Agents tell me that thanks to search functions, they have hundreds of internet buyer leads to manage. Their systems may be automatically sending those buyers information on new listings, but they feel that isn’t good enough. After all, if those buyers have been exploring several sites, it may be the same information other agents are sending.
You may be facing the same problem.
How can you stand out and be the one those Internet buyer leads call when they decide to take action?
When you have hundreds of Internet buyer leads, there aren’t enough hours in 
the day to make a call or send a personal message to each of them every week – or even every month.
You do need time to tend to current clients, to keep all of your transactions running smoothly, to stay in touch with past clients and your sphere, and to follow up carefully with referral leads.
To make it tougher, you have no way of knowing which leads are serious, which are people who want to buy soon, which are just beginning to dream, and which are people who are merely curious about the market. Since you can't sort them, the best idea is to hang on to all of them until they become buyers or tell you they aren't interested.
The answer: Decide what you want to send, then automate.
Since these are Internet buyer leads, you have their email addresses. Your system may enter them automatically or you may have to do it yourself. Either way, you have the opportunity to stay in contact and to make yourself stand out by sending them good information.
- You can send market reports.
- If you write a newsletter you can send that.
- If you write informative blog posts, either about the industry or about your community, you can send short notes with links to those posts.
- You can also send advice that is pre-loaded into your autoresponder and sent to each lead at the intervals you choose.
For that you have two good choices: You can write your own letters, or you can choose one, two, or three of the letter sets I wrote to help agents hang on to buyer leads.
The first set discusses the kinds of listings to choose from and the pros and cons of each.
You'll find more about this set at: The 6 types of real estate listings - the pros and cons - Copy By Marte
The second set is buyer advice for those who plan to buy a home soon.
This set of 7 letters takes your readers step by step from becoming pre-approved to choosing the neighborhood and preparing lists that will guide you as you search for their perfect home, to getting ready for the day of viewing homes.
The letters include:
Initial Response
1 – preapproval
2 – the neighborhood
3 – the lists
4 – time to go over the lists
5 – things to keep in mind
6 – last thoughts to consider
Learn more about this set at: Real estate letters to those who plan to buy a home soon - Copy By Marte
The third set came about because agents told me they needed more.
Some of those leads are just beginning to think about home ownership, so agents need to stay in touch longer.
To answer their concerns, I wrote the Nurturing Internet Buyer Leads letter set. It includes 12 letters, plus a short special report on buying a house under construction. Here’s a screen shot of the contents:
Use letter #1 to reply immediately when they register to set up a home search on your website. Or – if you prefer, you can create a capture box and invite buyers to opt in for home buying tips.
Whether you write your own letters or choose one of these sets ...
...personalize the letters, upload them to an autoresponder, set it to send the letters out at the intervals you choose. Then stop worrying because you aren’t managing to write individual letters to hundreds of leads. (Do remember to move people from your “prospects” list to a “clients” list once you’re working with them.)
Note that each of these sets can be used alone, so each has a "Letter #1" that lets your leads know to expect more from you. If you intend to use both sets one after the other, you'll probably want to skip or change one of those.
How often should you contact Internet buyer leads?
Since every lead is an individual person, there is no right and wrong answer, but my guess is that weekly would keep you on their minds. If you set up a series of letters, you could schedule them ahead of time, then send “extras” when you have a market report or other news to share.
If you’re blogging regularly, you could alternate weekly between the letters and a round-up of links to your latest posts. Or you could send both each week, spaced a few days apart.
One thing is a near certainty: If you send those Internet buyer leads good information and stay in contact beyond the first month or so, you’re likely to be the only agent who does.
One last thing: Should you need more than one set, use the coupon codes:
2 letter sets: Use Wednesday for 15% off.
3 letter sets: Use three for 20% off.
Chosen agent graphic courtesy of Stuart Miles @ freedigitalphotos.net
Email marketing image courtesy of fantasista at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This post first appeared at How to Manage Hundreds of Internet Buyer Leads - Copy By Marte
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