Want a Response? Text your Real Estate Leads
If leveraged properly, sending SMS Text messages to your seller leads can be an extremely powerful addition to your marketing arsenal.
The main advantage of sending text messages to your new leads is the deliverability and open rate. This is a huge advantage when compared with phone calls and emails. When making a phone call, we should always have close to 100% delivery(our call going through), however our open rate (someone answering the call) will be much lower than that. With emails, we should have a high delivery rate, however our open rate is most likely going to be exceedingly low at 5% or less.
When sending text messages, you can be confident that you are getting the best of both worlds: We are getting close to 100% deliverability AND open rates. Everyone reads their text messages, even if they do not know who they are from. Many people will not answer their phone if it is from a number they do not recognize. However, when sending out a text message to your new leads, you can feel assured that you have an extremely high probability of having your message read.
Almost 100% of the Text Messages you Send are Read
Now that we know our text messages will be read, we need to ensure that we are crafting our message in the right way. The text message you are sending to your new seller leads only has one simple job: to get a response! That is it, that is its sole purpose. Once you get them engaged in a text conversation, you can easily find out the answers to some important questions such as, are they already working with another Realtor? What is their time frame? What price are they expecting? To get to that point though, we need to elicit a response to the initial text message that we send.
There are two simple rules to follow when sending text messages to your new seller leads:
Rule Number One: Keep your message short and sweet! No one wants to read a massive brick of text from someone they do not know. Use as few of words as you can, while still getting your point across that you want to deliver. Most leads will not be interested in reading a history about you. They are more concerned with what you can do for them.
Rule Number Two: Ask a question! For most people, their favorite subject is always themselves. Take advantage of this by asking a question that is quick and easy to answer. Hi Jane, it’s Julie from eXp Realty. What did you think of the home valuation I sent you? Does your home have tile, hardwood, or carpet? Have you done any recent upgrades? These are just a few examples of the types of questions you can send, that should get a rather good response rate. Try and craft several text messages that match your personality, then test each of them over time and see which get the most responses.
When in doubt – ask a question.
Pro Tip: It is going to take quite a few text message conversations until you get comfortable controlling the flow of the chat. If you get stuck, and are not sure what to say next, just ask another question! Get them talking about themselves again. This always works. The more they are talking and you are listening, the better your conversation is going for your business.
