Agents - here’s how to handle online valuation leads

To help grow your business, you need to pounce on any opportunities and leads that come your way. So, to make sure that you are able to turn a lead into an opportunity and compete with other top estate agents in your market, you will need refined techniques to handle online valuation leads.

Online valuations are popular because they are a fast and simple way for home sellers to get an estimate of the value of their homes or landlords to understand how much they could be charging in rent. For agents, this is a great opportunity for prospecting, therefore turning a lead into an opportunity. 

 There are many cost-effective ways to generate leads using an online valuation tool, including social media marketing, blog content and newsletters, leaflets with a QR code, database mining, PPC and Facebook ads.

But how do you successfully handle these online valuation leads when they come and turn them into market appraisals and ultimately instructions?

Master your online valuation leads

Sales conversion strategist Tony Morris, whose clients regularly make use of ValPal, says the killer question agents need to ask is what prompted the prospect to use the online valuation tool.

This is an open-ended question which doesn’t give the prospect the opportunity to answer yes or no, so it would be best advised that once this is asked that you give them a chance to answer without putting words in their mouth. Let them talk and listen to what they have to say.

Morris says “so many agents and salespeople fall into the trap of asking a loaded question and putting words in the person’s mouth. For example, they’ll go ‘what prompted it? Were you just curious to get a figure?’ and they’ll say yes. Or ‘were you thinking of moving at the moment?’ and they’ll say something like no not really, we just wanted the figure. And before you even put the phone down, they’ve forgotten the name of your agency. So, the main point is asking a nice open question, not a loaded question and let them talk.”

He also suggests that when you are given the figure of what the online valuation was, you should bear in mind that it won’t be completely accurate because it does not take into account any work that the home seller may have done to the property. Therefore, it is your job  as the agent to educate them on these differences that the tool won’t pick up on.  

When you follow up on a lead, one of the killer questions to include in your conversation would be to ask who recommended them to your online valuation platform. The purpose of stating this question is to obtain the source of these leads because from a marketing perspective it is vital to get that information. This also enforces the idea in their heads that you rely on recommendations, which will solidify your credibility and professionalism from their perspective.

Lastly, ask the prospect what their plans are since they’ve completed the valuation of their property. It would be important to note that all questions asked should be open because it’s more engaging and thought-provoking than loaded questions, as a result encouraging them to elaborate and disclose more valuable information. Essentially, you don’t want to give the home seller or landlord the opportunity to say no and hang up the phone.

How regularly should you chase leads?

In terms of speed, Morris suggests the quicker the better, saying: “I don’t think it makes you look desperate, which is what a lot of agents worry about if they call straight away. I actually think it means you’ve managed your business very well, it shows that you’ve got great resources, and you can handle things quickly.” 

Potential sellers have their properties valued for various reasons, but if anything, as an agent you can provide assistance and help while they are considering following through with this idea. Keep chasing every lead by spreading out your calls, since selling might not be their priority at that current stage. However, if you give them the appropriate time to contemplate until they are ready to make a decision, this should bear fruit.

Using something like the MovePal tool, which nurtures leads until they are at their hottest, can help to ensure prospects are contacted at the right time, rather than when they are cold or no longer interested. It helps to automate a large part of the crucial nurturing process, but it’s still important to have regular calls to follow up with leads alongside this.

To watch the full sales training video from Tony Morris, click here.

Here at The ValPal Network, we can help you to achieve this and more. For more information on the services we provide, please contact us at team@valpal.co.uk or give us a call on 020 8663 4930.

For information on how we can help to grow your business online and generate leads effectively, you can check out our social media marketing service.