[Video] How to Use CMAs to Generate Seller Leads

Looking for a way to enhance your offline prospecting efforts like postcard farming and door knocking? How about a way to find more listing leads online? Your CMA solution may be all that you need for attracting and converting potential sellers.

We found out how to leverage CMAs for seller prospecting during a live webinar that we co-hosted last week with W+R Studios, the creator of Cloud CMA. W+R Studios trainer Ricardo Bueno and listing superstar April Kass walked us through the basics of using home valuation landing pages and crafting CMAs that win the listing presentation.

Did you miss the webinar? Not to worry–we recorded it for you! You can watch the webinar in full below or click through to the next page to read our wrap-up.

Earlier this month, we talked about how agents can capture seller leads by offering free home valuations. During the webinar, we learned the creative way that one agent is leveraging this method of lead generation.

Every Cloud CMA account comes with a free "What's My Home Worth?" landing page (look under the "Lead Generation" tab) that agents can use to attract sellers. Southern California based Realtor Ray Fernandez uses this tool to enhance his in-person prospecting efforts digitally. He purchased a website domain specifically for his home valuation landing page, RaysHomeValues.com. When he's either just listed or sold a property, Fernandez sends flyers to 250 houses within a close radius of that home. The flyer features listing info on one side and promotional material about him business on the other that invites homeowners to visit his website for a free home valuation.

There are multiple other ways to drive traffic to your home valuation landing page. You can link to it in your website's navigation, for example. Just add a tab that says "Home Values" and redirects to your "What's My Home Worth?" landing page.

Some agents run Facebook ads. This is a low cost but very effective method, thanks in part to Facebook's ability to precisely target consumers. The agent running the ad below, for example, targeted men and women ages 25-65, English speaking only, within a one mile radius of a specific zip code that he's farming. Within one hour of running ad, three people clicked on it and gave the agent their name, email, and phone number on his home valuation landing page. The total cost? $1.98, or about 66 cents per lead.

Crafting the Perfect CMA

Did a lead from your valuation page turn into a listing presentation opportunity? Great! Time to craft a CMA that's strong enough to win the listing. Here's how Realtor and special guest April Kass constructs her CMAs:

1. The first inside page features April's name, contact info, and branding.

2. Next, April includes a page with a map of all the listings she's showing them in the CMA, typically five sold properties and two active listings. "I really pull it in as tight as I can," she says, "within quarter mile or half mile rather than a mile out. I'm going to do that because the closer we get to their house, the better."

3. April then includes a sold property analysis. This report shows the listing price was, the sales price and the difference between the two. April uses this as a way to talk about pricing strategies with sellers. She'll say, "Let's look at one that's listed a little too high and here's where it ended up. How many days was it on the market?" Then she looks at a home that was listed lower and sold for more, again paying attention to how many days it was on the market. "Generally those are on the market fewer days," she says.

4. Finally, April includes an online valuation analysis. She considers this a preemptive strike against the "Zestimate" objections some sellers have when pricing their home. This page shows the sold price of a listing, its Zestimate, and the difference between the two.

April doesn't include the suggested list price in her CMAs. That's a conversation she prefer to have in person with the sellers.

How to Deliver Your Listing Presentation

Only 40 percent of agents deliver their listing presentations on a digital device like a tablet or laptop. Sixty percent are still delivering their presentations on paper alone! At your next presentation, consider going digital (but always leave the seller a printed copy of your CMA, too). The interactive elements are sure to wow your seller and make you stand out from the competition.

Here are a few more tips:

• Be personal
• Assume the close
• Use your CMA to help guide your pricing strategy
• Ask for the listing!

April also likes to use "we" statements – like, "When we go on the market" – during her listing presentations. This assumes that you're already working together and helps sellers view you as part of their "team."

Want more tips on prospecting for listing leads? Stay tuned tomorrow, when we'll take a look at the scripts April uses to start conversations with sellers.

An Exclusive Discount to Get You Started

Interested in trying out Cloud CMA for yourself? RE Technology readers are eligible for a 30-day free trial and exclusive discounts on all plans. Use this link to claim this limited time offer today!