7 ways to prioritize your most engaged real estate leads

Real estate leads are individuals who have shown interest in buying or selling real estate properties. Leads can come from Facebook ads, direct mail, real estate websites, and many other places — and as an agent or team leader, each and every one of them is important. 

But not all of them need your time and attention today. In this article, we’ll share lead management strategies to help you stay in touch with thousands of contacts, while offering support to those who need it now.

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Top sources for real estate lead generation

In the game of real estate, potential leads can come from a number of places. Here are some common sources and strategies for generating leads:

• Referrals
• Sphere of influence (SOI)
• Social media marketing
• Social media ads
• Sites like Zillow and Realtor.com
• Reviews
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing
• Niche sites
• Email marketing
• Digital marketing
• Postcards and mailers
• Open houses
• For Sale By Owners (FSBOs)
• For Rent By Owners (FRBOs) 
• Expired listings
• Circle prospecting
• Partnerships with local businesses
• Seminars
• Community events
• Business cards

By centralizing incoming contacts and putting strong lead nurturing systems in place, you can begin building relationships with every person in your client database based on the things that matter to them.

Why every real estate lead is important

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the real estate industry, you know it’s common to see agents complaining about lead quality. However, many successful real estate professionals will tell you that there’s no such thing as a “bad lead.” 

Because at the end of the day, it’s not the email or phone number that makes a lead valuable, it’s what you choose to do with that information that counts.

"There is no bad lead. There is someone on the other side of that screen who took the time to fill out their information requesting more information on a home, on the homebuying process, or inquiring to sell their home." — Lauren Bowen, Robert Slack Real Estate

As long as the email doesn’t bounce back and the phone isn’t disconnected, that contact information represents a potential relationship. The important thing is having the ability to quickly understand which potential clients need your attention today and which ones need more time or information before taking the next step.

"We utilize our tasks, our appointments, our ISA call center. Continued follow up has made the difference on all of our lead sources. Calling them once is not going to cut it. Calling them twice is not going to cut it either — but a continued follow-up is going to." — Lauren Bowen, Robert Slack Real Estate

Lauren Bowen, Chief Operating Officer for Florida-based team Robert Slack LLC, uses real estate automation to keep up with thousands of leads coming in across 16 lead sources for her team of more than 800 real estate agents. 

But you don’t need a mega team to benefit from automation. With the right approach, even solo agents can free up time for quality conversations that lead to quality leads.

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Don’t stop at lead gen: strategies to qualify and convert 

While there are no bad leads, there is bad timing. The process of qualifying your leads is really about determining their timeline so that you can check in with the right information at the right moment, without wasting your time on leads that aren’t ready.

Here are some strategies to help focus your lead conversion efforts.

1. Centralize leads in one location

In a competitive real estate market, you may have leads coming in from many different sources. Whether your focus is generating more leads from your open houses, re-engaging your SOI, or boosting your online presence with first-time homebuyers, you need one central real estate CRM to give you the bird’s-eye view of where each lead came from and when you were last in touch.

2. Segment leads

It’s what happens after a lead comes in that really matters. Tailor your communication to your leads’ real needs by segmenting your database by criteria like: lead type, stage (hot, warm, nurture), last communication, and more. When you or your agents sit down to follow up, they’ll know exactly what type of conversation they’re about to have.

“Once you segment out your database, you don't have to go, ‘I just had a great conversation with this hot lead, then I jumped into a nurture lead, and now I'm jumping into an unresponsive lead. You know when you come in every day that you have your hots, warms, and nurtures because you've put it into buckets and now you can really attack it.” — Travis Halverson, Cheplak Digital , EZ Home Search

3. Update your buyer questionnaire

Asking the right questions is key to establishing a relevant follow up cadence and a steady stream of qualified leads. Consider updating your buyer questionnaire with questions like: How soon are you looking to buy? Have you been pre-approved by a lender? Toured any homes yet? When are you available for a meeting? The answers to these questions will tell you if the lead needs your immediate attention, more information on how the process works, or regular updates on new listings in their preferred area.

4. Clarify your value

Make sure your buyer brokerage agreements, real estate scripts, and email templates are up to date. You work hard to manage the minutiae of the real estate journey and provide a seamless, simplified experience for customers. Adjust your messaging to explain the steps you’re taking at each stage in the real estate funnel every day on their behalf.

"I wanted to make sure that we explained who we are and our values from the very beginning. Having them sign something sort of forces that conversation. It forces you to take a little bit more of a consultative approach. I didn't want to see an agent spend hours and hours working for somebody and never explaining to that person why they were doing it and how they were going to get paid." — Jordana Tobel, Premier Listings

5. Send the right leads to the right agents

Different types of agents excel on different types of lead sources. With a clear plan for training agents to take on new lead sources and using inside sales agents (ISAs) and virtual assistants to help nudge agents toward the right actions, you can significantly level up your follow up. And with well defined lead routing and automated reminders, agents will know exactly what to do next to keep the process moving.

6. Use phone, SMS, and email

It isn’t enough to generate a high volume of responses. Successful lead management is about  tailored follow-ups that build trust and create a stronger connection between you and a potential customer. In your initial contact, take the time to find out your prospect’s preferred communication method. Are they a fan of text messaging? Or do they prefer a quick phone chat? From there, you can adjust your nurture sequences to include their preferred method leading to quality engagements and positive responses.

7. Track lead activity

It’s never a bad idea to fill the top of your funnel with new leads, especially seller leads. But don’t overlook the opportunities that are already in your database. With the right tech tools and automations, you can get notified anytime a lead with a longer timeline starts looking at listings, or asking questions that indicate an active interest in buying or selling. By narrowing your focus to your most engaged leads, you can identify and automate the processes that accelerate conversions with new and existing contacts.

Get more out of your lead generation strategies with automated follow up

Relationships can’t be built on just one contact. And successful real estate businesses can’t be built on lazy follow up.

By using technology to identify engaged buyer leads and home sellers, while staying top-of-mind with nurture leads, you can make high-quality connections consistently and in a fraction of the time.

When you’re ready for follow up that never fails, Follow Up Boss can help. With value-first automations, agents can focus on providing maximum value to the leads most likely to convert. Learn more with a zero strings-attached trial, or get more success strategies (for free!) by subscribing to the Team OS podcast.

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