My coaching clients are beginning to find more success with their online listing leads. Whether the lead is coming from postcard-generated invites to complete forms on their site or third-party consolidator leads, the web leads are coming in. The problem with a lot of these leads is bad phone numbers but good email addresses. The question is – how do we engage them in a conversation that leads to a listing appointment?

Uncovering the seller’s needs prior to an appointment is always the first step in creating client satisfaction, but it’s very difficult to do without good contact information. By showing these potential sellers value, my clients have found that many sellers who wanted to remain anonymous are now holding up their hands and shouting “I want some of that!”

The drip system that creates this kind of excitement is one that’s immediately started after the lead is received. The system shows the value that you can bring to their discovery process. Every three or four days, send an email that lets them know that there is so much more that a top, local, professional agent can add to their search.

With my clients, we only give a little bit of information at a time. Usually within a few weeks, we have the serious leads contacting the agent for an over-the-phone consultation.

Below are some of the points that we stress in our drip system email campaign for online listing leads:

Week One: Thank you for contacting us for more information regarding the sale of your property. I hope the information we have already provided was of some help to you. We believe that a real estate relationship should be based on the client’s needs. Once we know those needs, we have some very unique solutions that our past sellers have mentioned were available nowhere else. Please give us a call so we can supply some unique answers to unique challenges.

Week Two: In our earlier email, we talked about unique solutions. One of the unique solutions we provide our sellers is a pre-listing consultation. Go to www.(yoursite).com/prelistingconsultation to answer a few questions and schedule a phone call that’s convenient for you. This will allow our team to be better prepared to give you some insights regarding what to expect in this market.

Week Three: In continuing our theme of delivering value to our potential sellers, one of the most appreciated value propositions that we give our potential sellers is our “seller education system.” If you call us, we can program a search for brand new listings each morning. The search will include specs that compare to your home and the results will be emailed directly to you. This provides you with brand new listings that would be competing with your home, if it was on the market. This makes you the most educated seller in town knowing what the competition is. You’ll receive these new listings at the same time agents in (your town) receive them!

Week Four: Occasionally, we have a seller who isn’t interested in considering a sale unless he/she knows the value first. We came up with a solution that eliminates a lengthy listing presentation. We call this our free 48-hour phone value analysis. Go to www.(yoursite).com/valueanalysis. Complete the form and within 48 hours, one of our team members will call you. Based upon the same comparables that appraisers would use, we will let you know the value of your home. This is a fast and inexpensive way to bridge the gap of an expensive appraisal or a time-consuming listing presentation with a service that can be just as accurate. There is no charge for this service, and we are happy to put the numbers together for you!

Week Five: One of the services that our sellers most appreciate is our “meet the team” concept. You can go to our website or call us directly for the contact information on a trusted team member for almost any service. We know the best plumbers, HVAC techs, electricians, roofers, landscapers, painters, carpenters, and carpet installers in the area. We use them on our own homes, we trust them, and we have long business relationships with them. If you need anything done around your home to prepare for a potential sale or if you just want to get it ready for a special occasion, we know who does the job well here in (your town).

Week Six: Our sellers get higher prices because we make their homes desirable to buyers! We call this service our “primp and polish” service. Any consultation is free! We can provide you some simple tips to make your home more inviting to buyers. We will point out any potential red flags and help you place furniture to get things ready to create that emotional pull. We have professional decorators on call.  Their services cost money, but we have found their service is a good investment based on the additional monies that we receive for our client’s properties. The initial consultation is free! Please give us a call so we can set this up for you.

Week Seven: Did you know that our company has access to a majority of the top real estate agents in any city in the world? If you are considering selling your home here and buying out of town–we can send you to top agents who understand your needs. Top agents know they can’t solve client’s challenges without first knowing what those challenges are. If you want a special house out of town, then give us a call. We know agents who will not only show you standard MLS properties but also properties that are not yet on the market. We call these “secret properties.” These secret properties can be owned by past clients who might consider selling or sellers developed from a postcard mailing campaign in your neighborhood of interest. These agents know many ways to find property that other agents will not show you. We find this service to be one of the best that we provide for our buyers so we wanted to make sure that you get the same service when you move.

Week Eight: If you’re not quite ready to list your property, we have a system called “sell the sizzle before the steak.” I know it sounds a little corny, but we can discretely present that your home might be available to our database of buyers. This helps us to do a little pre-marketing prior to a full commitment of our complete marketing plan. If you are interested in this service, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Week Nine: Did you know that we have a policy where no real estate agent will be allowed to negotiate with you in person? We do this because many times real estate agents can be very forceful in the presentation of offers from their clients. We ask for that offer to be presented to us, and we will spend as much time as you need with just us – your representatives. This eliminates awkward meetings where you need more time to think, and the buyer’s agent is pushing for an answer. We believe that selling a home should not only be massively profitable but also fun. If you’d like more ideas on how we differ from the competition, email or call me at your convenience. All contacts will be kept confidential.

