Content Written By: April Wilson, Ryan Winter LLC contributing writer
Stop Wasting Time With Unqualified Leads
While every lead has opportunity, it’s important to invest your time wisely into the right ones. The goal of most title companies, especially North Florida title companies and title companies in the Jacksonville area are to help Realtors in the area close. US Patriot Title wants to help you find the right leads to make that happen. One of the most successful ways to start getting the right leads is to stop wasting your time with the wrong leads.
Some leads are not going to turn into a sale, and therefor your not going to reach the title company to help with the closing anytime soon. While others are ready to buy now. It’s important to qualify the right leads worth putting the majority of your time into. This doesn’t mean unqualified leads should be completely forgotten about., but deciding which leads are qualified and unqualified will help you to allocate your time efficiently.
Power Up Leads, a business service that helps support Realtors, goes in-depth on how to identify different leads appropriately. “As a real estate agent, it’s important to understand that although there is value in every lead, it’s your job to figure out which leads to focus your energy on so that you’re not wasting all your time on leads that don’t convert to sales,” Power Up Leads wrote in their blog. The blog breaks down some “key criteria” to help Realtors identify different leads. The blog breaks it down like this: unqualified leads are people who are not wanting to buy or sell right now, can’t afford to buy or sell right now or are just not in a position to make purchasing decisions. These people need time, so don’t waste much of your valuable time on them. The blog identifies qualified leads as people who know what they need and want, have a budget and are researching for help. Investing the majority of your time into these leads will help you succeed in getting to the title company and helping your client close on a house.
What To Do With Unqualified Leads?
As stated before, you don’t want to forget about and neglect your unqualified leads. Nurturing unqualified leads will help you when one day they turn into a qualified lead. “The reasons why some leads are unqualified have to do with time. So just because they are not prospects now, does not mean they won’t be in the future. According to the numbers, it takes several points of contact to close a sale, with only 2% closing after the first contact and 80% after the fifth to twelfth contact,” Power Up Leads wrote in their blog.
Keeping unqualified leads on an email campaign to receive updates or newsletters is a great way to keep them informed on what is going on until they are ready to make a decision. Connecting with them on social media and keeping them as friends are all ways you can keep an unqualified lead without putting too much time or pressure into the relationship.
“Unqualified leads still need your attention in terms of forming a relationship. Something you can build on so that the prospective lead thinks of you when the time is right,” Power Up Leads wrote in their blog.
How To Get More Qualified Leads
There are many ways and places to get leads. According to a blog written by Mashvisor, a company that provides real estate investment data analysis: “Around 1.2 million new households are projected to be formed each year in the period between 2018 and 2028, as reported by The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University. For real estate agents, each new household represents a potential sale!” However, it’s not about just getting more leads, it’s about getting qualified leads. Leads that are going to turn into sales.
So, how do you find these people? Many different companies suggest making buyer personas. Basically, you want to define who your ideal, qualified lead is. Make a personal profile that details the type of person you can help. This will require some research, but when you figure out the type of person who is going to be interested in and make a purchase with your help, you can figure out where to find them. From there, use your networking skills to get your name out to where the qualified leads are. You don’t have to wait for them to come to you.
How To Properly Qualify a Lead
Alright, you’ve defined your ideal lead — connected with potential, qualified leads — now, how do you decide if these people are truly qualified leads worth investing your time into? “In real estate, lead qualification is a systematic process that involves gathering information about your leads to evaluate whether they’re ready, able, and willing to buy or sell. Therefore, the reason why you must have a system in place to qualify real estate leads is that it allows for more efficient use of time. Time is a valuable, non-renewable resource that agents need to use as wisely as possible because once it’s gone, you can’t get it back,” the Mashvisor blog said.
Mashvisor breaks down “8 factors and questions that successful real estate agents ask to accurately qualify real estate leads.” The questions help you learn: if the lead has a buying location in mind, if they have a legitimate reason behind making a purchase, whether or not this person has defined a budget, if they are pre-approved for or have even looked into what mortgage they could afford, if they have already been seriously researching properties, if they know what they want in a property, what their timeline is, and if they want to make an appointment with you. These factors are vital in deciding if this person is serious and if they are truly a qualified lead.
Lead Success
Overall, you want many leads. You want to nurture all your leads. However, some leads are worth dedicating more time into right now. Taking the time to accurately qualify your leads will help you properly manage your time. “Lead generation has become easier with the influx of resources available to salespeople and marketers – it’s finding qualified leads that is the real challenge. For this reason, it’s important to review your strategies and make sure you aren’t wasting time on inefficient lead generation methods. Remember: it’s not about reaching as many prospects as possible – it’s about reaching the right ones,” said ZoomInfo, a sales intelligence service.
