Generating leads is the root of generating income in your real estate business. However, just because someone is a lead, does not mean that they will become your client. All leads are potential clients and it is important to root out the people who are actually motivated to work with you.
That is what a qualified lead is, however, it depends on you and your company. If the lead meets the criteria of your business’ requirements, only then do they become a qualified lead. You can then start placing priority on them first.
How to Qualify Seller Leads in Real Estate
Identifying and being able to qualify seller leads is the most important step, because if your lead generation process is done right, you will have quite a few people to sort through – so making sure you weed out the people who fit your company’s requirements is important.
Ideal Seller Avatar
Knowing who your ideal seller lead is and what they need to have is important. This is a step that should be cleared out as the business is put up. This will allow you to always be ready whenever new leads pop up and you can provide them with a criteria list to find out all you want to. The list should contain:
- Budget
- Existing customers
- Selling timeline
- Competition
- Location
- Industry
- Goals
There are many CRMs out there for real estate, but the best CRMs for real estate agents allow you to have a lot of this information on hand, once you have generated the lead.
Selling Motivation and Time Constraint
When it comes to the sale of property, two things become highly apparent and important for sellers – motivation and urgency. These two factors need to be assessed and taken into account in order for you to qualify a seller lead in real estate.
- Why sell the property?
- What price do they want to sell the property for?
- Do they have a time duration for the sale?
- What is the maintenance and condition of the property?
An important thing to note is that if someone is hesitant about giving this information, or simply does not have an idea about the answers for them, then it means they are not sure about selling it in the first place, and it would not be worth your time to pursue it.
Line of Questioning
As with finding the selling motivation and time constraint, it is important to maintain a line of questioning that allows you to understand how motivated the seller is, and most importantly, for you to find out if you will benefit from this lead.
Apart from questions about the property, there are questions specific to the individual trying to sell their property that can be important in qualifying the lead.
- Where do you live? (On the property they are selling or a different one?)
- Are you moving anywhere?
- Are you ready to move out of your home? (If they are living on the property for sale)
- Are you the only person involved in these decisions?
- Do you have other properties?
These questions will help you understand the person’s standing when it comes to the sale of the property, and gain an understanding of their position in the deal, and whether or not it is a qualified lead.
Real Estate Market Condition
Understanding the real estate market condition is extremely important when trying to figure out whether or not it is the right time to buy or sell properties. After gaining vital information by asking the questions mentioned, you will be able to assess the market that the property will be sold in.
This of course comes through you, the agent, conducting further research into the economy, and the real estate market as a whole. Ultimately, your goal is to understand whether or not the market conditions suit your business as a whole.
Lead Communication
Understanding the nuance and tone with which your lead speaks to you is important – it will help you determine how engaged they are with the idea.
If the communication is rigid and stiff, the idea of a deal might not be on, but if the conversation flows easily and they are engaged and informative, it will help you find a solution to their problems much better.
Lead Scoring
Creating a lead scoring system is an innovative method to understanding how valuable a lead can be to your business. There are a few ways of determining this:
- The amount of time the lead spends on your pages
- What emails does the lead respond to
- Did the lead fill out any forms
- Did the lead interact or engage with any of your posts
These methods can help you identify whether or not the lead is genuinely interested in your business and how it can help them as a seller.
Conclusion
Overall, it is important to understand the leads that are being generated in your real estate business, and qualifying seller leads to understand who the really motivated sellers are, and if they fit your business criteria is key to having growth in your business.
Create an ideal customer avatar, ask the right questions, and do your own research on how the market is at that point in time, and you will be able to sift through many unwanted leads easily.
