Amanda is a systems queen and expert nurturer based in Tampa Bay, Florida, and has worked in real estate for 6 ½ years. She is great at getting people from where they are to where they could potentially be because she knows how to nurture clients the right way. Amanda has worked in basically every role in a high-producing real estate team, from executive assistant to marketing to sales and even to CEO. She is now the owner of a coaching and consulting company and helps agents with nurturing clients and more.
Our Agent First Summits happen every Tuesday morning! It’s a perk for all our real estate team members and any of their guests who want to level up their real estate business. To get an invitation, RSVP here: Save Your Seat!
At the Summit, Amanda shared with us how to nurture clients the right way and create solid relationships with the leads we need to generate a massively successful real estate business.
Building a Databank of Leads
The best way to start with leads and nurture clients the right way is to categorize each one that comes to you. In general, leads fall into three categories:
- Hot
- Nurture
- Watch
Depending on their level, you should contact them at different, regular intervals. Hot leads are usually ready to go and just need guidance. You’ll want to reach out at least weekly until they’ve made a decision and you’ve helped them with their selling or buying process.
Nurture leads are probably not quite ready to move, but need your attention nonetheless. You should get in touch with them monthly through emails and phone calls until they’ve decided they’re ready to go. The last thing you want is for them to go on Zillow and impulsively reach out to an agent they find next to a home they “find pretty.”
Watch leads are not at all ready to work with you, but may want your help at some distant point in the future. Contact them less often, through quarterly contact through emails, until they need you.
New Leads
You want to contact every new lead within five minutes if possible, or an hour at the most. That way, you can immediately qualify them through your conversation and put them into your databank of potential and genuine leads. If they reached out to you, it’s for a reason and chances are that you were NOT the only agent they reached out to. So it becomes a race between you and every other agent they gave their contact information to in their search for a home.
When you meet a lead, you need to immediately put them in your databank so you can categorize them as a hot, nurture, or watch lead. Once you’ve categorized them, you can make a decision about how often to get in touch with them and how to nurture them.
This is your first impression…make it count!
How to Build a Complete Profile
Once you’ve categorized your lead, you’ll need to divide them into two categories: Met or Haven’t Met. As mentioned above, you’ll want to contact them within five minutes to an hour of the first bite. But you can’t count them as met until you talk to them and ask them qualifying questions. If they only provided one form of communication (email address or phone number) and you can’t reach them through it, you still technically haven’t met them.
Meet with as many leads as you can. Then, with those who won’t respond, put them on a 14-day follow-up. Make a call, send a text, or write an email every day for 14 days until they respond. If you still can’t make contact, put them in an archive section in your databank.
When you do make contact with a lead, ask them qualifying questions. Ask about their timeline, where they’re moving to, where they’re moving from, etc. Get as much detail as possible, including their contact information, address, and any personal data that will help you build a complete profile.
Your met leads need to stay in your databank and you’ll need to reach out regularly until they’ve either made a transaction with you or moved on. You or another agent on your team should call archived leadsmonthly to see if you can reach and nurture those clients the right way–into your team.
Another way to keep leads is to set up a regular drip campaign. Set up your CRM so that when you move a new lead into a specific category the CRM will start dripping regularly. If you find that a lead isn’t ready yet, feel free to keep dripping every month as long as it doesn’t cost you too much time or money.
How to Use Metrics to Measure Success
As you’re working, you’ll need to set some goals and define some metrics so you know when you’re succeeding and when you’re not doing so well. Start out by setting your goals yearly. Start with a 90-day timeline (30 days each to get a client, to find a home, and to close). Then break down how many appointments you need to meet a year of goals.
Once you’ve set your goals, you have to keep to them. Goals don’t just end after a month, they roll over. So, if you don’t meet a goal in time, it moves into the next month. Keep going until you’ve met each goal for each month to see your business truly succeed.
Track Numbers
To really see how things are going, it’s essential to track numbers. Track all the numbers you can to truly measure how you and your team are doing in the business. Track:
- How many dials to get to contact.
- How many contacts to an appointment scheduled.
- How many appointments that fell out (set vs. held).
- How many agreements signed.
- How many properties under contract.
- How many total closings.
- How many reviews and referrals you get.
Once you get these numbers tracked, you can calculate how many you need each month or year to actually succeed. Then, you can track those numbers each month to see if goals are being met to find that success.
If there are underlying issues with your business, you’ll find them in the numbers. If you or other team members see glaring problems like tons of appointments falling out or all appointments ending before an agreement gets signed, you can start addressing those issues specifically.
To easily track numbers, you can use Google Forms and Sheets–it’s easy and free. Have you and your team members fill out a Google Form each day that reports the metrics above (dials, contacts, appointments, agreements, contracts, closings, reviews/referrals). Then pour those numbers into a Google Sheet to keep track. That way, you can see what’s going well and what’s failing in each area.
As you get more disposable income, you can also use a CRM such as kvCORE to track the metrics. But Google works and it’s free for the early days when you don’t have a lot of money coming in!
How to Qualify Clients
Each time you reach out to or get a call from a potential client, start by asking who they are and what they need from you. Ask if they have a real estate agent they’re already working with. Get some contact information and see if they have a timeline and any specific needs or goals.
If someone reaches out to you online, reach out as soon as possible to set up a meeting or appointment. You want to be purposeful about getting to business immediately. If they aren’t interested in meeting with you, they aren’t ready yet. They can go in your Nurture or Watch category.
How to Order Your Day
So, how does all this work out practically? How do you plug it into each day? Thankfully, there’s a pretty simple process. Start out by evaluating what is important to you. There are four main categories to start with each morning:
- In the job tasks (lead generation, etc.)
- On the job task (high level, growing your business tasks)
- Financial work (personal)
- Personal goals
You should try to get to these items first thing in the morning, before 11 a.m. if you can. Hit them with energy to get your day on the right track. Workout or do devotions if you need to, work on some lead generation and lead follow-up, take care of your personal finances, and work on any training or education you need in building yourself or your business.
Remember, there are only about five main things that make you money:
- Lead generation
- Lead follow up
- Going on appointments
- Negotiating offers
- Script writing and role play
Start every day thinking “I don’t have a job until I make an appointment.” Then go out there and immediately work on generating and following up with leads. Set appointments and make those appointments happen. Then, set aside some time to improve your skillset of appointment setting using your scripts by practicing them with someone.
Conclusion
So, there you have it: Amanda Doll’s secrets to nurturing leads the right way. Just remember to build your databank, keep an eye on the numbers, qualify clients, and order your day around the things that matter most. With that down, you can nurture your clients the right way and build your real estate business into something massive!
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