Subscribe and receive email notifications of new blog posts.
RSS Feed
- 2026 | 43 Posts
- 2025 | 96 Posts
- 2024 | 114 Posts
- 2023 | 143 Posts
- 2022 | 188 Posts
- 2021 | 204 Posts
- 2020 | 190 Posts
- 2019 | 118 Posts
- 2018 | 122 Posts
- 2017 | 164 Posts
- 2016 | 95 Posts
- 2015 | 68 Posts
15
What An Average Lead Looks Like
Your leads are anything but average. But there's definitely a difference between a good lead and a bad one.
Let's define some terms: A prospect is just about anyone you come in contact with who may someday become a customer. A lead is someone who has signaled interest in what you offer. That might mean they've inquired about your services or expressed interest in a listing.
Certain real estate marketing tools, like email marketing, give you a direct connection to your prospects, so you'll be able to keep the relationship going until they are ready to take action. But successful agents also recognize differences in lead quality, so they know what resources to allocate to leads.
What Makes a Good Lead?
At its heart, real estate is about relationships. It's also about selling. The real estate agent doesn't just sell a property. He or she must often sell leads on their ability to take action and succeed. Plus, any agent must be able to sell their capability to get the job done.
In other selling professions, experts spend time qualifying a lead to make sure each one is a good fit. A qualified lead isn't just someone who expressed interest in what you do, but has other characteristics demonstrating they're willing and able to move forward.
A qualified lead is usually someone who has:
- Budget: They either have the money to take action or have a clear path to financing
- Timeline: They intend to act within a timeframe that's reasonable for your business
- Authority: All decision-makers are in agreement about the right actions to take
- Good Fit: They will gain value from your skills; they fit your "ideal customer" profile
Real estate is unique. These four factors still apply, but they look different here compared to any other line of work. The more factors a lead has in their favor, the higher quality they are as a lead – and in theory, the less time and effort it will take to convert them into a customer.
Let's consider how these factors map to real estate:
Budget
Depending on the kind of customers you prefer to serve, you may be working with those who come to the process "cash in hand" or those who need financing. As a real estate agent, you have leeway to help leads evaluate their financial picture and explore their options in ways lenders are not permitted to do.
In real estate, someone may have no down payment saved up at all, but it could still be possible to move on a home if they take advantage of state or federal first-time homebuyer programs. When you're clear on the options, you can help leads open doors, which improves just how qualified they are.
Timeline
Some prospects come into your life with a vague notion about looking at homes in six months or "when the market is favorable." Others browse your website and spend tons of time on listings, checking out a virtual tour or even signing up for a local open house. The latter leads are usually better qualified!
When someone actively reaches out to you, you have a much better sense of their timeline than if you had to hunt them down with old-fashioned face-to-face networking. You can also gain insight into the timeline question by watching which content a person interacts with on your real estate website.
Authority
"Authority" is a question that usually comes up in a corporate setting, where there could be a dozen key stakeholders involved in a decision. But it's not always straightforward when buying a home, either. You could be working with a couple or a multigenerational household where everyone has their own input.
In these situations, a skilled real estate agent is even more essential. Simply be aware that a decision to do business may not materialize if the halves of a couple don't agree on whether they should be buying in the first place!
Good Fit
A lead whose needs align with your unique skills is more likely to choose you in the end – and to have a terrific experience they'll want to tell others about. For example, if you focus on first-time homebuyers, you probably have unique resources and connections, especially for making their lives easier.
Lead Scoring in Real Estate
Lead scoring is a process that helps you understand which people in your pool of leads are most likely to become customers in the shortest period of time. An AI-driven real estate CRM can help you with this; it recognizes patterns amid millions of data points and guides you to follow up at the right times. You can be better prepared to take action on the highest priority leads while continuing to nurture the rest.
Contact us to learn more about real estate marketing automation.
