Realtors need to maintain a healthy pipeline of leads. When interest rates are low and the weather is excellent, you may experience an influx of customers. However, a seasonal slowdown or change in the market can always be expected and will cease your progress and eventually your paychecks.
Be prepared to face the unpredictable nature of real estate by having multiple strategies to obtain leads. Consider some innovative approaches to generating real estate leads other than mailing a mass amount of items.
Generating Leads in Real Estate
1. Build partnerships
Interact with other nearby companies to form advantageous alliances. Look into organizing virtual happy hours, distributing presents to clients and prospects, and building collaborative partnerships in the local area. Here are a few industries where real estate agents can form productive partnerships:
- Insurance companies – Homeowners’ insurance is a must, but some homebuyers are also looking to turn their new property into rentals, flip-homes, or businesses. Having the right insurance is key.
- Personal bankers – A home is the largest financial investment many of us will ever make. Having a personal banker to run numbers by can be a huge help for buyers.
- Commercial lenders – Loan officers are an integral part of the home buying process, but most buyers don’t have one in their back pocket.
- Bakeries – Whether you’re sending pies to former clients to keep your real estate firm top of mind or ordering treats to make your open house extra sweet, connecting with a bakery is never a bad idea for a real estate agent — or anyone, for that matter.
- Landscapers – There’s an old adage in cooking that says, “The eye eats first.” A similar principle applies to real estate. Landscaping is often the first impression potential buyers have of a home. Encourage your sellers to have their homes professionally landscaped to set them apart from the crowd.
- Cleaning services – No buyer wants to enter a home that looks a little grimy around the edges. Partner with cleaning services to offer discounted house cleanings to your clients.
- Staging experts – Very few of us have HGTV-worthy show homes, but an aspirational home is a home that sells. Build partnerships with local stagers to get your clients’ houses under contract faster.
- Title companies – A less glamorous but no less important partnership is the one you’ll have with local title companies. Have a few go-to companies to recommend to your clients.
Regardless of how you do it, seek out and make contact with businesses that align with what you want to accomplish as well as your individual needs. Once these ties have been made, be sure to be a good partner and participate accordingly. Every person associated will receive numerous benefits through these types of connections.
2. Throw a housewarming party
Did a client who has many connections just settle into their new residence? Suggest catering a housewarming event, providing an open bar, covering the cost of appetizers, and decorating the area with beautiful flowers. Lastly, don’t forget to stop by and join the party yourself.
Spending a bit of time face-to-face can be very advantageous when employing this technique. This is the ideal spot to engage with people who are going through the same life situations and could be impressed by the home you facilitated the acquisition of for their buddies.
Did they invite the new neighbors? Now’s the time to ask if they’ve considered selling. Sales that happen within a particular local community often spark new curiosity among homeowners, and hosting a housewarming event could likely change cold prospects into hot buyers.
3. Become a restaurant regular
Considering having a business appointment with clients at a restaurant or cafe to talk about the details? Make a habit of holding these types of meetings at the same restaurant.
You will make a good impression on the wait staff, receive preferential treatment when it comes to seating, and seem interesting and connected in your locality. You could become familiar with the other frequent visitors, forming you into the ideal candidate for them to reach out to when they are prepared to make a purchase.
4. Send a handwritten note.
Grab a pen, a sheet of paper, and an actual postage stamp. Subsequently, write a letter to a past or current customer. Express gratitude for them selecting you as their real estate agent, and inform them that you would be delighted to respond to their queries, advise them on a dependable moving firm, or forward necessary paperwork for tax season.
A handwritten letter is a great way to show your gratitude. This helps to ensure that your clients pay attention to your messages instead of leaving them among the countless unopened emails. Feeling confident? Call a few days later and request a recommendation.
5. Leverage the internet to advertise
Invest in paid online advertising. Advertising with websites such as Zillow is wise for realtors as the number of home buyers who employed the internet during their search to obtain a home hit a record peak of 97% in 2020, as per the National Association of Realtors.
Here are some of the better ways to market yourself as a real estate agent:
- Run Facebook ads
- Run LinkedIn ads
- Answer real estate questions on Quora
- Run Google ads
- Blog for local or national real estate websites
6. Advertise through more traditional media
Sometimes, one of the most effective ways for getting people to be aware of your brand and draw in new customers is through more traditional methods.
Billboard and print advertisements can be effective tools for attracting potential customers and having your real estate business remain in their minds when searching for an agent. Do not hesitate to be resourceful with your marketing– a bit of amusement or impressive visuals can assist you to gain prominence.
7. Build your own website
It is likely that your brokerage will provide you with a website page, however it is imperative that you create your own web presence.
This gives you the opportunity to craft an image for yourself, demonstrate your unique abilities, and share commendations from happy customers. It guarantees that you have a consistent presence in the local area even when you change companies.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget to optimize your site. Create blog articles that address common questions or issues clients face when making a purchase. Create and share helpful how-to videos. And capture email addresses by having a newsletter signup.
8. Develop a niche
Are you an expert in a particular area, experienced with historic dwellings, or capable of assisting customers to locate the ideal apartment? Lean into it! Find your niche and become an expert.
