10 tips for following up with real estate leads

Admit it. You spend a lot of time and money on marketing your sales and lettings portfolio so you don’t want these resources to go to waste. It could be detrimental to your profitability.

Whether you focus your lead-generation efforts on or offline (through a mix of web-based and traditional strategies), successfully converting your hard-earned traffic into leases or sales isn’t easy.

First, you need to create a strong brand reputation by managing tenant satisfaction. Then, you need to conduct consistent, quality real estate follow-ups across your entire portfolio.

How to follow up with enquiries

Over the last few years, the standard approach to the follow-up of enquiries has changed significantly… much like the rest of the industry.

Rather than inviting someone to your office to share a cup of tea while you talk, estate agents across the world are making use of the comprehensive digital tools available to them.

Why? Well, through a range of automated software, you can not only attract quality tenants and buyers but also earn business by converting leads and delivering the best sales experience possible.

Tip 1. Have a follow-up schedule

It’s obvious enough to make a follow-up phone call to an enquiry, however, the work doesn’t stop there.

You need to be regularly and consistently reminding your prospective tenant or buyer of the value you have to offer.

A good rule of thumb would be to:

1. Reach out straight away after the first point of contact.
2. Check back in at the end of the week.
3. Touch base after another fortnight.
4. Send them helpful content at least once a month for the next year.

Tip 2. Try to follow up as quickly as possible

In today’s climate, online leads expect immediate answers to their questions.

Therefore, it’s critical that you deliver on that expectation. Why? It’s highly likely that your competitors already are and you don’t want to lose business over something so simple.

It is essential that your solution informs you as soon as a new enquiry is received and automatically records the relevant information to make it easy to qualify and book in the viewing.

Agents can now set up automated responses informing the enquirer that they will hear back from an expert as soon as possible to book their viewing.

Through integrated partners, agents have the ability should they wish, to allow their prospective tenants or buyers to book viewings straight into their diary. With rules set up that allows you to remain in control.

Tip 3. Follow-up more than once on multiple platforms

Just because an initial conversation starts through the query form on your website or the property portal, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use the email and phone number they provided to your advantage.

Follow up with enquiries until you have a clear answer (or until you’ve reached out more than 4-5 times).

Beyond that, endeavour to get their attention passively. Use targeted social media and blog content to capture their attention and restimulate their interest.

Tip 4. Track all follow-up attempts

It’s critically important that you don’t overstep the boundary that is unique to each buyer or prospective tenant.

If it feels like you are pressuring someone to take action, their confidence in working with you is going to fall dramatically. This could turn a well-intended follow-up into a loss for your business, so you need to be careful.

Make sure to take note of every interaction you’ve had with an individual and respect that they might not be interested. It’s better you find that out sooner rather than later.

Tip 5. Always provide value

If you “touch base” with someone too many times, with no purpose or too quickly… you’re bound to ruin any chance of successfully converting them.

As such, you should always be looking for a way to add value to every interaction – making sure you aren’t wasting their time. Ultimately, you want to prove yourself to be a useful asset to them when it comes to making their decision (not an annoyance).

This way, you can remind them your property is still available, helpfully answer questions and provide advice… without ending up on their blacklist.

Tip 6. Solve pain points

One of the easiest ways to maximise your sales process is to always look to solve the pain points that your buyers and prospective tenants are facing. For example, consider whether they:

1. Are dealing with the sale of their property and may need assistance / advice.
2. Need to move by a certain date and they are running out of time.
3. Have had a bad experience with another Estate Agency and this has ruined their trust in the industry.

Recognise the challenges they are facing and help provide the solutions.

Tip 7. Utilise follow-up templates

Following up with enquiries can be a time-consuming (and sometimes frustrating) process.

After all, you have no guarantee of success. Every element of automation you can add to your standard course of operations will allow you to be more efficient, creating a smoother experience for yourself and your team.

Doesn’t that sound ideal?

Where possible, try to design an extensive collection of templates that can be used to quickly respond to all manner of frequently asked questions.

Tip 8. Increase personalisation

When it comes to real estate lead follow-up, you have to walk a fine line.

You need to find the balance between:

1. Introducing technology to your processes to speed up response rates.
2. Making the journey feel impersonal for your prospective buyer or prospective tenant.

Before sending any communications, spend an few extra minutes personalising your response and modifying the language appropriately.

Tip 9. Focus on the call to action

As you work with your prospective customers to move them through the sales pipeline to a new property, remember the power of a clear and informative call to action.

If you’re using an online leasing system, provide a portal for your prospects to view currently available properties to reserve at their convenience.

This will allow you to stand out from your competitors, reduce time spent managing tenancy progression over the phone and impress landlords with the service you provide.

Tip 10. Know when to step away

No matter how hard you try, not every enquiry is going to convert.

Some may already be leaning towards a property elsewhere, or their financial situation could change.

Recognise the signs of disinterest and be prepared to move on.

• Short and curt responses.
• No responses.
• Long waits between responses.

At the end of the day, if you are putting in all the effort and getting nothing in return, presume the lead has gone cold.

It’s your prerogative to decide whether another follow-up is actually worth your time and money or not.

Step back with your head held high. You’ll get the next one.

How to follow up with real estate leads – FAQs

To secure the success of your business, you absolutely need to follow up on your real estate leads.  This can take time and effort, requiring you to slowly build trust with your prospective renters or buyers. If you still have questions on whether or not to check back in with a lead, perhaps these FAQs can help:

Get a software demo

Property Management Software

Multi-discipline technology for property owners, investors and occupiers.

Get a demo

Conduct enquiry follow ups with MRI Software

It is essential to provide:

1. The information your customers need.
2. When it is convenient for them.
3. On a platform which they like and is easy to use.
4. At the ideal point of engagement.

This would give you the best chance of making that conversion.

Give your prospective residents and buyers what they want, when they want it and you’ll reap the rewards in the form of increased sales.

All this can be made easy through MRI Software’s estate agency software. Track and complete enquiry follow-ups on an effective and efficient schedule, contact us today.