Best Ways to Follow Up With Real Estate Leads

April 6, 2017

Esther Lee

So you’ve got your lead generation set up and the leads are flowing in. You’ve been dedicated to generating as many leads as you can, and have spent good money on them. But how are you following up with your real estate leads? Are you putting as much effort into lead follow-up as you are with lead generation?

You already know that the initial response time is important. To tell you that you need to contact a lead within the first 5-10 minutes would be like beating a dead horse. This has been written in the real estate lead follow-up Bible. So you know when to contact them. But how do you contact them? What’s the method behind the madness?

Diversify Contact Channels

So what’s the best way to follow up with real estate leads?

Is it through phone, text, or email? This is a trick question. The answer is: all of them!

If you’re only making one or two contact attempts via phone before trashing leads, you are losing out on so much opportunity! One of our best performing Action Plans in the BoomTown Sharing Library incorporates 6 phone calls, 5 texts, and 5 emails over the course of 2 weeks to maximize your chance to connect.

Some people may be averse to answering phone calls from an unfamiliar number. Others just prefer to communicate on their own time and terms through text or email. There is less pressure with these communication channels than phone calls that may put people on the spot.

So don’t give up on a real estate lead because they don’t answer or return your calls. Be sure to set up an e-Alert, and diversify your follow-up strategy!

Persistence Makes Contact

This is not to say that phone calls aren’t effective. Of course they are! In fact, a three-year study conducted by InsideSales showed that at the first call, the chance of making contact is under 30 percent. By the 6th call, the chance of making contact rises to 90 percent!

However, of all the companies studied, approximately 40 percent of sales people make the first call attempt. This number dips dramatically, as only about 15 percent of salespeople attempt the third call, and less than 5 percent attempt a sixth call.

Think about how much opportunity that agents can be leaving on the table! This is why we preach The 6 Calls to Success in our trainings. We recommend all our clients to make at least 6 call attempts. By just making a few more call attempts, agents can experience up to a 70% increase in contact rates.

Process Makes Success

The key to maintaining consistent and successful follow-up is to train your team on processes, systems, and scripts. Establishing a clearly defined step by step lead nurturing process is the lynchpin to making the most of your lead generation efforts

Building a Powerful Lead Generation Machine that Converts

As mentioned before, our Action Plans allow agents and brokers to create custom processes for tailored lead follow-up. For example, you can create a follow-up plan specifically for new leads, or for leads who are 6 months out. This can include a variation of to-do’s to call, email, text, and even to set leads on email drip campaigns.

Sample Follow-Up Plan For New Leads

Day 1

Call

Goal: LPMAMA

Text

Set up e-Alert

Day 2

Send email

Call

Before calling, check if e-Alert was opened or favorited listings, etc.

Day 3

Text

Day 4

Call or leave voicemail

Day 5

Email

Day 6

Text

Sample script: Do you prefer to be contacted through calls, text, or email?

Day 7

Call

Sample voicemail script: Hi (lead name), this is (your name) with (Team/Brokerage name). I’m just following up on my call from the other day and was hoping this was a better time to reach you. Please give me a call or shoot me a text when you’re free. My number is (555)-555-5555. Talk to you soon!

Day 8

Text

Sample script: Hey {VisitorFirstName}, I’m working on my schedule this {TimeOfDay}, would you like to set-up a showing for any of the homes you’ve seen?

This plan goes on for 14 days of follow-up, and the full version can be found in the Sharing Library. This is where BoomTown clients share their best follow-up plans, ranked by response rate. The BoomTown communities provide a platform for users to share best practices, mastermind strategies, and compare successes.

Practice Makes Perfect

A lot of brokers and team leader think that once they establish a process and set up technology for their teams, their agents will naturally follow the process and use the technology. Unfortunately, they often don’t.

Best Approach To Training A Real Estate Team

Training shouldn’t just be one session at the start of a new job or when learning a new skill or technology. Leaders should think through their staff’s entire learning journey, and account for changes in strategy, new tactics, and new features to include in ongoing trainings.

Incorporate ongoing training and professional development into your company. Accountability tools, such as the ones found in BoomTown, can show you which agents may be struggling in certain areas. With this data, you can work to solve individual problems and issues so that your entire team is on the same page with processes, technology, systems, and scripts and can work together as a well-oiled machine.