Don’t let these four myths get in the way of creating an effective strategy for capturing real estate leads.

Highlights:

As you start to develop your lead-capture strategy, don’t let certain myths and misunderstandings derail your efforts.
If you confine yourself to one or even two methods of finding leads, you’re unnecessarily limiting your potential.
The better you understand your prospects, the more you’ll be able to meet their needs and turn them into customers.

One of the most pressing challenges for all real estate professionals is to get a steady supply of real estate leads. But as you start to develop your lead-capture strategy, don’t let certain myths and misunderstandings derail your efforts.

Let’s look at four of the top myths when it comes to real estate leads.

Myth #1: Real estate leads that don’t buy immediately are worthless

It can be tempting to fall into black-and-white thinking when it comes to leads. When prospects don’t show an immediate interest in making a purchase, you might dismiss them as dead leads. That’s a mistake in any field, but especially in the realm of real estate. The only leads that are truly dead or worthless are ones where you have no accurate contact information, or they have specifically told you not to contact them again.

Just because a lead doesn’t require your services right now doesn’t mean he or she never will. Real estate purchasing is closely tied to people’s circumstances, which can change over time. That’s why it makes sense to look at every promising lead as a long-term prospect with whom you should periodically follow up.

Myth #2: There’s only one way to find leads

Real estate marketers have a wide selection of lead generating strategies to choose from. These include:

Advertising (online and offline)
Social media
Billboards
Blogging: A real estate blog is a powerful way to build your credibility as well as SEO.
Direct mail

You may develop certain preferences for finding leads. However, if you confine yourself to one or even two methods, you’re unnecessarily limiting your potential. An omnichannel lead generating strategy is your best approach.

It’s good to combine high-tech and old-school methods, for example. You certainly need to take advantage of digital marketing, which includes an up-to-date website and social media presence. At the same time, offline strategies are still effective as well. The more ways you have to engage with prospects, the more qualified leads you’ll attract.

Myth #3: It’s more important to acquire leads than to nurture them

Lead generation is only the first step in the real estate marketing process. If you’re too caught up in the lead generation process, you may only make a brief effort with each lead before putting it aside and looking at the next one. Instead, you need to think in terms of lead management and nurturing. This includes:

Segmenting leads so you know what type of offers to put in front of each prospect. This is fairly easy to do with web leads. You can, for example, set up separate SEO, social media, and email marketing campaigns based on different keywords and topics.
Learning the best ways to contact each lead. Some people prefer to be contacted by phone, email, or social media, for example.
Following up regularly. You don’t want to bombard prospects with messages. However, you do want to be proactive and reach out to leads every so often.

Lead nurturing and management really come down to building relationships with prospects.

Myth #4: Once you’ve closed, you can neglect the lead

Closing a sale is always exhilarating. You shouldn’t, however, think of a successful closing as the end of the process. Think of it, rather, as the start of a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. It’s important to show clients that you care about them, even after the sale.

Ask clients to complete a survey. This provides insight into areas where you can improve.
Send holiday and birthday greetings.
Send occasional emails or make calls asking if there’s anything you can do for them.
Request referrals. Your past clients are often one of your best sources for finding future clients.

Avoid These Myths

Make sure you recognize these myths for real estate leads so you don’t fall prey to them. It’s important to remember that each lead is a unique individual with specific characteristics and preferences. Many mistakes occur when business owners and investors generalize too much about their leads. The better you understand your prospects, the more you’ll be able to meet their needs and turn them into customers.

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