Lead Follow Up

“If you don’t follow up with your leads, you do not deserve to make money in real estate”.
Suze Cumming, Founder of The Nature of Real Estate

When it comes to lead follow up, my statement might seem like tough love – but I stand by it 100%. Any salesperson that fails to follow up on a lead simply doesn’t deserve the sale, whether it’s for a car, a house, insurance, or an international manufacturing contract.

When you boil it down, a lead is a person who wants to buy or sell. The person part is important – if I’ve let you know I am interested in buying or selling and I don’t hear back from you, what will I think? Maybe I’ll think you don’t like me, or you don’t want to sell to me. Maybe you’re too busy – or maybe I’ll think you just suck at what you do! No matter what conclusion I come to, it’s safe to say it’s probably not the one you, as a salesperson, were hoping for.

The Nature of Real Estate has devoted hundreds of hours to researching the reasons real estate professionals fail to follow up with their leads. We’ve talked to thousands of REALTORS® about it, both highly successful professionals and otherwise. I’ve looked inward and dug deep into my own real estate practice, trying to determine why I felt resistance at times when I was in the trenches.

So what’s the reason?

FEAR.

For some, it’s a fear of rejection.
For some, it’s a fear of failure.
For some, it’s a fear of success – believe it or not.
For some, it’s a fear of being found out as an imposter.
For me personally, it was the fear of being too busy. I overcame that obstacle with the help of one of my favourite managers, who pointed out I was already the busiest person he knew.

Everyone experiences fear in one form or another. The only difference between successful agents and the rest is successful agents find a way to push through the fear and to reconnect with the person who is thinking about making a move. In other words, they follow up on the lead.

To move beyond your fear, it helps to understand it. The fear you feel is your mind’s assumption, created to keep you feeling safe. It’s left over from a more primitive time when we needed to protect ourselves from danger. But in many cases – including following up on leads – fear is no longer serving us. In fact, it’s the biggest reason people with a lot of potential often fail in real estate.

Once you learn to let go of the fear, it becomes much easier to follow up. Start by reaching out to someone who has let you know they are interested in buying or selling. Discover what is important to them and what worries them. Find out what their timeline looks like, and then offer to serve their needs. Remember, it’s their needs you’re serving, not yours. For example, if they’re thinking about moving next year when the kids head off to university, ask them what information would be valuable to them now, and when they would like you to reach out to them again.

Lead management software won’t make the lead follow up calls for you.