​In  today’s  lifestyle,  juggling  family,  friends,  hobbies  and  work  has  made  physical  house  hunting  tedious  and  tiresome.  People are now looking into online house hunting which is a convenient and efficient way of finding your dream home.

The  growth  of  online  house  hunting  is  immeasurable  as  Internet  penetration  stands at 64.3  percent. According  to  Jumia​ House’s online research, 90  percent  of  house hunters  start    their  search online while 36.2 percent of smartphone users are between  the ages 25­-34 years  of age of which 44 percent are women who are the primary drivers of house hunting.

The Jumia House  Head of Sales & Marketing Yvonne Malebe says “Despite the increasing trend in online house hunting, agents need to keep abreast of the leads generated for them to close the sale.  Every phone call and email lead could be your potential buyer to close the sale.”

3 winning tips for real estate lead generation

Excellent Real Estate Customer Service

Impeccable  customer  service  will  enable  the  agents  to  close  in  on  the  sale  quickly.

Jumia  House analytics indicate  that,  potential  customers who were queried within the first one hour  were  60  times  more  likely  to  proceed  with  the sale in  comparison to the ones  queried  after  one  hour  who  were  seven  times likely to close in  on  the sale. Whereas with immediate and persistence response there is a great chance of closing the sale.

Re target your potential Real Estate Customers

Agents need to keep on following up on  the lead generated. ​Jumia House analytics indicate  that  only  27%  of  the  online  leads  are  sales  ready.  Therefore,  you  should  not despair  when they mention they aren’t  ready but  you  should constantly keep on contacting them and  build  a  healthy  relationship  with  the  potential  buyer.

Regardless of their  timing  to  buy  the property, if the agent does not keep on contacting them they will get lost, feel ignored hence  snatched up by your competitors. It is advised that you should keep on re targeting your lead.

Nurture the lead

It is  said  that  those  who  started  their  relationship  by  providing  customers with informative  and efficient  customer service  tend to  create a strong social and psychological bond with the  potential buyer.

“This  bond  created  will  override  your  competitors  and  despite  them not buying at first  and  price shopping, a sense of loyalty will drive them back to you,” Yvonne noted.

You manage your leads by checking your contacts and updating them to an excel sheet. This keeps you up to date with the leads that have been generated. Categorize them as either hot, warm or cold.  Hot  leads  are  the  ones  ready  to buy  while  warm  or  cold  are  weighing  their  options.

It is therefore important for you to be with them through the decision process feeding them with relevant information as they prepare to make the sale.