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You Got The Lead, You Called The Lead, You Stored The Lead...Now What

By
Real Estate Agent with Karen Parsons-Fiddler, Broker 949-510-2395 BRE# 01494165

 

You know those leads....the ones we work so hard for? We blog, we prospect, we do mailers and open houses and garage sales...and then we get that precious lead.

So with all the excitement of Prom Night, we call and email and talk, talk, talk. And then:

***crickets***

They go dark. No more showings, no more emails, no more anything. They are on the back burner, or no burner. But they did reach out at one point....so are they truly dead?

Maybe, maybe not!

But you set them up on a drip, or gateway, or something designed to automatically follow-up. And then behold, you see they are checking the information. (If you don't have a system which can tell you if they check what you sent....get one).

So there is still interest of some kind. Now what? These are not the people who are going to respond to a "how's it going" email. So be more creative. In theory you have their criteria, so use that to your advantage. Once every couple of weeks, I send a specific email filled with a personal note....that is clearly personal...to these prospects. In it, I offer some juicy financial background on a new listing in their search. Or show a price reductions. Or talk about a local event they might like to go to in the city of their search....something unique and interesting.

And guess what? It works! These back burner prospects often do come to me when they are ready...and I normally hear something like:

"You always followed up and were so personal"

I guess they don't mind those of us who follow-up. Don't let that hard won lead go to waste.

Comments(47)

Wayne Zuhl
Remax First Realty II - Cranford, NJ
The Last Name You'll Ever Need in Real Estate

Good morning, Karen - good advice. We spend all this time/energy/money getting leads and lose them to lack of follow up!

Sep 17, 2012 08:35 PM
Harry F. D'Elia III
WEDO Real Estate and Beyond, LLC - Phoenix, AZ
Investor , Mentor, GRI, Radio, CIPS, REOs, ABR

I put this leads whether sell,buy or rent leads in a drip system and call them every 90 days. They do pan out over time.

Sep 17, 2012 08:44 PM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Great system Karen, your tenacity seems to pay off very well, now I need to look into some systems like these.

Sep 17, 2012 09:38 PM
Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Karen, your approach to keeping in touch with these leads is a good one. Thanks for the tip.

Sep 17, 2012 10:26 PM
Amanda Christiansen
Christiansen Group Realty (260)704-0843 - Fort Wayne, IN
Christiansen Group Realty

Good for you Karen!  I stopped doing this last year as I felt it was a waste of time.  I  may reconsider after reading this.  

Sep 17, 2012 10:29 PM
Connie Harvey
Pilkerton Realtors - Brentwood, TN
Realtor - Nashville TN Real Estate

Karen, such a good reminder to keep in touch without driving them crazy!

Sep 17, 2012 10:39 PM
Ginny Gorman
RI Real Estate Services ~ 401-529-7849~ RI Waterfront Real Estate - North Kingstown, RI
Homes for Sale in Southern RI and beyond

Karen, you are good!  I hope I can be as good as you are....with the personal touches!

Sep 17, 2012 10:48 PM
Richard Iarossi
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Crofton, MD
Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate

Karen,

Sometimes it's a mystery to me what happens to these Internet leads. I've had some go dark for over a year, and then all of a sudden they respond to one of my direct e-mails. It pays not to give up too easily.

Rich

Sep 17, 2012 11:03 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Karen- good encouragement for anyone thinking that following up won't do any good. Making it somewhat personal and not hounding them will keep you in their minds and you never know.  Besides, they may know of someone else looking. 

Sep 17, 2012 11:07 PM
Anthony Daniels
Coldwell Banker - San Francisco, CA
SF Bay Area REO Specialist

Provided we're not in the habit of randomly adding e-mail addresses to our mailing lists, without first obtaining the recipient's permission.

Good post.

Sep 18, 2012 12:31 AM
Paula Bradfield
Bradfield Ramsey Group - Salida, CO
Your Salida Colorado area Realtor Team

Brilliant! so simple... i sent this to my buyer's agent.. it was our missing piece. we have all the automatic stuff.

Sep 18, 2012 01:10 AM
Karen Fiddler, Broker/Owner
Karen Parsons-Fiddler, Broker 949-510-2395 - Mission Viejo, CA
Orange County & Lake Arrowhead, CA (949)510-2395

Reuben: Creative as well as personal, right?

