How do you find more clients? Which day of the week and what time of day will get the most opens on your email? Here’s what you need to know to hit the sweet spot for your business in 2020.
First, if you want to take more listings in 2020, arrange a face-to-face meeting the moment you receive a lead. The National Association of Realtors’ latest Profile of Buyers and Sellers report once again found that 75 percent of the sellers and buyers hire the first agent they see face-to-face.
The best way to make the conversion is to use a “give-to–get” marketing strategy. My favorite approach is to offer the lead an equity checkup if they’re selling or an “annual report” about the area if they’re buying.
If you meet them face-to-face when you’re networking, you can get their contact information by offering to send it to them. If they’re a phone or internet lead, offer to drop it off in person. Include the following:
- Your CMA
- Property reports from NARRPR.com, a free member benefit for all NAR members.
- Property data and risks from HomeDisclosure.com.
What Leads Are Hot?
Referrals and past clients have always been the primary source of listings. On the other hand, direct mail, floor duty, crowdsourcing, newspaper ads, Yellow Pages ads, home book ads, calendars, magnets and social media pages without a personal connection all had a return of 1 percent of less. These strategies are pretty much dead in the water – put your marketing dollars elsewhere.
It’s important to identify high–probability sellers based upon their age and time lived in their home. There’s a wealth of useful data in this year’s Profile report, but one of my most fascinating finds was a table titled “Tenure in previous home, by age of seller.”
There are two major sweet spots that have a 40 percent conversion rate based upon the seller’s age and how long they have lived in their home, NAR found. Based upon data the group gathered, the biggest sweet spot for getting listings is prospecting people who are 75 or older and who have been in the homes 21 years or more. Coming a close second are those who are 18 to 34 years old and who have been in their home for four to five years. Two out of every five of these homeowners will be listing their homes for sale during these time periods.
You can also prospect for properties that are for sale by owner, or FSBO.
In 1981, 15 percent of the homes sold without the aid of an agent. Today, that number has dropped to 8 percent, the lowest point since NAR started tracking it. What’s surprising is the median age of FSBO sellers. If you prospect FSBOs and want to maximize results, pursue the senior citizen. The median age of FSBOS is 60.
For the first time I can remember, FSBO homes sold more quickly that agent-assisted homes (a median of two versus three weeks.) This is probably a result of the high percentage of situations where the seller already knew the buyer.
Get the Most Out of Email
Since the beginning of 2019, I’ve seen several articles citing statistics that email marketing is having a renaissance. It’s ad–free, allows you to be in contact with those who may be purchasing in the future and potential leads have the choice of opting-in to your communications. To maximize response to your email, take these tips from SuperOffice.com:
- Use six to 10 words in your subject lines to get the best open rate.
- Personalize subject lines with the reader’s name.
- Use a recognizable sender name, like your own or your brokerage’s name.
- Optimize your email campaigns for mobile.
- Send your email campaigns during the workday, after lunch. The best open rates are had during the week at around 3 p.m.
To hit the sweet spot in your business 2020, decide which of these strategies work for you. Now go out and implement at least one of them this week to start your year off right.
Bernice Ross is a nationally syndicated columnist, author, trainer and speaker on real estate topics. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com.
