How Understanding the Lead Lifecycle Can Boost Your Conversion Rate

As we navigate market changes, it's more evident than ever that lead generation, nurturing, and management is not a one-size-fits-all process. Put simply, you can no longer just try to generate leads and expect to stay productive in this market. Instead, you need to be strategic and look at the lead lifecycle holistically. This will help you understand where to drop in your expertise regularly and guide your leads along the path to becoming closed clients.

How the Lead Lifecycle Shapes Your Client Outreach and Success

The lead lifecycle, also known as the lead funnel, is the journey a lead takes from the very first time they see your name or business, all the way to their seat at the closing table. They don't get from A to Z after they submit the form or give you a call; instead, there are thoughtful points of interaction that take place at each stage to nudge them along and get them to close.

Let's look at a real-life example: you land a lead and you're ready to get in touch. You give them a ring and learn they're not going to be market-ready for another 18 months. Therefore, you shouldn't be calling them again any time soon. They're 18 months out from purchase — give them breathing room, but be sure to still supply them with consistent, impactful reminders you're there to help and ready to jump into action when they're ready for you.

Then, as that 18-month mark approaches, you can shift your focus to ramping up contact. This will also help bridge the gap to meeting your lead where they are, even a year and a half after your initial conversation.

How to Meet Leads Where They Are, Here and Now

Like we said, no lead generation and management strategy fits into a neat, cookie-cutter outline. You have to tailor your approach to your leads based on their specific needs, such as their timeline to buy or sell, life events shaping their need for a real estate pro, and other unique, individual scenarios driving their decision-making.

So how can you actually make sure you're staying top of mind with your leads, no matter where they are on their journey? Here are a few key ways to seamlessly stay in touch.

Set Up a Nurture Campaign

One of the best tactics to stay on top of your client database is with nurture campaigns. Typically set up in your CRM platform, nurture campaigns will send emails (and sometimes text messages) to your leads and clients at specific intervals of times, or when they take an action — like submitting a lead or downloading something from your website.

Because the CRM automatically sends off the email for you, you don't need to hover over your contact list and try to remember what communications to send to who and when. This frees up your time to work one-on-one with your clients and focus on other areas of your business, like generating more leads. With customized, timely emails sent to leads and clients at impactful times, you can see high rates of engagement along the lead lifecycle.

Use Calendar-Blocking Regularly

With all that freed up time from your nurture campaign efforts, you can also use dedicated time slots on your calendar for more manual, yet meaningful, interactions with your leads. Block out time on your calendar each week to follow up with leads via phone or meeting. You can categorize them by where they are in their journey, or even prioritize the hot, ready-to-transact leads.

By getting direct time with your leads, you can demonstrate your level of attention, care, and dedication to understanding their stage in the lead lifecycle — and how you'll get them to the close.

Use a Post Close Companion for Your Converted Clients

As you nudge your leads and support them through their lifecycle, they'll make it to the closing table. But you also can't just forget about a client once they've closed the deal and final documents are signed, sealed, and delivered.

Even if the transaction is complete, you're still sitting on untapped potential: 82% of all real estate deals come from repeat and referral business. Undoubtedly, it's critical to focus on your closed clients. You truly never know when they'll need your expertise again, and you want to stay top-of-mind for them to send any friends, family members, or colleagues your way for their real estate needs.

To do this seamlessly, kvCORE has Post Close Companion, an easy-to-use tool to manage your post-close relationships. It allows you to capture reviews, nurture relationships, and leverage your past clients to build a robust referral pipeline.

To view the original article, visit the Inside Real Estate blog.

Related reading

• Why Understanding the Homebuyer Journey Is Key to Nurturing Real Estate Leads
• 5 Real Estate Follow-Up Rules You Need to Be Following
• 25 Tips, Tricks and Resources for Keeping Past Clients