Realtor's Guide to Lead Management

If you are having a problem with lead management, here is one solution that could work for you.
You’ve done your homework, invested in software, worked hard and now you have what you were after…leads — and plenty of them. But now what? You are so busy showing properties, getting feedback, and going to closings. And as your day-to-day tasks as a realtor begin to overwhelm you, your leads just sit in your database. You try to make contact with the prospects here and there but nothing is done with consistency. You even spend money on marketing postcards, but there really isn’t much of a response. You feel hopeless.

Don’t worry, you are not alone. Did you know it takes on average 7 contacts with a prospect before you make a sale? A lot of realtors never achieve that number. Why? To put it simply—lack of time.

There are two ways to solve the problem of a nonexistent lead management system. One, come up with a detailed plan of contact or two, enlist a real estate virtual assistant to manage your database for you.

If you go for the first option, you have to be specific and consistent. Say you have 100 leads in your database who fall into your niche. You should come up with a monthly plan of contact. Say month one you send a sales letter, month two you make a follow-up call, month three you send a postcard and month four you email an interesting real estate article. You continue doing something every month for one year. Guess who many of your leads will call when they decide to list? You would probably make the short list of agents. This is just one example of a system you could incorporate into your schedule. But there is still that dreaded time issue.

If you really want to solve your lack of marketing predicament, hire a real estate virtual assistant. What is a virtual assistant (VA)? It is someone who works from her office and applies her unique skill set to assist you. In this case a VA could help organize your database, create and execute a marketing plan as well as design your marketing pieces; thereby, setting you free to work face-to-face with your clients.

Whether you manage your marketing on your own or hire a virtual assistant to handle it for you, you must take action. Expensive lead management systems won’t help you succeed if you don’t put them to good use.

Evy Schwartz is an expert at lead management and marketing for realtors. She owns ELS Virtual Solutions where she provides lead management, listing coordination and marketing services for real estate agents. She can be found at http://www.elsvirtualsolutions.com

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