Leads are the lifeline of any real estate business. You need leads in order to find prospective customers, sell homes and close deals. Here are a few ways to help you collect more leads.
Talk To Everyone You Know
It's all about who you know and who knows you. Talk to everyone; the cashier at the local grocery store, the bank teller or even another customer while you're in line and ready to check out. This is the perfect time to go into detail when someone asks you the age old “So what do you do?”. Always have business cards on hand ready to give out.
Even if the person you're talking to isn't interested in buying a home they may know someone who is. If you're finding it difficult to push yourself out of your comfort zone read “How To Win Friends And Influence People”. This book will help you incrase your influence with people and improve your salesmanship.
Capture Leads During Open House
Open houses are the perfect opportunity to meet prospective clients. You know they are interested in purchasing a home and serious enough to take time out of their day to attend a viewing. These can be hectic events with numerous attendees depending on how many visitors you have.
One of the easiest way to collect leads during an open house is by using an electronic tablet like an Ipad in order to collect leads via an app like QuickTapSurvey. For example, you could create a short survey asking attendees what they liked or disliked about the property, their budget and their timeline for purchasing a home. These leads can be transferred to any e-mail marketing software so you can follow-up in a timely manner.
Offer Giveaways
Build brand recognition by giving out free swag with your real estate companys name and phone number. These items can be given out during open houses or distributed through your local market area. Pens and papers are solid standby's but also very common. If you want to stand out from the crowd you can try giving out totes, water bottles and even smartphone wallets. There's going to be cost involved, so make sure that you're earning enough money to justify these costs.
Get A Website Up
A website can be your personal lead collecting machine if it's ranking for the main keywords in your niche and city you conduct business in. For example, if you're located in Studio City, CA you'll want to rank in Google for “real estate agent Studio City, CA”.
Obviously this gets more difficult in large cities where the competition is intense. Many real estate agents hire firms to manage their marketing but it's also possible to do it yourself if you have the time to learn how to optimize your site and increase your site's authority. Make sure that you have a lead form on every page and blog frequently in order to keep your site updated with fresh content.
