The phone rings. You answer. The person on the other end says, “Hi. We may be interested in selling our home and buying a new one. Can you help us?”
Few events will perk up the weary Agent more than this type of call. In fact, some agents will pull out their calendars and try to nail a listing presentation right away – before they even know the potential client’s name! “I have to move fast,” many agents will say. “Or else a hot real estate lead may slip through my fingers.”
But it’s important not to jump the gun. At this point, you don’t have enough information to determine whether the caller is a real estate prospect who truly intends to buy of sell a home, or someone who is just curious and not really committed to making a move.
Your time is valuable. So you must make presentations only to qualified real estate leads.
Questions to Ask Prospective Real Estate Clients
Don’t get caught up in the excitement of a potential real estate prospect. Before you make a commitment to see anyone, take a moment to ask some key questions first.
Ask from where – “Where did you find out about my services? Was it from one of my clients?” (Make sure you record their answer in your real estate contact manager so you can track where your best leads are coming from and you know which one of your real estate marketing initiatives are paying off for you the most)
Ask why – “I’m just curious. Why have you decided to move at this time?”
Ask when – “Is there anything that would prevent you from moving within the next six months?”
Ask where – “Is there an ideal neighborhood you want to move to?”
Ask who else – “Have you spoken to any other Agents yet?”
Ask how – “Have you made arrangements for a mortgage?”
Ask how much – “How much, realistically, do you hope to sell your home for?”
You only have so much time during the week to follow-up on your real estate leads. So make sure that the people you see are good quality prospects. This will save you a lot of time – and increase the percentage of presentations that turn into listings.
We want to know: Are you using your real estate contact management software to track and follow up on leads?