Whether you are a listing agent, a developer, or a real estate agent with years of experience, getting new – and especially qualitative real estate leads is crucial for everyone. On top of that, you want to bring in those leads in the most efficient way possible. Here’s why you should not waste time with cold calling or other time-consuming ways.
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Difference between good and bad leads
Want to sell or rent your property? Then you have 1 important task: finding quality leads! This is the most important step in the process towards letting or selling your property, because no quality leads means no sale or letting. Therefore, it is important to define what a quality lead means to you.
When someone indicates after an interaction that he or she could become a potential client, we speak of a lead. Unfortunately, these leads are not always quality leads. It could be, for example, that the lead is not planning to make a major decision within 60 days and currently does not have the budget for this either. In this case, we speak of a bad lead. Leads who do intend to make a major purchase decision within 60 days and are prepared to spend their budget on this are quality leads. These are the leads that you as a real estate agent should be looking for!
Are qualitative leads and prospects the same thing?
Qualitative leads are not the same as prospects. Whoever talks about prospects is already talking about a step further than qualitative leads. Prospects show that they are interested and fully prepared to make a buying decision.
In short: leads can be divided into qualitative and poor leads. Qualitative leads can then be divided into prospects and real customers.
Cold calling is a way of generating property leads by telephone. With cold calling, the idea is to look for individuals who are not familiar with the company. The aim is to encourage these individuals to make a possible purchase by means of a lucrative telephone call and thus turn them into leads. This way has some advantages: you reach a large audience, it is cost-effective and you receive immediate feedback from your lead. Yet the advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages. For example, research has shown that cold calling only has a 2% chance of success.
Tip: has your company just been set up and therefore you do not have enough clients yet or do not have the financial means to use another form of marketing? In that case, choose text message prospecting rather than cold calling. A study on prospecting by SMS shows that 90% of the messages are viewed after receipt. The difference in percentage between success in cold calling and reading after receipt in prospecting by SMS speaks for itself.
Despite these cost-effective ways, the best way to generate quality leads is to develop a good strategy!
So, here are tips on how you can get real estate leads that are qualified.
1. Define your target audience
Start simple. Know who your target audience is and communicate with them. Understanding your audience is the key to reaching them. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Avoid generic marketing messages that are irrelevant or easy to ignore.
So, how do you define your core audience? People want to feel that their needs and wants are understood by their brokers. By knowing who your audience is, you can start creating messages that are relevant to them.
At Immowi, we do it a little differently. We believe that by using Big Data and machine learning, you can truly understand your customer. We match the characteristics of your real estate project with online personas and characteristics of your perfect customer, tailoring our message to them and generating the real estate leads you’re looking for.
2. Build your local network
Once you know who your target audience is, it is important to build a local network with this audience. Why? Leads will feel more engaged because their own characteristics will be taken into account.
Create strong content that is local and beneficial to inbound residents. Local content is the ideal way for potential customers to learn more about an area, while also showing that you have unparalleled local knowledge and an active interest in your community.
Talk about the main highlights of particular neighbourhoods. School, work and transport opportunities, local parks and recreation, café and restaurant culture… Write about accessibility in certain areas. And show that you really know where you stand.
Tips:
- Participate in networking events
- Dare to go beyond estate agency events
- Post regularly on social media about your project
- Use word of mouth
- Don’t forget the traditional ways like flyers and business cards
3. Differentiate yourself from the competition
Real estate agents often struggle to distinguish themselves in highly competitive markets. It seems that every broker focuses on the specifications and costs of a property. But while focusing on the features of a property is important, real estate agents fail to communicate ‘why a particular buyer or seller should work with you versus someone else’.
The latter is your value proposition. It is what makes you different. Make a list of “difference makers” by writing down what sets you apart from other firms. What is the clear advantage of working with you? It could be anything: fast service, better price, time saving, etc… Then take the top two or three benefits and write it in a concise sentence.
Include your unique value proposition in every marketing channel where you try to generate new property leads. By differentiating your services, you’re on your way to higher engagement, higher click-through rates and more traffic on your channels.
4. Become a thought leader
When you notice that your current customers have the same kind of questions, write them down and formulate a correct answer. You can even incorporate them into blog articles and share them on your social media channels afterwards. This way, you are one step ahead of your (potential) customers. Make sure you use the right keywords.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to add a Call To Action in the middle and at the end of your article. This ensures that if the content is relevant to the user, they can be redirected to your landing page or contact form.
5. Social proof
Although it can be difficult, your success as a real estate specialist lies in showing your credibility to potential clients. That means telling people about all the great things you do for your satisfied customers. If you received an email from a client who loved working with you, share it on your various channels (with their permission, of course). If you sold a house in record time for your area, talk about it. It’s a fine line not to be overly confident, but you should always make sure you promote yourself and share your success stories. Show confidence and offer proof in numbers, not just empty bragging rights.
As a real estate company, your reputation is your most important asset. So make sure you leverage it as much as possible. Speaking of reputation, Google is the number one place where consumers leave reviews. So it’s a priority to focus on that channel. Businesses that manage their own reviews well, or at least keep an eye on their online reviews, will generate leads more easily.
6. Develop a lead magnet
Develop an interesting brochure or magazine that your target audience will want to download in exchange for their email address. This is very good for your web traffic. This free source of information is an added value for your target audience and should address the pain points that potential buyers face.
Use the resource as a magnet for leads to capture their name and email address. From there, you can send them more valuable tips via email. This tactic builds trust and credibility. This way, they have useful information and you have a good lead. A real win-win!