Well, I hope you get the idea that we’re trying to start a conversation with that potential seller instead of letting them fall through the cracks.  A drip email campaign for a seller is similar to the campaign for buyers.  It’s necessary for listing leads since the majority of information requests come via the web with incorrect or inoperable phone numbers. The only way to get these leads talking is to present them better value than everyone else.

Walter Sanford has been designing and implementing real estate systems for 30 years. One of the most successful REALTORS® and now wealthy from his systems, Sanford teaches his systems and strategies through his products, seminars, and personal coaching producing the best results in the industry. Do what works, do what is proven. Hire Walter Sanford. Call our office at 800.792.5837, email walter@waltersanford.com, or chat with us online at www.waltersanford.com

I am afraid that a lack of holiday listings will make it ugly for you in February. You still have a few months to increase your inventory so even if you hate seller lead generation — it’s only for a few months!

Here is a list of what I would do, if I wanted more listings in the last quarter. I have a list of twenty. Choose TEN and implement. You should have a happy start to 2015.

1. Call the more expensive expired listings every morning.  Get some help from Landvoice.  Visit https://www.landvoicedata.com/waltersanford to get a discount, too!  Landvoice provides a service so you don’t have to research the phone numbers.
2. Call all the homes, condos, and small multi-unit properties for rent in the weekend paper and/or Craig’s List.  Ask if they might consider selling or doing a 1031.  Unless it’s a multi-unit, it’s a 100% vacancy factor!
3. Have forms for sellers to complete on your website like a free 48-hour phone value analysis or a buyer matching database.
4. Email/call/mail everyone in your database with at least 5 valuable services that you can perform for them.
5. Re-call all listing leads and let them know that the most motivated buyers come out in the winter when other sellers hibernate.
6. Send a good FSBO letter to all FSBOs every week until the end of year. Have your favorite team lender call them with help on financing plans that can be advertised and pre-approval of all potential buyers. Have your lender use your name in the conversation.
7. Send just sold and just listed cards out and call behind them. Get the Cole Realty Resource to help. Visit http://www.colerealtyresource.com/landing/Sanfordsystemsandstrategies/ for a special discount, too.
8. Get the newspaper and cut out positive articles that are relative to some of your area “movers and shakers.” Add these individuals to your database, too. They won’t forget you.
9. Hold a good open house — good area and a new listing. Ask if the attendee is a buyer or seller and provide free value for them.
10. Call the human resource manager at the big companies. Give potential sellers the estimates of value, based on the same comparables that appraisers use.
11. Call assisted living centers and take the tour. Ask who they use to sell the homes of their incoming clients.
12. Mail and call all of the divorce attorneys. Offer fast valuations and a written, aggressive marketing plan for their client homes.
13. Mail all divorcing couples with the problem of a quit claim/grant deeds and underlying loans.
14. Send an “I have investors” letter to poorly kept properties in better neighborhoods.
15. Send a letter to owners of 2-4 unit properties about their value because of preferential financing, 1031s, and your management expertise.
16. Send a letter to old expireds and old FSBOs long after other agents have ceased soliciting. Follow up with a phone call.
17. Provide ten services to out-of-state owners. Offer things like rental agreements, vendor suggestions, management referrals, 1031 accommodators, etc.
18. Work on friending/connecting/following your database via social media outlets and spending a few minutes a day entering any conversations into your database.
19. Have forms for sellers to fill out on your website.
20. Call all the clients who used to belong to the agent who left the business. Let these new clients know that the broker has asked you to be their new representative at the office.

It is a matter of designing the above systems and time-blocking them as the most important activities of the day. You will never have had a better first quarter!

If you need help with these systems, we have been making improvements to them with research techniques, multi-media approaches, overcoming objections, and follow-up.

We offer solutions in many forms with books/software, seminars, and coaching. Many top agents use Sanford Systems as their trusted resource. Call us at 800.792.5837 if we can help your business.

Walter Sanford has been designing and implementing real estate systems for 30 years. One of the most successful REALTORS® and now wealthy from his systems, Sanford teaches his systems and strategies through his products, seminars, and personal coaching producing the best results in the industry. Do what works, do what is proven. Hire Walter Sanford. Call our office at 800.792.5837, email walter@waltersanford.com, or chat with us online at www.waltersanford.com