We’ve been focused lately on getting listings. Perhaps you prefer to serve home buyers. If so, you want good leads.
Where are your home buyer leads coming from right now?
- Do you purchase leads?
- Do buyers come to you via the search function on your website – or from capture boxes?
- Are most of your buyers referred to you?
- Are you prospecting by mail?
If your home buyer leads come to you via the Internet…
You are probably only one of several agents who knows that they are interested in homes. The purchased leads that come to you may also go to other agents. And, since many websites require buyers to sign in before they can search for homes, your prospects will likely leave their information on several sites. They could get several calls and/or emails on the same day.
Because you do have competition, your first task is to ensure that it’s YOUR message that stands out.
Toward that end, you can offer potential home buyers a tidbit of advice or make a promise of service to come. With either, you can let those buyers know that they’ll be hearing from you again. You can also invite them to call you right away if they have a question.
One thing you should not do is to follow the footsteps of an agent who sent me messages for a few months. His messages told me that if I found a house I wanted, I should call him, and he’d write the purchase agreement. And yes, he sent the same message every time.
Ummm… no thanks.
Your second task is to stay in touch with those potential home buyers.
This is the step that will make you stand out from the other agents in your marketplace. Many of your competitors will either call or send an initial email, then forget about the lead. A few will follow up 
once or twice, then move on to the next lead.
My question is “Why?”
Since these leads come to you via the Internet, they expect to be contacted by email. Therefore, it costs you little to nothing to keep them on your list and continue mailing to them.
Depending upon the information captured, you may need to move them from one list to another. For instance, if theirs is a general inquiry with no time urgency, you could use letters such as my Nurturing Buyer Leads letters that offer tips that will be helpful to them as they begin their search. Or, if you wish to be a bit more forceful, you could send the “Why Home buyers Need Their Own Agent” letters.
You can even use one set as a continuation for the other if those potential buyers are slow to act.
Buyers who have indicated more specific needs belong on different lists.
Those who plan to buy very soon, first time buyers, newlyweds, relocation buyers, and new construction buyers will all be more responsive if they get messages tailored to their own situations.
Write your own letters, or choose from the sets I offer at https://copybymarte.com/prospecting-letters/.
I can see only two reasons to take potential home buyers off your lists:
- They’ve become a client – in which case they will soon go on your past client list.
- They’ve asked to be removed.
Some may hang around for months or years before deciding to take action, so keep mailing! When you run out of prospecting letters, send them market reports, your newsletter, or just listed and just sold messages.
Just don’t let them forget about you.
If your home buyer leads come from referrals, that’s wonderful!
You may automatically have that buyer. But don’t assume – do present yourself just as professionally as you would when meeting any potential client. Then do such a fantastic job that your next referral will come from them!
Prospecting by mail for home buyers is no easy task, but it can be done.
The first step is to identify potential buyers. Here are a few ways:
- Do an “every mailbox” mailing to a neighborhood of apartment buildings.
- Develop a relationship with the human resources manager at local corporate and school district offices.
- Watch your local news for engagement announcements.
- Watch for new baby announcements (they might need a larger home)
- Reconnect with people who had to short sale during the housing crash.
- And this fall – If you live in a “political” city, pay attention to who has been newly elected and will need housing.
Once you have a list – or even one name at a time – begin mailing relevant and helpful information. And of course, tell them about the services you’ll provide to help them make their housing dreams come true.
Please do NOT tell them that they need an expert guide who knows the area inside out – and that’s you. You also don’t need to remind them that a house is one of the biggest purchases they’ll make in a lifetime. They already know that.
You won’t want to use postal mail indefinitely, so create a reason why those folks will want to give you their email addresses.
Offer to send your monthly or quarterly market report, or write and offer a special report that relates 
specifically to their situation.
Once you have that email address, put them on the correct list and keep right on mailing. Even if they don’t turn into buyers, they might pass your name along to someone else who will. Or – especially in the case of Internet leads -a few of them may already be homeowners and be so impressed with your persistence that they’ll ask you to list their homes.
Good buyers and sellers can come from unlikely places – so don’t throw anyone away!
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ALWAYS REMEMBER
“It is not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you”
Patricia Fripp
Emailing Image courtesy of fantasista at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Homebuyer Image courtesy of iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Think positive Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
