5 Things to Remember When Working Online Real Estate Leads

Working with online real estate leads is tough. You make hundreds of calls to people who don’t know you and who may or may not have a viable interest in doing a real estate transaction. Sometimes they don’t answer or hang up on you, sometimes they’re having a bad day and they take it out on you. Regardless, studies consistently show that people are starting their home buying or selling journey with an online search. So what does this mean for you? It means online home seller leads and online home buyers leads are accounting for a growing number of real estate transactions. Maybe the problem isn’t the leads then, and maybe the problem is with the way you are working your online real estate leads. Below are 5 tips we’ve put together to help you gain better traction and close more deals with online real estate leads.

• Online real estate leads ≠ referrals

  • The first step to converting online real estate leads is aligning expectations. You need to understand that home seller leads and home buyers leads are one step up from a cold call. Unlike a referral who knows you or knows somebody who has worked with you, online real estate leads probably don’t know you or understand how lucky they are to have a top producer like yourself calling them to solicit business. As a result, online leads are often a little cagey or hesitant to divulge too much personal information during that first phone call. It is important that you allow them to talk and tell you about their needs and goals without being pushy or demanding the information. Take the time to build rapport and if they don’t have time or don’t want to talk now, don’t push. Ask them if you can follow up with them in two weeks and take the time to earn their trust and hopefully their business.

• Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it

  • Again, online home seller leads and online home buyers leads are not referrals. They don’t know you well enough to give you the benefit of any doubt. Instead, they will be forming their opinion of your work ethic and competence starting from that first conversation. So if you say you’re going to do something within a certain time frame, it is exceedingly important that you follow through because these are the actions that will form the basis of their opinion about you. Don’t make promises you know you can keep or are unlikely to keep and keep the promises you do make.

• Be patient

  • One more time, online home seller leads and online home buyers leads don’t know you. You are a complete stranger to them and so it will take time for them to trust you. The typical incubation period for an online real estate lead is 6 - 24 months. This means that online real estate leads will likely not become your bread and butter until a year or so after you start working them. Until that time, focus on your referral and repeat business for income and start adding online leads to your funnel so you can harvest them when they’re ready.

• Get a thorough real estate CRM

  • Customer relationship management tools, or real estate CRMs, are a necessity for being successful in converting online home seller leads and online home buyers leads. This is because converting online real estate leads is a numbers game, meaning you might have to make hundreds of calls to make connections with a few viable prospects. And from there, you will have to continue nurturing those few viable prospects for months. As a result, you will need to have a system where you can enter relevant data about online home seller leads and online home buyers leads and access that data at a later time. That way, the next time you speak to your prospect you can pick the conversation up from where you left off. In the past, agents used various spreadsheets or pen and paper methods to keep track of their prospects. However, given the sheer volume of leads, you will have to work through, you need a digital option that will store your data safely. There are tons of options for robust CRMs that are much more efficient than spreadsheets so research and find the best option for you before you start working online seller leads and online buyers leads.

• Remember to text and email as well as call

  • Funny enough, even though people are typically never far from their phones in 2020, they increasingly shy away from using that phone to actually talk to people. Instead, texting, emailing and chat features have made it easier for people to obtain the information they want without speaking to a person. While this is frustrating for some, if you embrace this as a fact of life rather than fighting it, you might just see your traction trend upwards. When reaching out to an online real estate lead, vary up the methods that you use to connect with them. Then let them choose how they respond to you. This will tell you how they prefer to connect, and then make note of that preference in your CRM so you have clear plans of action for following up in a way that caters to their preferences.

Converting online real estate leads takes hard work, patience, and organization. Before beginning to work online home seller leads and online home buyers leads, make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting into and prepare yourself. Research and select a robust CRM, follow up diligently, stay consistent and it should only be a matter of time before you see closes!  What type of texts do you send to your new online real estate leads? Tell us in the comments below!