A constant concern for real estate professionals is where their next deal is coming from. Often, that concern leads to a scattered lead generation approach. We hear about the hot new thing and then spend tons of money and time dumping our efforts into a source that doesn't pan out like we hoped it would.
But consider the numbers... According to the National Association of REALTORs Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the majority of our business comes from repeat clients and referrals -- 60% of buyers and 68% of sellers had either worked with their agents before or had received a personal referral to them. In contrast, all other lead sources -- such as open houses and websites -- take up much smaller portions of the pie.
Rather than wasting our time trying to get these smaller sources of business up to par with repeat and referral business, our efforts are better spent growing what's already working. And there's definitely opportunity there: according to that same study, the majority of people say that they'd be willing to work with their same agent again, but then they end up not doing so.
So, how do you stay top of mind with your past clients, and get more listing leads?
Our 5 step plan to listing leads is the answer.
5 Step Plan to Listing Leads
You may have tried doing some of the things in this plan on your own in the past, and it didn’t work out. So you may be saying to yourself, “this is a waste of time”... but there was a reason it didn’t work for you in the past. Consistency.
We run through this plan every month in order to stay top of mind with our database and to gain new listing leads through referrals and repeat clients. Follow these steps consistently and you’ll be able to grow your leads too.
Step 1: Publish Useful Real Estate Info
First things first: you have to build your prospects' awareness of you as well as their trust in you as a real estate expert. To do this, we recommend that you have an active blog where you share information that would be useful to anyone interested in real estate. Quality content posted on a consistent basis creates authority and credibility for your online reputation.
The purpose of this blog post isn't so much to generate organic traffic, though that may happen over time. Instead, it's to provide value to the people you already know. It will serve as the excuse for the individual outreach that is step 5.
Step 2: Send Info to People You Know
Next, you need to alert the people you know that you have new information for them. The easiest way to do this on a mass scale is via email.
Gather or update the contact information for all your contacts and connections, then send a link to your new blog post out to everyone, including your past and current clients.
It's okay if you don't have email addresses for everyone you know. In the next steps, we’re going to send out this link using multiple modalities that will get it in front of the majority of people you know!
Step 3: Share a 1-Minute Video
Film a short video of yourself summarizing that month's blog topic. Video is 5X more engaging than any other media and is one of the most highly valued forms of online content these days. Plus, seeing you on camera is going to skyrocket your clients' perception of your reputation and start that trust building process early on.
Once you have the video filmed, share it to both your Instagram and Facebook Business Page (then share to your personal profile).
Step 4: Post Info on Social Media
Continue getting your blog SEEN by as many people as possible by posting graphics and informational captions on Social Media. You’ll want to do this every week.
We want as many people as possible to see this blog post so we need to be consistently posting on all of our social media pages. We do this in terms of eye-catching graphics and animated videos.
By posting about your blog post so consistently on social media you’ll be able to grow your social presence, grow your local following, and provide the authority and credibility for your online presence that positions you as the expert in your market.
Step 5: Individual Messaging Follow Up
This 5th step is what we’ve been doing this entire system for. We created context for conversation in steps 1-4, and now we’re going to follow up with our database using the BLOG post as our context.
You can do this using Text Message, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, or really any messaging platform your clients are on.
What we’re looking for in this step is for the client we’re reaching out to to say “Hey [YOUR NAME] I was just thinking about you!”
How much easier is it to then turn that conversation into a listing versus a cold call or FSBO phone call!?
That’s what this whole system is about, staying top of mind with your database so when they think Real Estate they think of you, and when they think of you they think Real Estate.
Follow this 5-Step Plan every month and watch the leads start rolling in!
Watch the entire 5-Step Marketing Plan training here.
Not a member? Try it out here for just $1!
Got the leads? Follow our Top Agent Script for an unbeatable Listing Appointment.