The average lead conversion rate in the real estate industry is around 1%. To put that into perspective, that means for every 100 leads, you will only convert one into a client. To run a successful real estate business, you need more than one client to make the time, energy, money, and effort worth it. So the question becomes, why are leads not converting and how can you get more conversions?
Use a CRM
64% of agents aren’t using a CRM. That means that 64% of agents are missing out on a goldmine of resources a CRM provides. And no, sticky notes and your phone are not real CRM’s.
First and foremost, it organizes all of your leads across all your lead sources. And if you want to make your job easier, organization is key. You know who all your leads are, where they came from, when you need to contact them, and more. You can’t convert leads at a high rate if you don’t know who your leads are or if you’ve even contacted them. Relying on memory or your phone to keep track of your leads is only going to create more work and more stress. CRM analytics can also help you identify leads that are most likely and least likely to make a deal so you don’t have to spend hundreds of hours chasing a lead that won’t convert. You know your time is better spent elsewhere anyway.
Follow Up
If you follow up with your lead within 5 minutes you have a 21x higher chance of converting that lead. However, the average time it takes to respond to a lead is 42 hours, and 48% of leads are never responded to at all. If you aren’t following up with your leads, you are not going to convert them. If you also aren’t following up with your leads more than once, chances are, you aren’t going to convert them either. 95% of leads convert between the 2nd-12th contact attempt and 43% of agents give up after the first contact attempt. Not to mention that 80% of agents give up after the third attempt. This turns into a lot of missed opportunities and lost sales.
Have Better Conversations
Unfortunately, just reaching out to your leads is not enough. That would be too easy. How you are reaching out and what you’re saying when you do reach out is just as important. If you have a generic email or text that goes out every time a new lead comes in, you may be missing out on a lot of conversations. Each lead is different, has different preferences, and nuances and no generic email or text is going to add a level of personalized service that your lead needs. You need to dig into your lead and understand what they need so you can do your job better and make them feel valued.
Tom Ferry, the #1 ranked real estate coach, has created a roadmap to converting conversations that has helped thousands convert at a higher rate. LPMAMA, which stands for location, price, motivation, agent, mortgage, appointment, helps you or your Inside Sales Agent (ISA) get the most information from a lead while also being empathetic to their situation. You want to be politely nosy and you have to understand your leads motivators to be able to convert them. All of the LPMAMA questions help you get a clear picture of who your lead is so you can decide if it’s a lead to actively pursue or nurture long-term.
Leverage A.I.
Besides a CRM, there are hundreds of tools to help you with your real estate business. Technology like artificial intelligence (A.I.) ISA's can serve as a standalone ISA to improve lead follow up or work with your in-house ISA to allow your in-house ISA to focus on more value-add activities. A.I. is there 24/7, 365 ready to engage and qualify your leads when you can’t be. A.I. allows you to get more time back in your day so you can spend more time building other areas of your business or catching up on much needed sleep. An A.I. ISA can fill in the gaps where humans can’t. It doesn’t need to sleep, eat, or take time off. There are no kids soccer games to attend, thanksgiving dinners, or lunch breaks. Plus 50% of consumers say that they would prefer to conduct all customer service interactions via text/chat/messaging and 44% said that they would prefer to use a chatbot to do so. So if you have a human ISA or you’re doing your own follow-up, let A.I. make the job easier.
Want to spend more time closing and less time qualifying? Hire Aisa Holmes today.
