Now is the time to create the ultimate pipeline for your team that will kickstart your year and create more converted leads for your team members. By having a strategic e-marketing plan and systems and maximizing your CRM, you will create the funnels that will bring more buyers and sellers that your team can convert into income.
So many agents and team leaders tell me their plan is to just keep buying more online leads—which is expensive, but even more so when your team isn’t successfully converting them into a listing or sale. Utilizing all the functionality of your CRM and setting up funnels that you wish to target will create leads. Having an e-marketing strategy plans the outcomes you desire. For example, if you want to increase listings, do a social media campaign offering to provide sellers a free market analysis of their home. When they give you their information and you provide them the free, “valuable” information in return, hopefully they are thinking of making a move now or in the future. This lead now goes onto your pipeline—and the more potential business in your pipeline, the more opportunities will be available for you and your team to close.
Here are high-level, proven e-marketing strategies for you to incorporate that increase your online leads and build your ultimate pipeline:
Have an e-marketing strategy. If you create an e-marketing strategy, you will be able to maximize the thousands of leads that exist online and market your brand, create reviews about your amazing service, and, even better, generate online leads straight into your inbox.
Get social and get listings. Business is happening online every minute of every day. If you are not present online, you will be left behind. Getting social and getting your business page active with lots of content and photos of your listings is key! You want likes, comments, shares and link clicks. Have a call to action and offer a “click here” link for your free giveaway. You will be providing value and pick up a potential lead, as well.
Get serious about your social channels and make sure you are on all channels, including YouTube and Twitter. Maximize your Facebook business page and get followers. You want to get recommendations and reviews online. Take a class or hire a coach if you are behind or want to accelerate your online marketing efforts. Lots of companies, like Homes.com, offer social media solutions to help you with content. Many of my clients use RISMedia’s ACE program for automatic content, which is published daily to multiple channels with incredible, relevant homeownership articles which make you look like the expert you are!
The point is, long gone are the days when you could just publish your listings. You need more content. You need to market your services on your social channels. Another helpful tool to assist you with this is the graphic-design website Canva, which can be used for web and print media designs. Key: it’s easy and it’s free.
Create campaigns with action work groups and landing pages from your CRM. Once you have a campaign (e.g., sign up for my Exclusive Homebuyer Program) and collect leads, stay in contact with them with useful and value-add information. Each email in your 10-week email follow-up campaign can be sent to these leads with call to action buttons like, “Book Sherri Now” or “I want to sell my home” or “I want a free pre-approval.” This will not only be adding value, but also keeping these people in your pipeline and hearing from you.
Generate leads offline, too, that go into your follow-up CRM system. Many agents have more potential business than they realize. If you counted every single person who might actually buy or sell in the next two years and put that list together, you will see you have potential business already you just discounted that weren’t going to buy “right now.” Increase your offline lead generation funnel by holding a strategically planned open house to generate massive leads and/or contacting FSBO and expired leads, and watch your pipeline grow and your production increase. All of these leads must go into your follow-up system, with emails and calls to convert them through the stages of the sales process.
Create funnels and lists for all your contacts. Each funnel should lead to a list for those leads you’re in search of. Then, you can segment your lists and send specific information to each one. You can get very specific, because those potential clients on each list are all the same category of lead (e.g., Listing Prospects, First-Time Buyers, FSBOs or Expired Leads). Your email drip campaign will keep people from falling through the cracks, and will help your team convert more leads by adding value to the process. With the right follow-up, your team will be converting more leads into appointments and sales.
Partner with an online lead provider like Homes.com to increase your leads. Having an online lead partner is a great way to increase your leads and a great funnel in and of itself. Again, you need to have a strategy for these leads. How are they obtained? What is done with them when received? Who follows up after initial contact, and do they receive a great value-add follow-up packet for a Homebuyer Guide or Marketing Presentation? Most of these online leads are not working with a real estate agent and really want your help and guidance. Offering them a value-add solution will provide them with all the information they want and need. It will also get you remembered and hired.
Track pipeline and conversion rate of leads for each of your team members. Of course, the No. 1 thing team leaders tell me is “My agents want more and more leads, but aren’t closing enough of the ones I am giving them.”
If you have a system for follow-up—either with a CRM or Outlook—your system is followed every time with every lead. As a team leader, you need to set up your system for building the ultimate sales pipeline and funnel. Each of your agents should have a pipeline of leads that will eventually list or buy. You need to include all of these people in the follow-up system, and actually follow up with them by phone call, email, mail, social, etc. Agents should include notes from every call, weekly emails and correspondence to these leads.
The conversion of the leads you are giving to team members must be tracked, and their performance discussed, on a regular basis. You can increase their conversion rates with better coaching on sales skills, closing delivery and more value-driven sales strategies that will get your team members hired. Tracking the wins and losses is very important, as well as tracking the “dead leads” that are just not being followed up with.
Re-launch some of the leads to other team members to convert. Team members will up their game if they are rewarded with more leads based on their success rate of closing the leads you provide them. If they aren’t converting, you can use that as a teaching moment and help move the dial for more success.
For more information on how to leverage your system for team-building and creating pipelines and funnels, please visit www.sherrijohnson.com/coaching.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour. For more information, please contact coaching@sherrijohnson.com or 844-989-2600 (toll-free) or visit www.sherrijohnson.com.
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