Top Real Estate Strategies Email Newsletter

Seven Ways to Generate Leads
and Build Your Business

To be a successful Realtor, you must have client leads. No leads, no business, it’s that simple. You may feel that your job is to sell homes, and it is if you have leads. It may be helpful to think of yourself as a lead generator first and Realtor second. Qualified leads are what will help you grow your business and keep you in business.

When business was great and you had more business than you could handle, who needed to market? The phone rang off the hook, bidding wars occurred on front lawns, you quickly learned how to write a contract faster than your competitor and actively cultivating leads wasn’t required. Bidding wars and the phones ringing off the hook are no longer happening. That kind of business is a distant memory.

Use the following techniques to fill your pipeline with qualified leads:

Set a “homes sold” goal to determine the number of leads you need to generate. If you want to sell 50 homes a year (a modest number), you need to average 4 home sales a month. The number of leads you need to generate depends on the following – the lead quality and your conversion to sale ability. If your lead is of reasonable quality, you can expect to convert at least 2 of every 12 leads into a sale. That means you need at least 24 leads a month to close 4 loans. The 12:2 ratio is based on a database size of 300 and is your warm list. This is your referrals and repeat business list. Your conversion rate may vary depending on your database size, experience and sales ability.

To help you market more effectively, track your leads and identify where the lead came from. By doing this you will be able to determine which marketing tactics are the most dollar productive.

Know your profession. This seems obvious. But, knowing your profession is about more than just knowing your subdivision. The real estate profession is complex and constantly changing. Knowledge of industry trends, knowing neighborhoods, the types of houses within subdivisions, the school system and sales ability is required. Converting leads into sales requires a good foundation in sales techniques. It won’t matter how many leads you get if you can’t convert them into closed loans.

Identify and construct your databases. To generate a large quantity of leads, you will likely want to market to different target markets. These markets can include:

Warm list (personal sphere) – friends, family and past clients. This group will provide you referrals (if you ask) and repeat business. To receive referrals from this group stay in contact on a frequent and consistent basis.

Cold list – geographic or demographic farm. This group will provide leads once they get to know you, which takes time (12-36 months). To build trust with this group contact them at regular intervals and provide something of value such as an informative brochure, educational seminar, useful homeowner tips etc.

Your databases are the gold in your business. It is important to keep it up to date so that you have a powerful referral and repeat business generator. The number of homes you sell is in direct proportion to the size and quality of your databases.

Choose how you want to contact your warm and cold list.

Although you may choose different marketing methods for each list type, some methods work for all contacts. Common marketing methods include:

•	Newsletters	•	Postcards
•	Email	•	Seminars
•	Imprinted give aways	•	Personal brochures
•	Letters

In addition to the common methods listed, you may choose to use some of the database specific marketing ideas provided below.

Warm list marketing ideas – phone calls, handwritten notes, lunches and parties. Because this group knows you, plan on contacting them 24 or more times a year. By contacting this group on a frequent and consistent basis, you are keeping your name fresh in their minds. When they are asked if they know of a Realtor, your name will be top of mind.

Cold list marketing ideas – shopping cart ads, bus bench ads, newspaper ads and providing CMA information as part of your value-added offering. Because this group doesn’t know you, plan to consistently contact them and provide keepable information. Contact this group at least 12 times a year.

For every 50 people you market to each month for 12 months, you can reasonably expect to generate one sale. If you plan to generate 50 sales from this group, you need to market to approximately 2,500 people. If you cannot afford to market to this large a group, reduce the size of your target. This will also reduce the number of leads you can expect to generate.

Use some of these ideas to also generate leads:

Present seminars on a regular basis. Invite past clients and their friends to seminars about investing or hold regularly scheduled sessions for first time home buyers.

Exhibit at trade shows. Most major cities hold a remodeling show, bridal show and home and garden show each year. If marketing to a specific demographic, exhibit at a show that caters to this demographic.

When you decide on what methods to use, follow up systematically to ensure that you achieve your desired results.

Educate, ask for referrals and reward your warm list. Each time you contact your warm list, reiterate that:

A) you’re in the real estate business,

B) you’re good at what you do and

C) you prefer to work on a referral basis.

Ask for referrals by requesting that your warm list contacts you if they know of someone who needs your services. When people refer you to someone, reward that behavior immediately. The key to rewarding referrals – reward the referral, not the loan closing. Remember… your warm list’s job is to send referrals, not qualify clients. That’s your job.

Brand “you” and make yourself known in the community. All of your marketing materials must have a consistent look and feel. Include your photo with all marketing pieces – you want people to be able to recognize you, and it always helps to put a name with a face. Include your email, web address and direct phone number on all marketing materials.

When marketing to a farm, be visible in the community. Sponsor a youth athletic team, present talks at local civic group luncheons, join the local chamber of commerce or advertise in the community newspaper.

Be systematic. To generate a high quantity of leads, you will enjoy the greatest response if you have a plan and are systematic in the way you execute that plan. For example, when working a farm, choose a direct mail piece that has 12 cards. Get set up on an automatic mailing program so that these pieces go out the same time each month and you do nothing. To maintain consistent and frequent contact with your warm list, block time out in your daily planner and identify the type of contact you will be making. Then, complete that contact task each and every time. A consistent and systematic approach will result in more leads and more closed loans.

Most Realtors tend to market heavily for a short time to increase business. Marketing is then halted to handle the resulting business increase. When business slows marketing is started again only to halt when business increases. Sound familiar? This roller coaster ride creates the “rich man, poor man” effect and the crazy busy, bored silly phenomenon that many Realtors experience and that ultimately drives them out of business. To break the roller coaster ride effect, create a plan. Choose both high touch and high tech marketing pieces. Determine which marketing pieces can be automated so that you don’t have to do all the work yourself. Carve out time each week and devote yourself to the business of generating leads. It takes discipline and time to generate leads. With a plan in place and the willingness to do the work, you can build your business and be successful no matter the market.

And another important resource:

93% of purchasers are satisfied with the agent they used, but only 11% buy from them again. Why? Because they don't remember their name.

Ask And You Shall Receive

Always remember to ask for referrals any time you can - at initial consultation, closing, and after. Use Referral Request Postcards to approach this request with a light hearted feel but strong message reminding clients that referrals are vital to your business.