How to Expand Into a New Market With Predictable Lead Generation

 

 

2017 was a crazy year for real estate as the number of existing homes sold nationwide, 5.57 million, was the third highest since 2005 at the height of the market before the crash.

 

The real estate market is still moving at breakneck speed and it appears that there’s little if any chance of it letting up.

 

There’s definitely money to be made.

That said, as an agent in today’s market you’re definitely facing competition from lots of angles as you work to build your business:

 

• Sellers are asking ridiculous prices for their home, making it hard to get them to list their homes with you at a reasonable price

• The number of agents has doubled in most markets in the country and hundreds of new ones are getting licensed every day (Phoenix has 600 new agents entering the market every month)

• Lastly, the number of existing home sales across the country is only increasing 3.6% between last year and this year (only 202,3000 more homes are likely to sell in 2018)

 

In short, there are fewer sales opportunities per salesperson and you’ve got to be on your A game if you’re going to capture your unfair share of the market.

 

There is, however, a secret weapon available to you to get in front of more sellers and secure more listings that most agents in your market don’t know about.

 

And in complete honesty, it’s the only true way to expand your business where you are now and into a new market.

 

It’s called predictable lead generation and done properly, it can be a game changer in your business.

 

Expand into a new market with predictable lead generation

 

If you’ve been selling homes for a year or more, you know how tough it can be to get in front of sellers.

 

Expired listings still come up, but agents flock to them like ants to a picnic. I’m not saying you shouldn’t call expired listings, but they’re super competitive and not a predictable lead source.

 

Same thing goes for FSBOs. They get hammered the first couple days after hitting the market and show up in random volumes on a month-over-month basis.

 

Working with your sphere and past clients at least gives you a leg up on your competition, but there’s no guarantee in any given month that you’ll be able score a consistent number of listings.

 

Again, you need to call all of these lead sources because they are an important part of building a successful listing business.

   

The good news, here, too, is that as you call more consistently, the higher your conversion rate goes.

 

The tough news is that it’s hard to build a predictable pipeline of listing opportunities by relying only on these lead sources.

 

The two best sources for predictable lead generation

 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what a nurture is and you understand the role a nurture plays in providing predictability to your listing business.

 

For the purposes of clarity, here are the five criteria a lead needs to meet in order for you to consider it a nurture:

 

1. Must be moving within a year

2. Must be open to working with you in selling their home

3. Must not be already committed to working with another agent

4. Must have good contact information: name, phone number, email, address

5. Must have a good date/time frame to follow up in the future

 

Nurtured leads provide a tremendous amount of predictability in that we know 8% of nurtures will sell their home within the next 12 months.

 

Knowing this, it behooves you to turn every seller lead with which you come in contact - expired, withdrawns, fsbos, past clients, sphere - into nurtures.

 

However, if you want to expand your business where you are or expand into a new market, there are two lead sources to rely upon to create predictable results in your business: neighborhood data and home value leads.

 

Let’s look at them separately.

 

Neighborhood Data

 

The best way to stop an elephant is not to drag it down, rather it’s to dig a hole in front of it and wait for it to fall in.

 

All kidding aside, it’s true.

 

If you want to get more business down the road, you need to get in front of the opportunity rather than try to catch it as it’s coming toward you.

 

By calling neighborhood data and doing consistent circle prospecting, you’re able to uncover seller leads long before any other agent will.

 

From there, you can nurture these opportunities and position yourself as the expert authority in helping them reach their goals through selling their home.

 

 

This gives you the incredible opportunity to go into a market where you would like to expand, foster relationships with sellers who are going to sell and be ready to help them list and sell their home...all without having to worry about other agents trying to take business from you.

 

Most importantly, you can add an element of predictability to your listing business because the nurtures you create from consistent circle prospecting will yield regular results.

 

As an aside, you’ll likely haul in some “now” business through your circle prospecting efforts because you’re going to catch people who are looking to sell at the time you reach out to them.

 

It’s a nice byproduct of the process and cool reward for your ongoing efforts.

 

Home Value Leads

 

Though a bit more expensive than neighborhood data, Home Value Leads provide you with an excellent gateway to grow your listing business while you expand into a new market.

 

Like neighborhood data, home value leads are likely going to be selling down the road.

 

The average home value lead sells in about 6-8 months from first contact and historically converts at a rate of 9% annually.

 

They are some of the best leads you’ll be able to get your hands on...for sure.

 

And what’s better is that once you get the lead and stay in touch with it, you are likely the only agent who is maintaining an ongoing relationship with the seller lead until they are ready to sell.

 

It may take a number of contact efforts to get in touch and convert a home value lead, but the time and effort you put in are absolutely worth it.

 

The important thing with home value leads (and neighborhood data for that matter) is that you get them from a reputable provider who augments the data in as much detail as possible.

 

Data augmentation provides you with more detail and information about the lead including names, phone numbers, cell phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses and other personal information that give you the best chance of making contact with, and converting, the lead.

 

Without good data, again, you just have a name or maybe only an email address and you certainly don’t have enough information to do the best job in converting the lead.

 

In order to break into a new market, you need leads in the area where you’re wanting to make some inroads...it goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway.

 

Knowing this, it makes sense that you tap into leads sources like neighborhood data and home value leads that are a few to several months away from selling and not being prospected heavily by other agents.

 

That way, you’re the only game in town when it’s time for them to list and sell their home.


This post was originally published by Market Maker Leads.