Why Do Leads Go Dormant?

If you want to improve your lead conversion, it starts with the initial contact:

• SPEED TO LEAD:
  If you don’t get back to leads immediately, your competition will. Especially with online leads, you must get back to them within five minutes or you risk losing the lead to a competitor. In our culture of instant gratification, when we have questions, we want immediate answers.
• LOCAL MARKET KNOWLEDGE:
  If you don’t have the answers they want at your fingertips, they will question your expertise. Take a minute to gather intel about them and the property they are inquiring about before you call them.
• MISSING THE SELLER OPPORTUNITY:
  We engage buyer leads on what they want to buy, not on what they need to sell. According to NAR, half of all buyers have a house to sell. Don’t miss this opportunity to turn a buyer prospect into a seller prospect.
• DISSEMINATING INFORMATION VERSUS SELLING:
  We focus on giving them information about the specific property they called on, rather than creating enough curiosity, so they are willing to meet with us to learn more. Your goal when you call them is not to disseminate information, it is to book an appointment. End every conversation with “Let’s get together.”

Improving your lead conversations continues with your first meeting:

• FIRST MEETING WITH BUYERS:
  When a buyer inquiry comes in, most agents book a showing to see the property, rather than booking a buyer consultation meeting to investigate the prospect’s objectives. This meeting is critical to qualify their level of seriousness, so you don’t waste valuable time. They must have realistic expectations about what they can afford, financial viability (good credit score, steady employment, saved down payment), and are motivated and ready to buy as soon as they find the right property.
• FIRST MEETING WITH SELLERS:
  Approach the listing appointment with optimism. Sellers must feel you are excited about the opportunity. Use a great digital presentation (a picture is worth a thousand dollars in sales). They must clearly understand the value you bring to the table. Focus on where they are going. Selling their house is just a means to get what they want. And finally, be a closer! No signatures, no paychecks.

Even once you convince a buyer or seller to work with you, leads will go dormant if you don’t manage their expectations:

• MANAGING BUYER EXPECTATIONS:
  In today’s market, buyers need to look at the list price as the starting line, not the finish line. They need to get a commitment letter from their lender before they start house hunting, so they can compete with cash offers. When they see a house they like, they need to move on it immediately. They must be prepared to compete with multiple offers, be flexible on closing, offer over asking, etc.
• MANAGING SELLER EXPECTATIONS:
  Focus on where they are moving to and why, not what they are selling. This will keep them excited and motivated. In today’s undersupplied market, pricing slightly below market value will create substantial interest and likely entice multiple offers driving the sale price above market value. If you advertise that you are holding off reviewing offers until a specific date, have a conversation with your sellers about how they want to deal with preemptive (bully) offers.

You can do everything right, but if the process takes too long, their frustration increases, and you could still lose them. How do you prevent this from happening?

• REFINE THE HOMEBUYING SEARCH:
  Get them to create a “wants and needs” list and share it with you. What MUST they have in their next house? What can they live without? Inform them that in 2020, buyers typically searched 10 weeks and looked at 9 homes before they bought. For every house you show, compare it to their wants/needs list and ask three questions: 1) Do you want to buy this house? 2) Would you buy it at any price? 3) What is it you like and don’t like about this house? Use every showing to refine your search.
• REDUCE FRUSTRATION WITH BIDDING WARS:
  There are typically two reasons why your clients lose out in multiple offers. 1) Clients’ expectations aren’t realistic because you didn’t manage their expectations properly from the start, and 2) you didn’t do a CMA to know what market value SHOULD BE before submitting the offer. In today’s market, many agents are using aggressive pricing strategies (e.g. listing a $500,000 house for $405,000) to entice offers that go way above asking. Without your sound advice based on recent market data, your buyers will default to submitting lower offers and continue to lose out. Remember, today the asking price is often the starting line, not the finish line.

If you want to learn more about how to improve your lead conversions in 2021, check out https://leadersedgetraining.com/virtual-training.

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training