The timeless struggle surrounding the quality of real estate leads remains as relevant as ever, echoing a scene from the iconic movie Glengarry Glen Ross. In this cinematic portrayal, real estate agents lament the quality of leads, only to be met with a retort from a super-salesman who places the blame on the agents themselves, not the leads.
Fast forward to today, and we find that not much has transformed in over three decades regarding real estate leads. The prevailing assumption implies that agents are either too preoccupied or negligent in promptly pursuing leads. However, the underlying issue has yet to be truly addressed. The crucial inquiry arises: Are agents genuinely overwhelmed or negligent, or is the crux of the problem rooted in inadequate lead quality?
Dispelling the Leading Misconception About Leads
Let us debunk the primary misconception about leads today: The decline in lead quality may hold some truth, but it’s not due to the leads being subpar. Instead, the issue lies in the newness of the leads. Many leads acquired by agents nowadays are individuals in the new phases of their home buying journey. This revelation shouldn’t come as a surprise. Statista indicates that the top three house listing websites attract nearly 80 million unique viewers per month, while only about 6 million existing homes are typically sold within an average year in the U.S.
This discrepancy highlights the challenge. The internet allows a multitude of individuals to engage in real estate research, spanning first-time buyers, numerous baby boomers planning for retirement, empty nesters contemplating future moves post-college graduation, and more. These individuals become leads the moment they visit a listings website, although not the type of leads agents seek. The optimal lead today is one ready to engage in a transaction, not one earmarked for the future. Yet, what are lead generation firms providing? Predominantly future leads rather than immediate transaction-ready leads.
Avenues for Lead Nurturing
Agents wield the power to rectify this incongruity. They can nurture these fledgling leads themselves until they mature into transaction-ready prospects. Alternatively, agents can return these leads to their brokerage, which can then oversee their development over time. Alternatively, the agent or their brokerage can partner with an external entity specializing in nurturing leads. Upon their transition into potential buyers or sellers, these leads are returned to the agent.
Personalized lead nurturing: Optimal for agents genuinely focused on customer-centric practices, rather than those prioritizing transaction numbers. Creating and maintaining an effective follow-up system to nurture leads over extended periods until they’re prepared to transact necessitates significant time and effort. Agents exercise complete control over communication throughout the extended conversion process.
Brokerage involvement: This approach is increasingly prevalent. If agents don’t respond within a stipulated time frame, the brokerage reassigns the leads to other agents. Brokerages are also developing in-house lead management systems for lead nurturing or qualification. This strategy is an investment for the long haul.
Collaboration with an external lead-nurturing firm: Partnering with a lead-nurturing company empowers agents to focus on their forte: working with clients poised for transactions. Considering the time, energy, and effort required to transform cold leads into active clients, the return on investment is substantial, with minimal hassle. Converting seemingly dormant leads into hot prospects via an external firm’s continuous follow-up—extending for weeks, months, or even years—until the clients are prepared to transact, then reclaiming these leads, holds appeal for many agents.
Propellence: Bringing In Actual Quality to Lead Generation
As I’m sure you know, if you’re a realtor, every lead generation company promises good quality leads but turn out to be junk. This definitely isn’t the case for Propellence. With their founder Aaron Thomas, he is determined to take quality leads to the next level. Their mission? To ensure a steady stream of deals for realtors worldwide, erasing the worry of delayed payments. Enter Propellence’s ‘Quality Filtration’ approach—an artful strategy delivering a consistent flow of top-tier leads, seamlessly transitioning into successful live transfers and booked appointments. Also implementing a 6 month follow up system, there’s nothing they can’t do. This system is masterfully crafted to sift out irrelevant leads, leaving only the cream of the crop. With Propellence, you’re bound to close more deals in a heartbeat!
If you’re interested in closing more deals within the next 45 days, click here:
https://info.propellence.us/home
Who Will Shoulder the Load?
While a minority of agents might choose the do-it-yourself route, most are unlikely to possess the time and patience required to transform cold leads into promising prospects. Some agents shun this process due to its repetitive nature. Brokerage-led lead nurturing approaches might yield mixed results due to their limited technological capabilities compared to emerging outsourcing firms armed with advanced technology, data science, machine learning, and predictive analytics to refine lead nurturing continually. In light of these considerations, outsourcing the labor-intensive task of lead nurturing emerges as a promising option for real estate agents and brokers alike.
In the present landscape, many individuals dismiss the bulk of their leads as weak, but this outlook neglects their potential. These leads merely require time to transition from cold to warm, a process that can be facilitated by outsourcing the responsibility to experts.
