8 winning strategies for successful real estate prospecting
The daily life of a real estate agent is very hectic. Between the numerous visits and appointments at the agency, it's rare to get bored! However, some periods are quieter than others. These times are generally conducive to prospecting 🔍.
Maintaining an address book takes time. As a relational profession par excellence, multiplying contacts is essential to win more mandates and keep the store running. To help you in this task, you can rely on various techniques 👍.
In this article co-written with real estate expert and trainer Driss Bouharrou, discover the tips you need to remember to make yourself the queen or king of real estate prospecting 👑.
#1. Create and nurture your partnerships
Developing a network of partners helps make your agency more attractive. Naturally, there are certain business sectors to focus on. As a real estate agent, for example, you can approach:
- banking establishments (to facilitate a property loan, etc.) ;
- real estate specifiers;
- insurance companies (owning a home is great, but insuring it is even better!). 🏠) ;
- craftsmen specialized in renovation (you're interested in this property, but you're not a fan of the kitchen? Don't worry, I know a great guy who can fix it just right! 👷♂) ;
- companies specializing in furniture (you've got to fill that empty house!), etc.
In short, any service that can help you settle into your new home is welcome. You can even go a step further and forge partnerships with other types of companies. Would you like to give your agency a warm, welcoming image? Just the thing, there's a bakery just a few yards away. Offering pastries and a good cup of coffee to a prospect who comes to you for information is sure to make a good impression. But will it win you more business and increase your sales? We'll let you be the judge! 😁
#2. Make a name for yourself in the neighborhood
To be successful, a real estate agent must necessarily know how to be personable and convincing. The more he wins a prospect's trust, the greater the chances of closing a sale. So it's important that you're recognized as a reliable and competent professional 👌.
With this in mind, it's essential to maintain a good relationship with the neighborhood and local merchants. Rather than discussing contracts within your agency, why not opt for a friendlier venue such as a café or restaurant? By systematically taking your prospects to the same bistro, you're bound to become a local household name. While this may seem trivial, it does help to convey a reassuring image to your customers 😇.
What's more, it can even bring you new customers without you even having to lift a finger! By multiplying your presence in these meeting and discussion places, your advertising will come naturally. And if the coffee's on the house, why deprive yourself? ☕😏
#3. Don't neglect your shop window
Does this advice seem obvious? Yet many real estate professionals tend to forget it. Your shop window is the first image a prospect has of you, so try to make a good impression!
While it's highly advisable to highlight the most attractive properties, you can also be a little original. Most real estate agencies are content to post adverts by the dozen. Why not try to stand out from the crowd? 🤔
For example, you could:
- post reviews from customers who have enjoyed working with you ;
- invite owners looking to sell to come and meet you;
- distribute information on the current state of the real estate market.
In short, it's up to you to be inventive and highlight the content you deem most likely to grab the attention of passers-by.
#4. Keep in touch with former customers
That's it, you've just closed a sale. The new owners are delighted, and so are you. Time to say goodbye and move on? Not at all! ❌
A real estate agent's job doesn't end with the sale. Maintaining a relationship with your former customers can prove highly beneficial. You can even cultivate this bond as soon as you hand over the keys 🔑.
Moving in means a housewarming party. As you're a very studious student, you've already applied our previous tips and will be able to put them to good use. By offering the new buyers the services of a caterer with whom you have a deal, for example. What's more, because you're so nice, you've been invited to the housewarming party. An opportunity to introduce yourself to family and friends and hand out your card to interested parties 🤝.
Today, customer experience is at the heart of corporate strategies. Indeed, word-of-mouth and customer reviews are highly effective levers for dispelling doubts. The more satisfied a customer is, the more likely they are to recommend your services. To maintain this special bond with your "old" customers, you can :
- check up on them by phone;
- take advantage of a visit to the neighborhood to say hello;
- send them a letter on special occasions (New Year, birthday, etc.).
#5. Cultivate your website
We sometimes tend to think of real estate agencies as clones of each other. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to be able to stand out from the crowd. There are many ways of doing this. In this case, we're going to take a look at your website 🧐.
Like your agency's shop window, your website serves to showcase your ads and attract potential prospects. But that's not all! To arouse interest and win the trust of visitors, your site must have real added value. This means, for example, publishing reviews from former customers or sharing news about the world of real estate 🏘.
What's more, real estate is a field that can be frightening for neophytes. It's up to you to reassure them. To this end, keeping a blog section on which you write articles aimed at the general public is an excellent practice to adopt.
- What's the role of a real estate agent?
- Tips for negotiating the best deal for your property;
- What notary fees really represent ;
- Hidden defects: how to avoid them;
- New or old: the advantages and disadvantages of each, etc.
