A successful real estate business relies on valuable leads. Real estate agents who consistently organize their leads find prospecting and outreach more manageable.
Organizing your real estate leads is time-consuming but worth the effort. As new contacts come in from platforms like Zillow, Trulia, and your real estate website, tagging and categorizing those leads for marketing purposes is crucial.
There are several ways to effectively organize your real estate leads based on their needs and the value they bring to your business.
Why spend time organizing your real estate leads
A lead list with no rhyme or reason does nothing for you. If anything, the chaos will overwhelm you and halt any brilliant marketing strategies you want to implement. That’s why spending time organizing your incoming real estate leads is crucial.
There are several tools and strategies for arranging your lead list. We dive into different leads and how to categorize them below.
Options for managing your leads
There are several ways to manage your growing lead list. Some agents are old-school and opt for software tools like Microsoft Excel. Others prefer more intuitive tools like a CRM or customer relationship management platform.
Take time to decide what lead management tool works best for your needs. While CRM software can be intimidating, it can take a lot off your hands with automation—and most client management companies provide free demos to show you how the platform works before you buy in.
How to organize your real estate leads
Figuring out how to organize your real estate leads will take trial and error—experiment with categorizing various lead types for specific drip campaigns and email blasts. You may need to tweak your categories a few times to discover what works for your business.
Lead source
It’s helpful to organize your leads based on where they were derived. For example, create two separate lists if you have 200 new contacts from Zillow and another 150 from Trulia.
That way, you can send an initial introduction email mentioning where they found you. It feels more personalized to the potential client.
Buyer leads
You want all your buyer leads in their own larger category. Create subcategories for specific home-type requirements (single-family, multi-family, townhouse) and must-haves (large yard, 3+ bedrooms, finished basement). You should also organize your buyer leads by their budget, if they are pre-approved, or if they’re qualified or not.
Additionally, it’s helpful to separate buyer leads by new vs. old. Recalling when you generated a contact helps with email marketing campaigns.
Seller leads
Like with your buyer leads, you need to organize your seller leads into a large category that contains specific subcategories. Organize your seller leads by listing price ranges, home types, and closing timelines.
Some listings require photography and marketing enhancements. And having a list of luxury seller leads ready for your twilight real estate photography, aerial, and 3D tour marketing campaigns would be helpful.
Referrals
Your sphere of influence is a powerful place to generate hot leads. Keep your referral contacts as part of your lead list and continue to check in with them so you stay top of mind when they have someone looking for a real estate agent.
Property investors
Property investment is a lucrative business, and you probably have several investor leads waiting to move through your pipeline. Place property investors in their own channel and keep them in mind for house flips, long-term rentals, and vacation rental properties.
Generate real estate leads with Virtuance
Professional real estate photography not only sells listings faster and for more money, but it also helps agents stand out. You can generate more leads when you partner with Virtuance for your visual marketing needs.
Professional real estate photos elevate your brand and improve credibility. Virtuance also offers single listing websites with lead generation tools for every photoshoot.
