As 2020 draws nearer, real estate agents are making resolutions to boost their business in the coming year. Improving your lead generation efforts can be one of the surest paths to increasing your revenue. Here are five keys to propelling your lead generation efforts to new heights in 2020.
1. Set lead generation goals
Getting more leads begins with setting lead generation goals. Start by reviewing your current activity to establish a baseline. How many leads are you currently generating per day, per week, per month and per quarter? What percent of your leads convert into home buyers? How much revenue does this create per quarter? If you’re not already tracking these numbers, doing so should be a preliminary step.
Once you’ve taken an appraisal of your current activity, you’ll have some numbers to help you set some concrete lead generation goals for the coming year. How much revenue would you like to achieve in the upcoming quarter? At your current lead conversion rate, how many more leads would you need to generate in order to achieve your revenue goal? Try plugging in different numbers to get a realistic sense of what your lead generation goals should be.
2. Schedule lead generation activity
Setting goals provides target numbers to shoot for, but in order to turn your goals into reality, you’ll need to make sure you’re taking enough action. What measurable actions are you currently taking to generate leads, and how much additional action would you need to take in order to hit your lead generation goals?
For instance, how many calls does your sales team currently make a week, and how many leads does this generate? How many more calls would you need to make to generate the number of leads you need to hit your revenue targets? You can apply this type of questioning to all your different categories of lead generation tactics, including social media posts, emails and texts.
Once you know how much activity you need to reach your revenue goals, you can create a schedule to make sure you’re taking enough action. Automate this process by using a customer relationship management tool that lets you schedule automated reminders. Today’s best real estate CRM solutions let you add tasks associated with each of your contacts, making it easy to schedule and complete lead generation activity.
3. Upgrade your CRM strategy
Just as CRM software can help you automate scheduling lead generation activity, having the right CRM tool and strategy can increase the efficiency of your entire lead generation process. A cutting edge CRM lets you manage your lead contacts as well as your listings and transactions from your mobile phone. This makes it easy for you to pursue lead generation activity even when you’re busy on the go.
Storing your contact data in a mobile CRM allows you to strategically streamline your workflow. You can store all data relevant to a lead in one place, including notes, emails and documents, and access it right from your phone instead of searching through multiple apps. You can further see where each lead is in the sales cycle and which leads are most ready to buy. This empowers you to retrieve relevant data instantly, maximizing your lead generation productivity.
A mobile CRM also allows you to share listings with your leads. You can link clients directly to properties from sources such as Zillow or Rightmove, allowing them to see the property and find it on Google Maps. This can save significant time when you’re preparing for a showing.
4. Integrate your CRM with marketing automation tools
Advanced CRM tools yield maximum lead generation when you integrate with marketing automation tools. If your CRM integrates with marketing software, you can pull leads directly into your contact database. For example, there are over 700 multiple listing services (MLS) around the US that contain regional property listings. Online real estate sites pull listings from the MLS database. You can mine leads from MLS listings by creating daily reports on a geographical area showing new activity, relistings and price reductions. You can use a similar strategy to collect leads from Zillow and other sources.
Your CRM tool can also integrate with your social media profiles and your email autoresponder. Syncing contacts from these marketing platforms with your CRM program lets you send out messages to your entire contact list at once, or to targeted segments of your list. You can alert contacts to listings, to new content on your blog or to third-party links that provide informative tips for home buyers.
5. Automate your follow-up process
When a lead expresses an interest in a listing, your response time can determine whether you lose the lead or you gain a sale. While many real estate agents recommend responding to an inquiry within five minutes, Zillow research shows that you can get results over 400 percent better by responding within two minutes.
Furthermore, the California Association of Realtors found that 94 percent of customers expect a response within an hour or less, but only 36 percent of real estate agents meet this expectation. You can gain a major competitive advantage by automating your follow-up process to respond to leads quickly.
Your CRM can help you automate your follow-up procedures to accelerate response times. By utilizing CRM integrations, you can set up your own automated response system. For instance, you can set up your system to send an automated notification immediately when an inquiry comes in. Meanwhile, your app can schedule a follow-up task assigned to that lead’s name, add it to your calendar and send an automated reminder to complete the task. This will ensure your leads receive the follow-up attention they need and help you achieve your lead generation and revenue goals.
Take your lead generation to the next level this year
The energy you invest in lead generation bears directly on your revenue level and business success. If you aim to generate higher revenue in the coming year, increasing your lead generation productivity should be a priority.
Setting lead generation goals and scheduling corresponding activities lays a foundation for success. Tools such as a CRM, marketing software and the MLS can help you streamline your lead generation activity and ensure that your leads receive the best experience when purchasing a house. Following these tips can help catapult your lead generation to unprecedented levels in the coming year.
