When you signed up to become a realtor, you probably thought you would be selling houses, having open houses, and attending closings. The part of the business that most real estate agents do not think about is the time spent generating leads.
It can take a lot of time and money to keep your schedule full. Whether the market is strong or slow, we have 10 affordable ways for real estate agents to generate sales leads.
Chances are you have tried some of these already but reading through this information will be a great refresher, and you may get a few ideas you never even thought of.
1. Direct Mail (But Better!)
Direct mail has been a great way for real estate agents to generate leads. However, there is a right and a wrong way to get this done.
If you are utilizing modern methods of sending direct mail to the properly targeted location, then it is incredibly effective. One of the most popular ways for real estate agents to capture more leads is by sending yellow letters.
Yellow letters are handwritten on a piece of yellow legal paper, and they give details about how you can help them with their home buying or selling needs. The key to these yellow letters is that they are personalized and look like they are coming directly from you.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to create these yellow letters yourself; Yellow Letters Complete can handle this process for you at a very affordable price.
Always ensure that your direct mail to your real estate leads has a direct call to action. People need to be told what the next steps are. Have them reach out to you about incentives, give an email address or a number they can text to get more information, but make sure they know what to do.
2. Social Media Is Important
Social media may not be your thing, but you have to be at least somewhat active on social media to generate more sales leads. The great thing about social media is that consistency is the most effective way to succeed.
You don’t really need to be all that witty or creative; the key is to share helpful content and share it consistently.
Believe it or not, people are very interested in real estate. They want to know what is working from a sales perspective and what is not. If you can give tips about how you saw a client paint their house and get $30,000 more for it, you may want to share that.
Social media goes beyond just the standard Facebook or Instagram. In addition, you should be looking for groups that you can join online as well as building up your LinkedIn profile. Prospective buyers and sellers will do a search of your online footprint and make sure it’s a strong one.
3. Have a Website Built
Wait, this was supposed to be 10 affordable ways for real estate agents to generate sales leads? Welcome to 2023; it is incredibly inexpensive to have a website built for your business, and better yet, you could even build one yourself.
Using websites like Bluehost and WordPress, you can buy a theme, plug in a few pictures of yourself and the properties you have sold, add some content, and make yourself seem even more accomplished and successful.
You won’t need to know how to code the website, but you will need some basic computer skills. If this is not your thing, use a website like Fiverr or Upwork to find companies to make a simple website for you.
As a real estate agent, you really need a landing page-type website, and eventually, you can expand it if you find you need more. This website just gives customers another great place to contact you.
4. Think About The Golden Letter
If you are a homeowner yourself, chances are you have received a golden letter or two by now. The golden letter is short and to the point statement showing a homeowner that you have an interest in selling their house for them.
The letter is usually quite simple; it says something like, “I have a client that is interested in your home.”
Even if a homeowner had no intentions of selling their home, knowing that someone is interested may make them think twice about it. Let’s face it; all homeowners have some idea of what their home is worth and what their next move might be as far as homeownership is concerned.
The golden letter is a great way to let someone know that you are actively working with buyers in their area. With Yellow Letters Complete, we can personalize these with a signature, so it looks more like they came directly from you.
5. Be Active In The Community
The more active you are in your local community, the easier it is for potential clients to find you and to get comfortable with you before they NEED you.
When you coach a little league team, go to the craft fair, or even get involved with other local business owners, it says a lot about the way you feel about your community. Hopefully, you are already living in the community where you work, and that will make this much more accessible.
If your children are involved in the local school system, there is never a shortage of events that you can attend to get to know people that live near you.
Also, think about joining a gym or other social type club where you can meet people. If you are already going to spend time working out, think about taking a class where you get to know a few people.
Remember, it’s not just those people that you need to know; it’s their friends and family. That’s where you really start to see your business multiply.
6. Learn The Power Of An Email
Email marketing never seems to go away. However, if you are not smart about how you approach email marketing, expect your emails to be deleted before they are even opened.
