KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Lead Quality Over Quantity: Prioritize for Real Estate Success

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

Summary:Stop wasting time chasing low-quality leads and learn to prioritize for maximum impact. This episode dives into why all leads are not created equal, distinguishing between cold, warm, and hot prospects, and revealing the true value of high-quality connections. Discover strategic lead qualification techniques, advanced segmentation methods, and effective nurturing systems that ensure your efforts are focused on prospects most likely to convert, leading to higher ROI and sustainable business growth.Bullet Point TakeawaysUnderstand Lead Quality vs. Quantity: Recognize that focusing on a smaller number of high-quality leads, who genuinely express interest and fit your ideal client profile, yields significantly higher conversion rates, improved ROI, and fosters long-term customer relationships compared to a high volume of unqualified leads.Categorize Leads for Tailored Engagement: Differentiate between cold (don't know you), warm (familiar but not converted), and hot (ready to close) leads. Tailor your communication and follow-up strategy for each segment to increase relevance and conversion likelihood.Master Lead Qualification Questions: Implement a systematic process of asking strategic questions to assess a lead's motivation, timeline, budget (including pre-approval status), location preferences, and property needs to determine their readiness and fit.Segment & Humanize Your Database: Divide your leads into distinct groups based on shared characteristics like behavior, demographics, interests, or source (e.g., Facebook vs. Zillow). This allows for personalized messaging and smarter follow-up that resonates more deeply.Build Relationship-Based Follow-Up Systems: Understand that consistency is crucial in follow-up, but effective nurturing prioritizes genuine human connection over automated drip campaigns. High-value clients often prefer a real phone call and personalized attention to build rapport and trust.Topics:Lead QualityLead Generation Real EstateLead QualificationLead SegmentationReal Estate Lead TypesCall-to-Action:Ready to transform your lead generation by focusing on what truly matters? Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and learn why all leads are not created equal!

Yes, welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. This is an interesting topic that is very relevant, although maybe people don't, agents don't necessarily like to talk about follow-up. It might be a dirty little F word for some agents. But it is probably the most important topic that we discuss. My name is Sarah DeLansig. I am a fellow agent, but I also own a boutique ISA company called the Inside Sales Agency. So me and my team, we are actually in an office this week and just moved in. We've been around for like probably almost two years now. And we make hundreds of calls a day to people that want to buy and sell all across the country for agents all across the country. So I'm going to help you all understand why all leads are not created equal. Okay. So with that being said, let me share my screen and we will get started. But I do allow you all to be like interactive and, you know, feel free to, you know,

raise your hand, come off from you, ask questions, and all of that. Okay. So normally I gave a little background. I just did that. So we're just going to go right into what I've got. So agents kind of have. this habit of paying for leads and then calling them one time. Sound familiar? This should, I mean, there's not many of us on here right now, but only 8% of agents make a

second call. Okay. Even if they didn't like, even if they paid for the lead and they know that it could cost anywhere from a dollar to thousands, actually, they're not actually. They're not actually making more than one phone call, which is crazy to me because if you look at this chart, your first contact attempt only results in 2% of sales. So pretty much it's like almost impossible, almost impossible to close a deal like to get from like zero to 100 on the first call, right? Even on the first contact attempt. So second contact, it goes up to 3%. and then 5% and 10%, but 80%. Like that is such a huge number, right?

Like, let's really process this and analyze it. 80% close between after five contact attempts. And I'm not just talking about like sending emails. Okay, emails and text messages while they're good. If you're not paying attention, then they're not going to convert either. Because if you're not making phone calls and following up and making sure that you are on top of it.

Now, I do know people that can actually do it all through text message, but they're very attentive to text message, and their demographic is a younger demographic, right? Or at least that's what I was told. I haven't actually seen it done, but this is what I was told that I admit. So with that being said, we're going to talk about why and how you should follow up with different leads sources. So this is my list of lead sources.

I'm sure there are more, These are the ones that I see on a consistent basis after making hundreds of calls a day for two plus years. Right. So on the left, we have kind of the higher end. I mean, more likely to close is what I will say. More likely to close hotter. Need more attention and needs to be handled a little differently than the ones on the right. I imagine everybody knows what these are.

If you don't know what any of them are, let me know. and I will explain them to you. But I'm going to focus mostly on Zillow and the difference between Zillow and things like Facebook ads. Okay. But right here we have Zillow. Obviously, everybody knows what that is. Realtor.com, Google Local Service Ads,

your sphere of influence, right? Referrals that you get organic reach. That's, I hope, self-explanatory. But if it isn't, you know, put it in the chat. and I'd be happy to answer it. IDX websites, basically buyers and sellers are browsing on your website. You ask them to enter their info after a certain number, you know, clicks or something like that, however many homes, like usually it's up.

Once you get to the third home that you've looked at on the website, then you need to enter your name and your phone number and register to keep going. Google PaperClick, that's different from Google Local Service ads. I think you guys should know what I'm talking about. So ads on social media platforms, cash offers RedEx, particular analytics. Those are the other ones that I see constantly, right? Red X I'm referring to basically like cold calling,

expired to Fisbo's, things like that, because that's kind of what Red X does, is get the phone numbers for those to kind of circle prospect and stuff like that. Makes sense. Okay. So you had to understand the source and the intent behind the buyer or seller, the lead, the prospect, right?

