Many real estate professionals view generating new leads as the most important step toward growing a real estate business. But in reality, what you do with those leads is vastly more important. With how powerful and customizable automated marketing tools are, you might feel you are already doing plenty to engage with your sphere—and you might be seeing great ROI. That doesn’t mean there aren’t tweaks or new strategies that can really help turn a long-term prospect into a new client.
Here are four tips to more effectively nurture leads over time:
Give participation trophies
Especially for warmer or more engaged leads, offering chances for people to share their own thoughts can both create more interest in your business, as well as help you learn more about them—including which ones you might want to dedicate more time to. A regular poll focused on your town, a trivia contest or a simple open-ended question can make sure people already interested are even more attuned to your brand and services. A follow-up where you highlight results or winners can do even more to bolster participation, and show people that you are engaging with them as well.
Run the slower play
For people who have not been interacting with your business in a while, re-engaging shouldn’t start with a hard sell or specific real estate pitch. Rather, see if you can grab their attention with something only tangentially related to housing—highlighting relevant local news, geography, history or businesses. Really focus on crafting something authentic, as many of these folks have probably been less responsive to your regular marketing or drip campaigns. If you can get more folks thinking of you as an invested or expert member of their community, that is a win by itself!
Get specific
Depending on how well-organized and detailed your CRM is, you may or may not have the data to categorize people at a more granular level. But whatever level of information you have, using more specific, personal reasons to reach out to a specific group is always a good strategy. It can be as standard as, “Hey, this home just sold in your neighborhood which made me think of you,” or more granular—sharing a positive news article relevant to someone’s industry or demographic (retiree, new family, etc). The more people feel like you know them, the more likely they are to remember and trust you in the future.
Don’t rely on big holidays
An automatic holiday greeting or card can be great, but in reality, it is probably going to get buried under a pile of other similar messages from dozens of other businesses. For long-term success with leads, find a time to stand out—either a lesser known holiday, or again, something specific and authentic. Do a little research on local history and send a message on an important date that will resonate with your audience. Additionally, you can map out a campaign that matches a calendar of important dates specific to your region—school holidays, hunting or fishing seasons, pet registration deadlines or other civic events. This way, you are providing value while simultaneously showing you are a local expert.
Long-term lead nurturing is hard for many agents to focus on, as payoffs often don’t arrive for months or even years. But any experienced agent will tell you that planning further ahead is foundational to a successful real estate business. And the strategies and specific methods you use to nurture those long-term relationships can make all the difference in your career—both now, in the near future and further down the road.
