Follow up seems to be one of those ugly words in the world of real estate.  After all, “if people really want to work with me, I shouldn’t have to track them down” is the mantra of many an agent.  Many of those agents, sadly, are now out of the business.  Let’s face it though, even for the top agents follow up isn’t one of the most fun activities. 

Thinking of following up with prospects is a rather dim prospect.  I mean to pick up the phone calling and leaving messages or e-mailing them and not getting a response is not something that really gets you motivated in the morning.  We know in our heart of hearts that follow up is the key to a successful real estate practice, yet after 2 or 3 calls (maybe even an e-mail or two) most just give up. 

Make follow up easy 

What I learned from the group of top online professionals is that they don’t allow themselves NOT to follow up.  They have put systems in place to ensure that their prospects are followed up with each and every month, and often more than that.  Yes, and BIG time follow up, the best are sending over 100,000 e-mails a month to people who want to hear from them (these aren’t spammers, all these people want the e-mails).  

So, how do they do it? 

  1. Automatic E-mails - Yes, autoresponders are still working out there.  Now don’t follow the same old rules of autoresponders, and blast your prospects with the same message, make it personal(we have a whole series of follow-up that we have created in our real estate lead system).  The key to a high performing auto responder is to make your messages valuable to the people signing up.  Think about the following:
    1. Allow your visitors to request specific information.  Maybe you create an autoresponder based on purchasing a condo.  You can talk about everything from HOA issues, to reviewing a reserve statement.  Provide real value in your follow up messages.
  2. Consistent touches - The best businesses out there are staying in touch with their prospects on a regular basis.  This doesn’t mean to “blast” e-mail your group over and over again, but set up a series of e-mails that allow your clients and prospects to hear from you monthly or more often.  The best ones will appreciate it because you are providing real value.
  3. Bring them back to your website - Don’t just send them an e-mail and expect them to read it, give them a reason to come back to your website.  Provide a link to a specific area on your website or blog to help them learn more. This will bring up return traffic to your website and show them how dedicated you are to their dedication.
  4. Pick up the phone - Yes, even with the best e-mail follow up you will still need to pick up the phone.  Use a good contact management program like Top Producer and set up phone calls over the course of weeks so that you are constantly reminded to make your calls each day.

Take action with your business 

That’s right; it’s your turn to start making changes.  If the follow up sounds too scary stop reading the next few days because your business will really start to change soon and you will need a good follow up system in place. 

Putting a follow up system in place isn’t as hard as you think it is in your mind.  It can take just an hour or two to put in place follow up that can take care of you for an entire year!  Take some action now and consider the following: 

  • Outline a follow up - Just outline 6 messages that you would like to send to prospects who make a request on your website or blog (if you don’t want to do it we have already done it with our follow-up system).  Start by writing just the subject lines and put your prospect first.  If it’s a first time buyer series, think of the pains that a first time buyer has about contacting an agent (fear, affordability, etc) and write messages that help them and alleviate their fear. 

It’s a simple task and you will get it done quickly.  Once you get it all outlined you will be able to put it in your contact management program like Top Producer, ACT, etc.  The first bold step though is just to write the outline.  

Now that you are starting your outline, how did you do deciding on a specialty? 

Keep the Learning Going: