Converting Hot Leads: An Email Campaign for Real Estate Agents

You've got several clients on the verge of making a big purchase, their new home, but you're worried they need that extra push or help along the way. Most real estate agents or those in sales will know the value of a good drip campaign or nurturing their clients through the sales process.

Your end game is for your clients to convert and buy that house or to use your services to sell their home, but you also want to provide value throughout that entire process. This allows you to build up some much needed trust between you and your clients and it certainly makes you memorable, the best way to gain those crucial referrals down the road.

Some of the most important things consumers and clients are looking for when it comes to trust are expertise, awareness, and relevance. All three of these are items you can provide your clients by getting your hot leads on a nurture campaign that will convert them to loyal clients.

Start sending this drip campaign for Realtors and agents:

When 83% of consumers trust brands that offer them resources and help throughout the sales cycle, it's a no-brainer that you, as a real estate agent, should be doing the same thing. After all, your clients are trusting you with one of the biggest purchases they'll ever be making in their lives, you'll want them to feel as helped through the process as they possibly can be.

Unfortunately, you don't always have time to hold the hands of each and every client as they go through the home buying process. But that's where the automation of a nurture campaign comes in. No, there's no need for you to lose your personality or forgo the relationships you've built up. If anything, automating a nurture campaign is a great way to augment those relationships by giving your clients some added value, and give you some more time to spend with them in person.

The first two steps to take are properly segmenting your leads and then setting some high-level goals for each segment or campaign they'll receive. By segmenting your potential clients and leads, you'll be able to personalize the campaign they get and while it takes some time upfront, it'll only save you time and energy in the long run once each segment and campaign is established.

We've got the best drip campaign for your hot leads, those clients with whom you need to stay top-of-mind, lest they lose touch or need some help along the way.

Set these emails to go every 7-10 days, but be sure not to forget to check your emails. Just because you have the automated flow set up, you still need to check on any responses that may require an immediate reply from you.

Email #1: Direct them to your social/blog/website

First things first—make sure these leads know you and, even more importantly, make yourself available to them. Use this email to give any further background information about yourself and share your social media, blog, or website links with them. Give your clients a way to get to know you that's a bit simpler, and allows them to do the 'digging' themselves.

If you share some personal items on your social media profiles, it gives them a chance to get to know you outside of being their agent, plus if you're sharing relevant information and resources on your profiles, you can prove your prowess and knowledge on all things real estate. Transparency was up there on that chart of what consumers are looking for, so why not be completely transparent with them by giving them a better glimpse into your life and who you are?

Email #2: Send a referral or review/testimonial

Most agents expect about 49% of their business to come from referrals this year. That's a good chunk of your business—why not take advantage of it? If you have a program already set up with your past clients where you aggregate their reviews or testimonials of your services, this is the time to utilize it. Some agents use video testimonials, others use the review section on Facebook, and some even allow for it on their website.

No matter the forum, giving your leads a chance to hear from someone other than you about you as an agent is a huge leg up as you look to move them through the process. If possible, work with your past happy clients to come up with a system where they give their contact information to your leads to speak on your behalf. What's more relatable than talking to another consumer who understands the situation you're currently in? Make your leads feel as if they're talking with or hearing from a friend when they get this email and allow your past clients to do the talking and testimonial for you.

Email #3: Invite out to coffee

There's only so much over-the-phone and email chats can do for your relationship with your leads, and truly taking the time to invite and take your clients out to coffee will go far with them. Rather than waiting for time in between phone calls or the lag between emails, you have an opportunity to quickly solve your lead's problems but understanding exactly what they're looking for.

Not only does that in-person meeting allow you to get to know your potential clients better in order to create a longer lasting relationship, you can quickly get an idea of what they need from you and how you can move forward. You've suddenly cut down on a lot of time wasted and made the process far more efficient. Plus, if you've got a good idea of a neighborhood they may be interested in, take them out to coffee there; it's a great way to get the conversation going and prove that you understand their needs.

Email #4: Send relevant resources

Besides making sure you reach out to debrief from your coffee date, take some time to send off some resources to your leads that they may find helpful moving through the process. Maybe they're stuck between figuring out if they want to buy a new home or a fixer-upper, or perhaps they're still working on understanding how to best take out their first mortgage.

The Contactually Mindshare Model

Whatever the problem or dilemma is, do your best to solve it for them by sharing some valuable information. But instead of you spending hours on answering their questions, share articles from trusted sources that do the answering for you. That way, you're providing something of value while also maintaining that personal connection in a way that keeps the conversation and relationship going.

Email #5: Share listings

Last but certainly not least, share those listings. The important thing is that you're not sending the listings right off the bat. You're here to nurture your leads through trust and the building of a relationship, and while you really do want to sell them their next home, you don't want to make them feel that it's all you're in there for.

By taking your time, warming them up, and better getting to know your leads' needs and wants, you can share more relevant and customized listings that they would find appealing. Make sure that at least one of the listings have an open house coming up that you can invite them to and get them in the door soon. The longer they wait around, the colder they get and that's the last thing you want as you work through the process with your clients

It all starts with trust

Sharing relevant, valuable information is the basis to building up a trusting relationship with your hot leads and the best way to convert them into a happy client. Automate this nurture campaign where you can, but also make sure to check in and personalize as much as possible. The key here is to make your leads feel special by being attentive to their needs and wants as they make this big purchase.

Stay top-of-mind, continue the conversation by sharing value, and give your potential clients a reason to say great things about you when they do finally convert. This email campaign is sure to start a successful cycle of happy clients who are more than happy to give testimonials and referrals to those future clients.

To view the original article, visit the Contactually blog.