Last week I talked a little bit about the use of drip email in converting leads, and I want to continue that discussion.  And, it would be great if some people join in, too!  I know there are folks out there who have questions about converting leads, and others who are really successful at converting leads.  Share your knowledge!  Leave a comment or contact me to write a guest post.

In working with clients, I hear a lot about how people are trying to convert leads.  And, there are a lot of approaches out there that just don’t work.  And, it’s not surprising.  I rarely hear from real estate agents who have taken sales courses.  And, to some, “sales” is a dirty word, but that’s the subject for another post.

In thinking about the process of converting leads to clients, I came up with the following five steps you need to address.  These aren’t all-inclusive, but it will start to define some of the problems and issues.

1.  Follow Up Fast - That’s on everyone’s list, but it’s worth repeating, because You Can’t Convert a Lead You Don’t Respond To!  And, I hear all kinds of reasons why people don’t follow up fast.  The reasons range from they were busy and forgot about the email notifying them of the lead, to they didn’t think the lead was “good enough”.  Maybe the person didn’t leave a telephone number, or didn’t ask a reasonable question, or indicate what they wanted. 

It’s amazing how often I’ll notice leads in someone’s back office, then congratulate the person on the leads they’re getting.  The agent often doesn’t even know they received a lead.  Or, sometimes I’ll ask what happened when they followed up with Joe Smith who filled out a form on their site yesterday.  The pregnant pause tells the story.

2.  Treat Every Lead As If They’re Already a Client – For some reason, a lot of agents don’t seem to relate to Internet leads.  They’re fine when they’re talking to someone in person, and often have an excellent “close rate” in that situation.

The important point here is that you need to develop a mindset that allows you to treat every lead you get from any source as if they’re already a client.  As you’re following up with that lead, think of how you would work with them if they were sitting in front of you.

3.  Make It Easy to Start a Dialogue – Consider the typical mindset of an Internet lead.  They’re do it yourself folks.  They’re out on the Internet researching a real estate purchase or sale.  The likelihood that they’re going to buy or sell in the immediate future is low.  Your goal should be to start a dialogue.  So what if someone didn’t leave a telephone number?  You can still start a dialogue via email.

And, this is where creating the mindset in #2 above is important.  Think of someone (a lead) stopping by your office.  Would you hand them a flyer about home buying or selling and then walk away?  I don’t think so.  So, why would you respond to an Internet lead with a drip email campaign?

If the Internet lead includes a telephone number, call them.  If not, take the time to send a personal email designed to start a dialogue.  Think about the lead that walks into your office.  I’ll wager that you start a dialogue with those folks by asking questions.  You can do the same thing in an email.  But, be sure to ask questions that make it easy for the conversation to start.

If you send an email that says “Let me know how I can help you.”, what do you suppose the other person will think?  I think it’s likely they’ll think:  “Well, duh!  Evidently I want to buy/sell a house!”  I don’t think that’s going to generate a whole lot of discussion.

A better approach would be to ask some of the questions you’d ask that person sitting across from you – the ones that come after “How can I help you?”  Include a few non-threatening, easy to answer questions.  For example, if you know from the type of lead you got that you’re dealing with a buyer, you could ask things like:

• Do you have a deadline for buying a new home, or are you just starting to look?
• Do you need a home close to a job location?  If so, where is that location?
• Would you prefer a one or two story home?
• Do you have school age children?
• What size home do you want in terms of number of bedrooms, one or two living/dining areas, etc?
• What price range are you targeting?

And, if you know anything specifically about that person, of course that should be included.  For example, if the lead was generated from downloading a brochure on a $500,000 home, your question could be: “Am I correct that the price range you’re targeting is in the $500,000 range like the home at 123 State Street you were interested in?”

Naturally, you’d also need to assure the person that with just a bit of information, you’ll be glad to help them identify neighborhoods and homes that meet their requirements.

4.  Establish a Conversion Process – It’s easy to say you’re going to follow up on Internet leads, but it’s just as easy not to.  And, then wonder why your website isn’t producing business!

Sit down and write up how you plan to follow up on Internet leads.  What are your questions going to be to start a dialogue?  How are you going to monitor your contact with leads?  How can you design drip email campaigns that are meaningful?  When should you intersperse personal emails and telephone calls for someone who won’t be buying or selling any time soon?

5. Don’t Get Discouraged!! – The most common thing that I see is that agents get discouraged and stop trying to convert their leads.

They place two phone calls to bogus telephone numbers left by leads, and decide that calling any lead is a waste of time because the phone number will undoubtedly be bogus.

If you send a personal email and you get no response, that’s OK, too.  Don’t get discouraged!  Put that person on a drip email/personal email or telephone schedule.  Of course, you can’t do that forever.  Part of your conversion process should identify how long you are going to keep an unresponsive lead in your active follow up process.

So, what do you think?  Do you have conversion issues you’re trying to work out?  Do you have a surefire conversion process that you can share?  Conversion can be easier than you think -  you just have to have a well-defined process to do it!