What's more, it helps boost your search engine ranking. It would be a shame to miss out 🤷♂️.
Finally, try as much as possible to gather information about your visitors. Why not offer to download a white paper in exchange for registering on the contact form? This information is extremely valuable for winning more business and prospecting effectively. With a name, e-mail address and telephone number in your database, you've got a very good base to work with.
#6. Use real estate prospecting software
Today's world is driven by new technologies. You might as well take advantage of it! Gathering information on your leads, sorting them, creating content adapted to each one, follow-up, monitoring and evaluating the maturity of prospects... The list of tasks to perform when it comes to sales prospecting is infinitely long. To help you, the use of software is highly recommended 👈.
Among the many features offered by real estate prospecting software, we can mention:
- data collection ;
- data segmentation (lead scoring, etc.) ;
- automation of time-consuming, repetitive tasks (real estate prospecting, updating of reminder calendar, scheduling of content dispatch, etc.);
- performance monitoring (conversion rate, average time spent on the phone, etc.);
- work organization and information sharing between teams (allocation of mandates, etc.);
- automatic prospecting of properties according to your established criteria (geographical area, size, etc.).
In short, there's a clear parallel between real estate prospecting software and a marketing automation solution.
In short, there's an obvious parallel between real estate prospecting software and a marketing automation solution.
🛠 An example of a tool that combines these functionalities: Néo Sphè;re, a real estate software package for independent real estate agencies that combines CRM, real estate transaction software and an automation solution for tracking your customers and prospects through predefined, customizable scenarios. A real ally to help you save time, assist you in your prospecting, and lead you to obtain more mandates.
#7. Assert your presence on social networks
On an average day, people spend 2h30 consulting their social networks. To increase your chances of winning new leads - and therefore new mandates - these networks shouldn't be neglected.
An Instagram account, for example, is ideal for presenting properties for sale in their most beautiful light. In just a few moments, it's easy for a user to identify the type of property you're offering. It's also an opportunity for you to break away from traditional ads. In particular, we're seeing more and more professionals offering virtual tours from Instagram 🏡🤳.
As well as being the ideal place to promote yourself, social networks allow you to find tailor-made leads. Facebook groups dealing with real estate news are legion. Likewise, there are many local groups based on mutual assistance. You could, for example, imagine people looking for emergency relocation or arriving in a new city for work. So many potential customers to identify and approach.
We can also mention LinkedIn as a tool to be favored for raising your profile and prospecting. A BtoB network par excellence, it's an opportunity for you to share your expertise with your community. What's more, you also have the opportunity to join groups where your services could find takers. Here, we're thinking in particular of those dedicated to real estate investment.
#8. Adapt your message to your target audience
Depending on a lead's level of maturity, you won't address them in the same way. The idea is to always send the right message, at the right time. For this, using a lead scoring tool is very useful. Based on the actions taken by a lead and the interest he shows in your services, a score is assigned to him. The higher the score, the greater your chances of converting them into customers and signing a contract 🤞.
Just imagine. You've been put in touch with a couple who can't sell their house. Initially reluctant to work with an agency, they are now considering it more and more. Your objective is to remove any remaining obstacles to obtaining a mandate. For example, you can try to win their confidence by :
- sharing information on the latest trends in the local real estate market ;
- offering them a visit to their property to help them understand the situation;
- inviting them to a seminar you're organizing on the real estate profession;
- putting them in touch with one of your former customers in the same situation.
Staying on the subject of targeting, you should also know that you can limit the distribution of your advertising content to a certain audience. If you decide to run a campaign on Facebook to promote your agency, you can define your target audience according to various criteria (age, gender, geographical location, etc.). The more personalized and tailored your content is to a certain audience, the more effective its reach 💪.
A word from the expert
To adapt your message to your target, why not integrate the DISC method?
This is a behavioral and personality assessment model based on four main types of traits:
- D - Dominance: this profile is results- and action-oriented.
- I - Influence: the I profile is characterized by marked sociability and a desire to persuade and influence others .
- S - Steadiness: people with an "S" profile are known for their patience, reliability and consistency .
- C - Conscientiousness: people with a "C" profile are methodical, precise and analytical.
This method details how to adapt communication according to behavioral profiles, and thus optimize the impact of exchanges with prospects.
Real estate prospecting: what can we learn from all these examples?
There are many techniques you can use to raise your agency's profile and win more mandates. While the eternal door-to-door approach can still be very useful, digital tools have greatly improved sales prospecting.
Between segmenting your leads, automating time-consuming and repetitive tasks and promising a higher conversion rate, real estate software makes your life much easier. There are even CRMs specially designed for real estate, so why not give them a try?
Article translated from French