While hosting open houses can be an excellent marketing strategy for selling a listing, they can also be a tool to gain and convert future clients and grow your professional network. Not only are you presenting the listing to a buyer’s agent or potential buyer, but you are also selling yourself as a confident, knowledgeable agent who earns listings! A crucial step toward converting these potential clients, and building professional relationships, is the follow-up after hosting the open house.
To leverage the connections made, here are some tips to convert those attendees into customers and business contacts:
- Add the contact information into a database- Have each attendee fill out a contact sheet at the open house, including their full name and email address. TIP: Ask your Sales representative about LT.digital open house books, which can make this process simple. Enter the contacts into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database, such as HubSpot or MailChimp. Once entered, add a note or tag pertaining to the open house where you met. You will also want to note if the attendee is a real estate agent or a potential home buyer / seller and if they are currently working with an agent, This makes it easier for future communication if you plan to engage in target marketing.
- Send a follow-up email- Thank the attendees for taking the time to come to the open house. If you have not done so already, this is an ideal time to ask for feedback. This is valuable information to ensure that future hosted open houses go smoothly.
- Make a phone call- Follow up with the contacts who have yet to respond to the follow-up email within one to two weeks of the open house. Avoid reaching out before then so as not to pressure them.
- Invite to future events and add to email lists- To build relationships, continue inviting new contacts to future events that they may be interested in and may add value for them. This type of relationship-building works well with both fellow real estate agents, and with potential buyers and sellers. Attempt to personalize these interactions by using events and market statistics for their area.
- Consistency- Maintain a regular follow-up schedule with your leads to stay top-of-mind.
- Add on Social Media- Connect with leads on social platforms such as Instagram and LinkedIn to invite them to future events and build relationships.
- Provide additional information- Offer links to detailed brochures, virtual tours, and comparable properties to keep the potential buyers engaged.
Important Note: Ensure that you respect existing agent-client relationships. Do not solicit clients who already have representation. Instead, focus on providing value and information to those who are actively looking for an agent and do not have current representation, or building relationships with fellow agents.
By utilizing these follow-up strategies, you could not only gain future clients but also build professional relationships. Leads are essential as a real estate professional, and open houses are an important tool to gain them.