This gives you a chance to direct your promotional activity on a particular demographic and become a well-known real estate agent for these purchasers and vendors. Here are a few common real estate niches:
- Historic homes
- Mid-century modern homes
- Luxury homes
- Neighborhoods
- Student rentals
- School district
- City or town
- First-time homebuyers
- Condominiums or apartments
- Distressed properties
- Senior homes
- Vacation homes
- Land
- Commercial real estate
- Industrial real estate
- Property rights
- For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties
You don’t have to be an expert immediately. Figure out which special interests you are passionate about and become totally engaged in it.
As an example, if you want to specialize in aiding elderly people to choose the right spot for retirement, figure out what they desire, examine nearby elderly people affable communities and centers, and collaborate with financial organizers who comprehend the particular home obtaining requirements of the senior adults in the vicinity.
9. Use “Coming Soon” signs
Using “Coming Soon” and “Sold” signs is an effective method for increasing interest in a person’s properties and skills. Signs that say “Coming Soon” create excitement before a house is listed for sale.
Signs that say “Sold” could be used to attract potential buyers who did not obtain a certain property; this would ensure they will not miss out on any opportunities in the future.
10. Head to an open house
Not hitting up open houses to harvest new leads? You’re missing out. Lots of people come in to buy (or make plans to buy soon) without bringing an agent with them. Now is an ideal moment to introduce yourself and volunteer to aid them in exploring the market.
Advice: If you decide to take this option, be sure to not be overly forceful or assertive. It is not beneficial to be excessively boastful about oneself during another person’s open house.
11. Subscribe to a real estate lead generation service
Creating prospects through non-paid, natural approaches may appeal to a lot of agents. However, firms that specialize in generating leads for real estate can reduce the amount of time you spend looking for potential buyers and sellers by delivering their contact details in a rapid fashion.
The kind of service you have will determine how you get leads, which could come in the form of emails, SMS messages, or telephone calls.
The Premier Agent program provided by Zillow is one of the best resources for acquiring potential customers. This permits representatives to communicate with potential home buyers in areas that they are interested in through appearing on a great deal of the highest visited real estate websites, such as Zillow and Trulia.
Zillow offers only fundamental options for dealing with leads coming in. Also, it is not as effective for finding potential customers, so if your requisites are more demanding, contemplate using these lead generation websites.
12. Ask your sphere of influence
The people in your network whom you are familiar with are referred to as your sphere of influence (SOI). Anyone you have encountered in your life, from members of your family to people you have merely exchanged a few words with, such as colleagues, mentors, hairstylists and coffee shop employees, would be put in the category of SOI (Subjects of Interest).
Your Sphere of Influence can be an extremely beneficial source of obtaining real estate leads, whether it be through the people you know personally or those they may know and refer.
Send messages to your Sphere of Influence (SOI) frequently to pull in real estate leads. You could communicate that via a text message, a brief, personalized email, or even using Facebook Messenger or an Instagram direct message.
Your buddies may be aware that you are involved in the real estate business, however that does not guarantee that they will connect with you when the time comes for them to put up their house for sale. Some people might think that you just provide rental services, rather than sales, or that you only service one area when you actually service the entire city. Even your family needs reminding.
Don’t be too pushy when trying to get referrals, but don’t be reluctant either. Make it known that you are always willing to assist with inquiries without any strings attached.
Encourage potential clients to approach you without putting pressure on them to hire you if they do. Make relationships with people first and if it turns out to be beneficial in terms of business, that would be awesome. However, don’t stress out if nothing fruitful comes out of the attempt right away.
You won’t reap the benefits immediately, however don’t give up as your sphere of influence will be instrumental in generating your greatest and most fulfilling real estate referrals. There is no greater compliment than when someone contacts you based on a positive experience they heard another person had while working with you.
13. Use targeted landing pages
Real estate landing pages produce leads by gathering the information of people who are looking to buy, rent, or sell. They realize their goal by giving away free stuff or material that entices people visiting your website to give you their details and take advantage of your services to buy or sell property.
Landing pages can vary depending on the agent’s niche. A webpage could be designed to let sellers know the worth of their residence, or to bring in buyers/renters for the most recent real estate options.
One more benefit is that you are able to advertise a particular service or item that is distinct and special, apart from the current services or goods of your real estate business. Once you generate your landing page, spread the word by publicizing it in networking associations, social media, or search engines to bring in visitors.
Creating a landing page featuring a contact form and a prompt to take action is the easiest way to acquire leads.
14. Follow up on expired listings
Properties which had been listed for sale but went unsold during their initial listing period are referred to as expired listings.
The listing details on your multiple listing service (MLS) typically display the expiration date of a property. Exploring listings that have already expired can be a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in selling homes that are difficult to move.
15. Watch for ageing FSBO listings
People who advertise their property without the assistance of a real estate agent often do so in order to save money. Therefore, converting FSBO leads can be more difficult. Nevertheless, FSBO sellers gradually understand the amount of labour associated with putting a house on the market.
While it is not possible to predict when they will decide to give up, it is always beneficial to let a For Sale By Owner know that you would love to assist in raising the visibility of their listing.
Real estate agents can make use of FSBO dialogues in order to convince FSBO sellers to abandon their plans of working alone and enlist the help of their services. Keep a succinct, comprehensible tone in your FSBO scripts, and carefully listen to the views of homeowners while demonstrating genuine care.
You must also respect their decisions. Utilize these strategies to create a strong connection and develop confidence with each FSBO prospect, raising your likelihood of transforming them into customers.