Pete: It reminds me to do what works when I hear that

Sharon: It does work, whomever is in the forefront of their thought when they are ready, will get it

Tammie: Absolutely right

Kathy: We really have nothing to lose by working them, and when they are ready we usually get to work with them

Andrew: It shouldn't take that much time, but this is the pipeline for the future, which is just as important as the present business.

Ginger: I use something similar, and it works

Ed: Let us know what you end up using

Charles: you mean which system to use? I mainly use the free tools in the MLS itself, and it works great

Melissa: I completely agree

Gail: That's a good problem to have. :)

David Thanks

Mahesh: That's not good....keep those leads. :)

Dale: Great....let us know how it goes

Wandanna: Thank you....I try to send different things off each time, so it seems personal...and really, it is personal

Tiffany: That's great....congratulations! :)

Monique: That's funny...what is a "Happy Cricket"?

Cheryl: I hear it quite a bit actually....and it makes the follow up worth it

Christine: That's the point, we do work hard to get them, so if they don't buy that weekend they are not good? that seems silly

Mayra: We use Agent Acheive and it's pretty good

Wayne/Jean: That's exactly it....we need to keep working them

Harry: That's perfect

Bob: You can do it manually and then use the MLS systems for drip, if you like

Michael: Thanks :)

Jared: You should...it really doesn't take a lot of time and if only one pays off....right?

Connie: That's the key..don't make them nuts lol

Ginny: Aw....that's sweet. :)

Richard: Absolutely....I've had some out there for years.

Kathy: That's true too...referrals are great and I've gotten some from these leads also

Corinne: We use Agent Acheive....love to hear what others use

Anthony: Of course, but all my contact leads have to "opt in" to send anything to me by email

Paula: Thanks...let us know how it goes?

Sep 18, 2012 02:46 AM
Kevin Mackessy
Blue Olive Properties, LLC - Highlands Ranch, CO
Dedicated. Qualified. Local.

It's great to have a follow up system.  We've been tracking down the tenants in our rentals that are looking to buy after their lease is up.  As long as they're reminded every so often that we're licensed brokers as well.  

Sep 18, 2012 03:09 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Karen:

Good idea to send info about an event in the city they are looking at.  That is a good way for buyers to learn about their selected city.

Sep 18, 2012 06:52 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Corinne #35, I started using Happy Grasshopper as just a way to touch my database every three weeks. They produce short emails with human-interest articles. It's not really real estate related. Just a touch. Anyhow, the results have been interesting. People actually like the emails. I am getting all kinds of responses from clients who I haven't really spoken with in awhile. I've only been using it for a couple of months so no real business has come out of it yet but I think the concept is an interesting one. We want to stay top of mind without cramming too much information down their throats. My plan is to give it a year and see what the results are.

Sep 19, 2012 01:25 AM
Lori Cain
Own Tulsa - Tulsa, OK
Midtown Tulsa Real Estate Top Producer

What a great plan for back-burner prospects. I do something similar, but don't have it as automated as I should. GOOD job!

And I might check out the Grasshopper too!

Sep 19, 2012 03:09 AM
Tom Minch
Follow Up Boss - Convert More Leads into Closings - San Francisco, CA

Great advice from Karen, being personal and relevant is the key. It takes some time and creativity but pays off in spades. Having a system to do it is a must, you just can't ignore it these days. If it's not automated, it simply won't get done.

What's even more important is to ignite some relationship at the first contact point. Sadly, we've seen too many agents don't call internet leads which is literally leaving tons on money on the table...

Speaking with every lead makes a huge difference in closings and having a system in place is the only realistic way to make it happen.

Sep 20, 2012 12:49 AM
Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES
Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL
Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living
Karen, follow-up is definitely important even if it feels sometimes you are operating in a vacuum or talking to a wall. It's being noticed and when the time is right, the customer will reach out on their own.
Sep 23, 2012 10:27 AM
Mark Montross
Catamount Realty Group - Burlington, VT
Listing and Buyer Specialist

Karen, another terrific blog. I like your method of following up. I have just always asked if they were ready to resume their search. Your idea of sending them useful information such as informing them of community events or a specific item that could be of interest to them is a great idea. Now how to do that to all 2,000 leads in my backlog!

Oct 27, 2012 08:02 AM
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

I appreciate your advise: simple and effective way to show them that you are a person and not just an auto updates that they receive. I'm going to give it a try and I'm sure, if it worked for you, it will help any of us. Thanks for sharing!

Sep 05, 2013 07:27 PM