you. To see a video explaining how to attract clients online works, click here.

2. Response & Follow-up

Now that you have a new lead inquiry you will want to will want to respond to them within the next few seconds. This is because the internet has trained people to expect instant responses. The good news is that it’s not really rocket science. The longer someone waits to call, the more likely the lead will have moved on or even forgotten that they had initially inquired.

According to Hubspot, a report released by Dr. James Oldroyd which found “the odds of the lead entering the sales process, or becoming qualified, are 21 times greater when contacted within five minutes versus 30 minutes after the lead was submitted.”

As a result, a lead is 500X more likely to convert if contacted within 60 secs, than just 5 minutes later. (I have added a graph supplied by insidesales.com that shows the ratio of speed to contacting a lead and the number that become qualified).

A lead may inquire online at any time of day, so responding to them immediately may not seem realistic. Fortunately, you can set up emails and text messages to automatically be sent to your leads.

Now depending on the leads timeline, you will want to add them to follow-up campaigns. If they are ready to buy or sell today or within the next month then skip this step and make sure you keep in contact through text and phone calls until they turn into your client.

Every business, including Realtors, should have 12-step email nurturing campaigns built and ready to go. This is a must-have. In today’s world, people are distracted by the news, Facebook, apps, and everyday interactions. Staying in touch and top of mind is critical to keeping your leads engaged until they are ready to work with you. Remember, if you aren’t in touch with them another Realtor will be. These leads aren’t loyal to you yet. This step is critical to ensuring you are getting consistent good conversations, month after month.

Nicolas Boles, StreetText clients, are doing all the right things to build trust with their opportunities. They initially put in place a system to stay top of mind with their prospects. “We do a 12-week program,” says Matthew. Each week they send a direct mail campaign, such as a postcard, and an email blast through Top Producer. This system keeps them engaged with their leads, automatically. To see how top real estate team Nicolas & Boles are meeting new clients from StreetText, click here.

3. Getting across the Finish Line

Finally, the step you’ve been waiting for. Leads are human beings. They have needs and concerns, just like anyone else. The best Realtors using our platform treat all their leads like referrals. When I talk to them I can even hear it in how they describe their interactions and conversations with their “less qualified” leads.

The key to getting your leads across the finish line is by picking up the phone and calling them.

“That’s what it’s all about. It’s about making opportunities to meet with prospective buyers and sellers. That’s the toughest part. And then getting appointments to actually go and see them. Once you get in the door it’s about being professional and sincere.” – Issac Verge, Realtor and StreetText Client

By now you will have responded to their inquiry. Provided them with the information they requested, provided incentives to have a real conversation with them, answered any of their questions, and asked them a few of your own. Maybe you’ve had them on property lists and slowly dripped value to them (such as market reports) over time. This all builds trust and it builds the foundation for a real relationship moving forward.

This last step can be scary for many agents. But let me assure you, not calling them will give you the same result as someone hanging up. In other words, the biggest fear we all have when calling a lead is rejection, but overcoming the fear of rejection will lead you to conversations with nice people that are excited to work with you.

I recently heard a story of two of the top producing agents out of Calgary, Canada. Their goal was to get one qualified lead appointment every day. This was back in the day in the day before the internet. The only option was to call. They wouldn’t stop each day until they got that appointment. Often that meant calling people at 9 o’clock at night.

Conclusion: Referrals to Digital Leads

But when you think about it, you’ve been doing this already. Every time you get a referral that you have to call you are practicing and refining your ability to meet new clients over the phone.

All of our top performing clients treat their leads like referrals. They add their leads to their newsletters and drip emails. They respond to their inquiries and emails promptly. And most importantly, they get on the phone, have a conversation and book appointments.

“Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t” – Jerry Rice

To watch a video explaining how you can attract Home Sellers and Buyers from Facebook, click here.