As a real estate agent your end goal is always to get solid leads. You can get leads in a variety of ways, like through optimizing your website for SEO or using inbound marketing strategies.
Buying leads is popular because of the following benefits.
- High Quality Leads: Reputable lead providers have massive databases. Their leads are very specific and will help to target your key demographic. The leads from these types of providers will already be deeper in the sales funnel.
- Higher Conversion Rates: Conversion rates for real estate are typically 0.4% – 1.2%, which means that for every 200 obtained leads, you will only convert one or two. When you buy high quality leads, your conversion rate will go up. You can use your higher conversion rate to improve your real estate business.
- Return on Investment: Following up on potential leads isn’t a sure thing. When you buy leads, you are getting leads that are already hot. You will be saving time and money in the long term.
- Time Saving: Your time matters. Buying leads will ultimately save you time because you won’t be spending it chasing leads that have no interest in your service. By spending your time with hot leads, you will be able to make your customer service that much better.
But buying leads is not really what this article is about. It’s really about where to get quality leads, and what you can do if you don’t want to buy leads or if doing so just isn’t an option for you.
We’ve outlined the pros of buying leads. But what other options are out there for you?
Results Matter, but There Is Another Way
At the end of the day it’s about results. Buying leads can get you sales, as long as you are able to convert. But before you invest in leads, or if you’ve invested in leads but don’t like it, there are ways you can assess your success. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you struggling to find qualified leads?
- Do you have to be on call for the leads all the time (and is that something you want or something you’d prefer to not have to do)?
- The biggest question: if you’re buying leads, are you making enough money from them for it to be worth the cost?
Think about your answers, and consider whether it might be time to consider a new approach, like the community-minded real estate approach.
Where to Get Real Estate Leads With a Community-Minded Approach
A company that uses a community-minded approach gets agents out in their communities as a way to build up their referrals. While you make real connections with people, your focus will shift from investing time to buy leads to investing time to collect referrals. An example of a company that helps real estate agents do this is Parkbench.
Parkbench offers a unique two-pronged approach. The first part is a hyper-local neighborhood website that shows off local events, recent news, deals, and real estate listings. One agent per area gets exclusive rights to this community neighborhood website.
The second part is a unique prospecting system that helps agents connect with their community in a genuine way by adding value. Instead of spending your time and money buying leads, you will instead direct your energy toward helping your community.
While it may sound strange that working for free is the secret to filling up your pipeline, people will notice how committed you are to your community.
If you are wondering how you can transition from buying leads to using community-minded real estate to fill your pipeline, try this demo now!
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