The process of turning prospects into new clients isn’t complicated, but it can definitely be tricky. Sometimes agents focus all their attention on generating leads, and while this is of course important, it means that following-up with those leads gets treated as an afterthought.
This is a critical mistake in lead conversion. Without a follow-up strategy in place, leads can go stale, fall through the cracks, or worse – you could actually be driving them away.
Since every lead is a possible source of new business, it seems obvious that we should contact and qualify every single one, yet many agents struggle with this concept. They try to “cherry-pick” leads, only calling those that look best on paper. Or they procrastinate, delaying or putting off calling while the leads quickly cool off. And some hide behind email-only follow-up, hoping that a message in the lead’s inbox will prompt them to call.
The reasons why agents do these things are many and complex – that first direct contact with a lead is something that digs deep into people’s psychology. Perhaps it’s a fear of rejection, something burned into agents during long nights of cold-calling. For others, it might be a lack of confidence or skill in the phone call. I’ve heard different reasons from all kinds of agents. But with even a little extra thought and preparation put into the follow-up process, lead conversion
(and profits) can be dramatically improved.
This week, we launched the latest in our AgentSecrets Video Series, this time on the topic of building a follow-up strategy. In this series, we’ll explore the how to make every lead count and some of the best strategies that we know are working well for our clients.
Don’t let poor follow-up be one of those “silent killers” that holds your business back!