4 Ways Your CRM Can Take Lead Conversion to the Next Level

Leads. We all rely on them to bring new business into the pipeline, but their quality can vary dramatically, and a lousy lead is sort of worse than no lead at all. (Who wants to chase their tail?) Still, we work with what we have. Even if you don't have a full inbox of guaranteed conversions, it's important to manage your leads efficiently to optimize conversion.

Taking into account leads of differing quality, most real estate professionals would be thrilled with a conversion rate of 5 percent. The industry average is closer to 1 percent. So finding new leads while making the most of the leads you have should be a priority. Many agents rely on lead sources such as Realtor.com, Zillow, and others to identify prospects—but making customers out of them can take some help.

One of the things that a top-quality CRM can do is optimize those leads. A CRM can make the difference between just having lots of mediocre leads and having lots of approaches to use that will help you convert them. Here's how:

#1: Response Time

Automating your leads mean instant responses can be automatic. This is huge for conversion, since many inquiries go unanswered even though studies show that a quick (one hour or less) response will boost the likelihood of further contact by seven times.

#2: Follow-up

Drip marketing lets you schedule automatic follow-ups to keep you top of mind with potential clients. Your CRM can provide templates and content to make this easy and less taxing on your time, while working on new leads for you, 24/7. Automate emails and SMS texts, and keep leads organized with easy to use filters based on demographics, location, interests, and more.

#3: Targeting the Market

A CRM manages leads so that you can update information instantly across the platform. Cloud storage gives you access to property details and market information that is vital to your potential customers. So you can provide just the intel they're looking for and make it look easy.

#4: Integration

In addition to integrating with lead sources like those mentioned above, integrating your CRM with social media can be a very effective way to enrich your leads. The system can automatically pull all sorts of information on a new lead for you, including full names and correct contact info, pictures, interests or favorite sports teams, and links to all of their social media. That's a substantial lead.

How about this statistic from Annuitas: Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451 percent increase in qualified leads. A quality CRM that helps automate marketing is a powerful weapon for making your leads suck less.

To view the original article, visit the Wise Agent blog.