In business it’s important not just to have a brilliant idea, an impeccable product, or a groundbreaking solution—you also must have a keen entrepreneurial sense to convert these into actual sales. This is easier said than done, but there are ways that can help you achieve this.
According to Zillow, the success of any business depends on the number of deals you get closed. In the case of real estate brokers, this is the number of houses sold or leases you sign. But similar to other entrepreneurs, brokers also spend plenty of time on other pursuits. Although most of them can potentially lead to successful deals, some are just a complete waste of time.
The process on how you can achieve this is like moving through a funnel—identifying only the most necessary tasks can eventually lead you to a successful sale faster and easier. Here are six strategies to help you.
1. Spend More Time Selling and Less on Paperwork
Every entrepreneur gets this compulsion to sort out every little detail of his or her business, from filing and filling out paperwork, to manually updating listings. This is fine, but these tasks can slow you down, not to mention eat up a huge chunk of your time that you can otherwise spend on actual selling. But there are ways to streamline these tasks. Try to web programs or mobile applications that will help you automate these tasks. There are also cloud-based customer relationship management tools you can use, and many of them provide a 1-month free trial so make sure to take advantage of them. The less time you spend on clerical work means more time building relationships with clients.
2. Improve Lead Quality
There are many ways to do this, all of them depend on how well you advertise your listings. One way is to make sure that your listings include high-quality photos, asking price, and well-detailed property descriptions so that site visitors who message you or fill out your inquiry form have a very clear interest. You can cut down on emails asking basic property features by publishing detailed listings. This ensures that the inquiries you get are really from interested buyers.
3. Weed out Unqualified Leads
Sales is about numbers. However, numbers can often be misleading. There’s nothing like a waterfall graph headed upwards in the right direction to boost a marketing team’s morale. But as has been said countless of times, it’s about quality. How do you then reduce the amount of time you spend weeding these people out? Targeted marketing can help by aiming at the right potential clients. Another is to pre-screen potential clients to eliminate those who aren’t qualified.
4. Cater to Your Clients’ Needs
This is all about great customer service. Probe your potential clients thoroughly but in a very friendly manner. By getting a good understanding of what kind of home they are looking for, you’ll be more prepared to find them the right property. Listen intently—great customer service, after all, is about knowing what your clients need; they are more likely to be repeat customers (and refer you to their friends) if you listen, respond to their concerns, and deliver great service.
5. Test Your Marketing Campaigns to Improve Conversion
Since you are going to spend money on marketing, you might as well make sure the result is worth every centavo you shell out. Track your numbers week over week so you know how many people you’re reaching. Also, keep an eye on conversion rates for your landing pages. According to Bryan Eisenberg of Search Engine Strategies, landing pages are typically focused on driving traffic but on average only 2 percent of visitors convert once they reach a landing page. There are several ways to improve conversion, and Eisenberg says a landing page must have these five dimensions: relevance, quality, location, proximity, and prominence.
In addition, you may do well to survey your previous clients and get a better understanding of how they heard of you. This way you can focus on the avenues that actually generate you quality leads.
6. Speed up the Closing Process
Once a client has committed to buying a property, it’s time to get on to the paperwork. This process must be as fast, convenient, and effective as possible. Digitize the process so you can auto-fill forms, and they can be sent back and forth for any changes.
Selling and buying property are tedious so better be prepared with ways to make them faster. As a real estate broker, you are providing a solution for buyers’ housing needs, and you might as well go all out and provide a service that’s efficient and, above all, easy. You can do this by streamlining everyday tasks to drive your business toward closing more deals, not just for your own sake but for your clients’ as well. After all, there’s nothing like a satisfied customer to ensure a repeat business.
Source: Zillow Blog
