Real Estate Lead Follow-Up Strategies That Work

An often-overlooked aspect of real estate success is lead generation follow-up.An estimated 70-75% of all listing appointments are set in a lead follow-up call. Without a solid lead follow-up plan, you’re potentially leaving a lot of revenue on the table.In today’s post, we’ll discuss lead generation follow-up strategies used by many of the top agents in the business.

What’s Your Conversion Rate

Here’s Why Follow-up Up Is Critical

According to the NAR (National Association of Realtors), the real estate conversion rate is between 0.4%-1.2%. This means that for every 200 leads you work with, you will only convert one or two of these to a listing homeowner.There are many reasons for this low conversion rate, the most likely of which is poor, or often non-existent, follow-up. Consider:

• 25% of agents make a 2^nd follow-up call.
• Only 12% make a 3^rd follow-up call.
• Fewer than one in ten agents make three or more follow-up calls.
• AND: 48% of real estate agents don’t follow up after their first call!

Whether you’re finding leads by door-knocking or using ESPRESSO AGENT’S EXPIRED AND FSBO LEADS, you need to be great at follow-up. If you’re not obsessively fanatical about follow-up, you’ll find it difficult to convert prospects at a higher rate than what we quoted above. Of course, therein lies a tremendous opportunity for any agent who is ready to step up their follow-up efforts.

The Importance Of Lead Follow-up In Real Estate

Why You Need To Be Fanatical About Follow-up

Here are several reasons why you need to focus on follow-up:

• Establishing and nurturing relationships with potential buyers or sellers is vital because selling a home can be a highly emotional process. Follow-up helps maintain communication and trust, allowing you to better understand their needs and preferences.
• Because the real estate market is so competitive, potential clients may be considering multiple options. Regular follow-up ensures that you stay top of mind when they make their decision.
• Follow-up provides an opportunity to address potential clients' concerns or questions. By being proactive and responsive, you can alleviate doubts and provide the information needed for clients to make informed decisions.
• Timing is everything. A potential client might not be ready to buy or sell during the initial contact, but their situation could change. Regular follow-up allows you to be aware of these changes and engage with clients when the timing is right for them.
• Persistent follow-up demonstrates your dedication to helping a client achieve their real estate goals and that you value their business. This dedication can foster a positive perception of you as a reliable and trustworthy real estate professional.
• Follow-up helps you maintain relationships with current clients and opens the door to potential referrals. A happy client is likelier to recommend you to friends, family, or colleagues who need real estate services.

Real Estate Lead Follow-up Strategies That Work

Tips From The Pros

If you’re reading these words and thinking to yourself that maybe you’ve been a little lax in your follow-up efforts, here are several tips to get your follow-up mojo in gear:

• Schedule Follow-up Time Every Day: As you block off hours each day for phone prospecting, set aside time for follow-up. Minimum 30 minutes daily should keep you connected and top-of-mind with your prospects.
• Respond Quickly: Follow up with prospects as quickly as possible to show you have a sense of urgency.
• Understand Your Prospect’s Motivation Be sure to use your first call to learn about the homeowner’s hopes, dreams, and, most importantly, motivation to sell. Knowing your prospect as much as possible gives you a reference point for subsequent calls.
• Ask Solid Questions: By asking open-ended questions you give the prospects a chance to reveal their preferences and fears about the process of selling their home.
• Bring Value to Every Customer: Start each call with something interesting and worthwhile, such as the most recent market stats. Your prospect will know you’re approaching the process from a service perspective. This will make them more comfortable and, again, help build trust.

Please remember this: You can’t be too aggressive. Many agents pull back in fear of coming across as pushy. Persistent follow-up shows the prospect what you would be like when selling their home. It shows them you care, especially if you approach things from a service perspective, as outlined above.Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of “not calling enough.” Be fanatical about your follow-up; it will pay huge dividends over time.

Use A Real Estate Crm To Keep Your Follow-up Focused

Technology Keeps You On Task

The strategies outlined above will help improve your follow-up efforts. But a great way to tie everything together is to use an industry-leading CRM platform like that offered by Espresso Agent. Espresso Agent’s CRM keeps you organized and on-task with:

• Folders are organized to help you maintain maximum efficiency.
• The ability to organize your contacts to meet your needs.
• One-click access to all the information you need on each prospect.

Remember that effective follow-up is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Adapt your strategy based on each client's unique situation and preferences to build strong, long-lasting relationships in the real estate industry.It doesn’t matter what strategies you use to improve your follow-up… as long as you are improving your follow-up. The key is to be dogged in staying engaged with your lead prospects in order to convert more leads… and earn more money.Learn more about Espresso Agent’s Lead Generation and CRM Platform HERE.