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Inman: 7 Tips for EZ Lead Follow Up!
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Inman: 7 Tips for EZ Lead Follow Up!Daniel Dobbs2023-05-25T13:41:21-07:00
YouTube – Straight Talk Lending – Daniel Dobbs
The most common complaint clients have about real estate agents is that they don’t follow up.
Failure to follow up is like tossing your money into a trash can. How much are you throwing away in your business?
If you’re serious about increasing your production, make following up your top priority. There’s no point in mailing out farming postcards, paying for internet leads or holding open houses if you don’t follow up on the leads you generate.
Here’s 7 key areas where following up is critical to closing more deals:
1. Sign calls
An innovative way to follow up on sign calls is to obtain a free Google Voice number that can be forwarded to a cell phone, assistant or voice-mail system.
Some agents actually carry a 2nd cell phone exclusively for their hotline.
When that phone rings, they know it’s a sign call that needs to be picked up immediately, even if they’re on a listing appointment.
Besides, what better way to show a seller right on the spot how good you are at converting incoming sign calls?
2. New email inquiries
Today, you can use tools such as Automabots, Aisa Holmes by Structurally and Ojo to not only follow up, but to perform the function of inside sales agent that qualifies Realtor leads 24/7 as well.
3. Take buyer calls, even if you don’t work with buyers
On a recent coaching call, an agent said she hated working with buyers so much, “she never returned their calls” but this action also cost her business almost $50K last year alone.
Hate working with buyers? Team up with a buyer’s agent who likes working with them, & take a 25% referral fee for generating the lead.
4. Open houses
In the past, following up manually on open house leads was a daunting task.Today, lead conversion and follow-ups are easy.
Tools like Spacio, allow agents to convert a lead when a person walks into the open house, by sending “the lead” a personal “thank you” for attending an open house and then automatically stays in touch with the lead.
5. Difficult Sellers
This is the one area where agents often earn low marks.
Agents are always excited when they first take a listing, but when a home doesn’t sell, the process “drags” on, agents typically dread calling a seller.
A simple way to handle this is to create a digital update & begin informing the clients of:
·The number of showings this week
·Broker feedback
·New listings
·What’s under contract
·New comps (what’s closed & what is final closing price)
Dreading calling a seller, or don’t want to use email, use an app called slydial which sends the agents call directly to (their) voice-mail.
If sellers REALLY need to talk to you, they’ll get back with you. If they do, reply IMMEDIATELY (no matter how difficult your client is) by texting, emailing or calling based on HOW THEY contacted you.
6. Referral leads
If there’s “7 deadly sins” in the real estate business, this is the deadliest.
Referral business is the heart of a sustainable, successful real estate biz.
With every referral, agents have a double obligation to follow up, not only with the referral but with the person who gave the referral as well.
Follow up with your referral resource by using these steps:
· Call the source of the referral immediately to thank them for the referral.
· As soon as you hang up, send a hand-written thank you note, It’s also smart to send a small token of appreciation.
· Always communicate with the source of the referral, whether you work with their referral or not. When a referral is not a fit, NEVER say anything demeaning about the referral.
Instead simply say: “Your referral decided to work with someone else.
“Thank you for having the confidence in me to make the referral. I’m extremely grateful.” Remember, the goal is: keep the referral pipeline running. So always send a thank you note.
7. During the Transaction
While not following up on referrals is deadly, not following up on existing business is the costliest mistake you can make.
Remember, the real estate business is based on these priorities:
1. Properties under contract
2. Signed listings
3. Warm seller leads
4. Warm buyer leads
5. New/cold business
Existing business should ALWAYS be your top priority.
Agents showing homes to a “new buyer” instead of following up with a buyer whose property is “under contract” or a seller whose house is “listed” is making a SERIOUS error!
Copywrite © August, 2018 Daniel Dobbs
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