Leads are the foundation of any real estate business.
Without them, your brokerage is as good as dead. Sure, you can generate adequate revenue by capitalizing your marketing efforts on customer retention.
However, you’ll only be getting a small piece of the pie. For your real estate business to thrive, you must work hard to maintain a healthy pipeline of leads. No leads means no customers, no sales, no profits, and no growth.
Still not convinced? In this article, we’ll delve deeper into the importance of leads for real estate agents. But first, a quick primer on real estate leads.
What Is a Lead?
In simple terms, a lead refers to an individual or organization that has expressed interest in buying what your business is selling.
According to Marketo, a lead is a “qualified prospect that is exhibiting some form of buying behavior.” In this context, a real estate lead is someone that has expressed interest in your real estate business. It could be an individual homebuyer, company, or even an investor.
Real estate leads come from a variety of sources. These include:
• Referrals from past or present clients
• Listing sites like CraigsList
• Networking and open houses
Real estate lead generation is the process of identifying, bringing in, and converting prospective buyers into leads. According to Rethority, a winning lead generation campaign must use a mix of both inbound (digital) and outbound (traditional) marketing to attract potential clients.
Importance of Leads for Real Estate Agents
The success of any real estate agency rests on its ability to attract and nurture leads to conversion. That said, here are some pointers on the importance of leads for real estate agents.
1. Leads = Customers = Profits
Statistics show that more than 55% of marketers spend half of their marketing budgets in lead generation. The more you spend on leads the higher your chances of getting more conversions the more the profits you get from sales.
Successful real estate agents know this principle and are gravitating more towards paid advertising. The popularity of paid lead generation sites, like BoldLeads, is on the rise, as these sites provide real estate agents with quality and targeted leads.
2. Leads Promote Business Growth
If your brokerage is not bringing in new customers, then it will not be able to grow, and will instead begin to stagnate. However, with a healthy pipeline of leads, your customer base will grow and this will eventually lead to business expansion.
3. Leads Provide a Gateway to Relationship-Building Opportunities
Besides steering your brokerage down a profitable path, leads also allow you to interact with a growing customer base.
You’ll be able to interact and even build relationships with potential customers and other professionals in the industry. This continuous interaction with leads and relevant stakeholders can keep you updated on industry news as well as what the competition is doing.
The Key Takeaway: Leads are Your Keys to Success
As Zig Ziglar once said, “you’re out of business if you’re out of prospects.”
Leads can skyrocket your sales, foster business growth, and enhance relationship-building. They can also help you create brand awareness and build a reputation. That’s because most prospects provide unbiased reviews and advice on real estate property services they’re using.
If your open houses, virtual tours, and/or customer services are excellent, your prospects will yearn to work with you and even give you credits on social media. If your service delivery is lacking, they may also advise on areas that need improvement.