One great thing about emails is that if you are smart about the process, they can be automated. In addition, you can track things like open rates to make sure the wording you are using is actually appealing to your clients.
One of the best email marketing strategies for real estate agents that we have seen is a weekly newsletter. You can put this newsletter together to talk about local events in the community, some information about home sales and numbers, and maybe even share a recipe or a DIY tip.
If you are consistent with these newsletters, people will start to open them and benefit from them.
Remember, with this type of email marketing, the goal is not to sell; it’s to build a relationship with the lead. Try to collect email address from potential clients, even make sure you get them at an open house you are conducting.
The greater the email list you can grow, the easier it is to keep your pipeline full.
7. Volunteer In Your Neighborhood
You should volunteer to make sure that you are being a good person and helping your community succeed. However, volunteering can also be a way to help generate more sales leads as a real estate agent.
Not only does volunteering show that you care about your community, but it is also an excellent way to grow your network and become a bigger part of your local community.
Again, volunteer for the right reasons and to help the right people, and it will help your business at the same time.
8. Never Let Go
Ok, eventually, you may have to let go of a client that is no longer interested in working with you. However, you would be surprised how lack of follow-up can lead to missed sales leads. If you are busy and working with a lot of clients at once, make sure to stay very organized to ensure you don’t let any of them slip through the cracks.
Set reminders for yourself to follow up and to check on the status of certain deals and transactions. In addition, make sure to reach out to homeowners who have had a listing expire.
Did someone tell you at one point that they were working with another realtor and couldn’t use you? It might be worth looking into this to see if the transaction was ever closed. If you have stayed consistent and active, you may be able to win them over.
Never let go of a good lead, and your calendar will stay quite busy.
9. Become A Content Creator
Content creation is very valuable, regardless of the industry that you are in. For real estate agents, there is so much that you can do with content creation, from blogs to pictures to even a YouTube channel.
The most crucial part of becoming a content creator is to think about what your potential leads and clients may want to see.
We have seen a variety of different approaches to content creation for realtors. One of the most effective has been to become an expert in all things that a certain community has to offer.
Did you have a great meal out at a new restaurant? Was there a landscaping professional that did a wonderful job transforming a home? Share this through video, pictures, and blog posts, and make it relevant to your local area.
Not only will you make the people that already follow you happy, but you will grab some extra follows from local people trying to learn more about the area.
Try to get your thinking cap on about what you would want to see if you were looking for a potential realtor. Always remember that value is the most important, make your content valuable, and you will grow your customer base quickly.
10. The Power Of A Post It Note
Direct mail came up a few times on our list of 10 affordable ways for real estate agents to generate sales leads. The reason behind this is the effectiveness of direct mail in the real estate industry; it just works.
One strategy that has led to an increasing number of conversions is the post-it note strategy. Post-it notes can be added to any piece of direct mail, and they can display a simple call to action for the potential client.
For instance, a post-it note may say, “give me a call” or “I’m here to help,” but the way the post-it note is presented, it looks as though you took a little extra time to personalize this particular piece of mail.
Whether you believe it or not, this matters to your clients.
If you happen to get a listing, you will be making tens of thousands of dollars on their transaction. Knowing that you care and are genuinely interested in them having a good experience is really important.
Post-it notes that are handwritten can be printed in a font that looks as though it is human handwriting, or they actually are handwritten.
Why Is Generating Affordable Sales Leads So Important In Real Estate?
Whether you have been in the real estate industry your entire life or just for the last few years, chances are you understand the importance of having an extensive network. However, to build that large network up by paying for sales leads can get really expensive.
Our list of the 10 affordable ways for real estate agents to generate sales leads gives you actionable steps that you can start on today. Some of these require no money up front, and others are simply smarter ways to make sure you get in front of the right people.
One last tip of advice for all real estate agents and producers: even when you are busy, you still need to be working on your next sales leads. Being “busy” doesn’t last. The most successful people never stop trying to grow their businesses.
