Ranking the quality of your real estate leads
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by: RobMinton
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In prior articles, I've gone over the necessity of consistently generating leads. I've shared that my own goal was always to generate 400 new leads per month. This article will turn the attention to the quality of these leads.
In this day and age, agents seem to be putting all their eggs in the basket of inexpensive leads. I have found, however, that inexpensive leads tend to be of lower quality.
Here is an interesting finding from my business:
Leads of lower-quality seem attractive because they are generated without spending a lot on the "front end" to generate them. However, what seems to be happening is agents are spending more on the "back end," which is the process of attempting to convert leads to sales after the leads are captured. This "back end" marketing includes sales letters, special offers, drip e-mail campaigns, postcards and more.
For my own business, the ranking of the quality of leads is as follows: (Ranked from highest to lowest quality)
1. Referral
2. Endorsement from a joint venture partner
3. Leads who register to attend a class
4. Leads responding to an advertorial advertisement
5. Leads responding to "solo" e-mails or "pay-per-click" ads
6. Leads responding to a classified or home buyer magazine advertisement
7. Leads responding to a craigslist (or similar) advertisement
So many agents seem to be focusing on these free or cheap ads that attract lower-quality leads. What ends up happnening, then, is major effort required to convert these leads into appointments, showings and sales.
To be successful, your marketing campaign must include leads from each source listed above. In fact, I might even suggest that you invest more resources on the top 4 or 5 strategies for higher quality leads. The amount invested to generate the lead will be higher, but the amount invested to sign a new client or sell a home will ultimately be lower.
Follow this advice, and you'll soon notice that you have less competition in your market. This is because the majority of your competitors will still be focusing on inexpensive ads that attract-lower quality leads. How many agents in your area are setting up joint venture marketing campaigns? How many are running advertorial ads? I'll bet there aren't very many.
Why is this the case?
Because focusing on the lower-quality leads will ultimately mean fewer sales. Fewer sales means money will get tight and agents won't be able to afford ads to attract higher-quality leads. You will have a long-term economic advantage by putting your focus on higher-quality leads.
Bottom line: A lead is not a lead. Different quality levels exist in the leads you generate. A comprehensive marketing campainng that stresses generating higher-quality leads will mean more sales for you, while your competition fights over the lower-quality leads.
About the Author
Rob Minton, who reinvented this real estate sales business to sell 269 homes to a limited number of clients, has written a very practical book on how real estate agents can sell more homes For a limited time, you can download this entire book for free by visiting Renegade Millionaire Strategies for Real Estate Agents
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