What have you? So if we're analyzing what a Zillow lead is versus a Facebook ad, then you're looking at individuals who are more likely to buy or sell because they have a higher intent. They're actively searching for properties, right? They are trying to find a home, and that's kind of why they're really expensive. leads, right? Facebook, they're kind of scrolling, you know, you're just scrolling, and they discover

your services through a targeted ad, right? And then their intent to buy could vary. They might already have an agent or into that a lot, you know, so they may be active, just as active as the Zillow one, but already have an agent, or they may be, most of them are like, oh, I'm just browsing, I'm just looking, right? So there could be in any kind of stage of the process. So you have to, to really think about those things and what that means. And I will give you more details on how to handle it a little later. So the information level that you're going to get from Zillelilis, basically they might have specific property preferences.

They might give you all the details. They want to give you all the details because they want the most accurate homes that, you know, or the best price for their home, things like that. So they're going to be happy to give you, you know, where they're looking, beds, bath, budget, location, all those things, right? With Facebook, they might just be browsing, they might need more qualification. You need to ask if they have an agent. You need to ask certain questions, and this is where your follow-up techniques and your text messages and your campaigns and your emails and all those things come into play. Okay. So, with that being said,

the communication style needs to be different as well. How you communicate with a Zillow, lead is very different from the way that you communicate with somebody that was just kind of scrolling one night, maybe had a couple of drinks. And I was like, sure, I want to know what my home is worth or sure, I want to know what homes sell for in Maricopa County, you know, like, I want to know that. And they don't really think that they're going to get contacted, even though I ask for their phone number and their information. Okay. So Zillow actually can provide certain communication tools, but it's pretty much direct. Like they're reaching out directly to someone. Leads from Facebook, they're going to be more, you know, interactive. You're going to have to like personalize

your content for them. You're going to have to figure out how to send text messages, how to leave voicemails, things like that. And really dive into figure out what they're looking for where they're at in the stages. Okay. So the follow-up strategies for Zillow are going to be different than the ones for a Facebook ad, obviously, right? A quick response is absolutely crucial with Zillow. I've seen agents lose out on business because they don't get to it within seconds. Like, I talk to a lot of mega teams and stuff like that.

And they tell me that they track these statistics. And one of my clients said that basically it's within seconds. It's not even within five minutes, right? A lot of people are like, oh, if you call within five minutes, okay. But the competition is real. And so with Zillow and things like that, you have to take a more aggressive approach. You cannot just kind of sit back and be like, oh, a Zillow lead just came in, right? We all know that it had cost you money.

It's not something that you want to just sit around and wait for. Whereas with the Facebook leads, you can take a little bit more of a backseat approach and you can be a little less aggressive. I always say a lot less aggressive, actually. But while you build rapport, right? And while you get them to the point where they're comfortable, you've been adding value. They're feeling like they get to know like and trust you. And they're going from there.

Okay. I don't think I can see the chat. So if somebody did put something in the chat, you're going to have to just come off mute and ask me. Okay. Okay. So building relationships with Zillel leads is going to take. That's where getting to them within seconds is really important because it does show that you are on top of it, that you are paying attention. that you are attentive, you are going to follow through,

and they can reach you in a timely manner. You're taking it seriously, all of those things, right? So if they're actively searching for a home and you're calling within seconds, within five minutes, that kind of thing, then you're going to find that you build trust that way with the Zillelite. Whereas the Facebook ones, you really do need to come in and add tons and tons of. of value. And the way that you do this is through strategic text messages, videos, campaigns,

email campaigns, and things like that. And I'll tell you how I do it. I'm not sure if I kept the slide in here because I thought we might run out of time. But if I didn't, I can still show it to you on another one or explain it. Okay. So the lead quality that you have with Zillow, it really depends on your location. I'm sure some of you have seen this, right? Like, It really depends. I've seen people spend so much money on sole leaves, and they were getting a good amount, but they weren't converting

because they weren't connecting with the people. And another agent would swoop in, and they connected more with that agent, and then they ended up, you know, in the hole in the red, because they weren't converting. And I know for a fact that this will always cost a ton of money, okay? Whereas the Facebook leaves, they're going to be a lot less expensive.

You're going to have, you know, the quality depends on the effectiveness to follow up and to get them to a point where they know like and trust you. And so the strategies to do this are key. And we've been taught for a very, very long time, different strategies on this. And I would say that most, like if you just got your license and you're like, oh, I want to learn how to call leads. And you go on the internet and you find. some video about how to call your leads.

Most, like, 99% are going to tell you you need to aggressively call them. Don't leave a voicemail. Send kind of vague text messages to try to get them on the phone. Things that actually probably are meant for the Zillow leaves, but are not meant for all leads. And that's where this whole topic comes from. Okay. Okay.

So after that, after hearing all that, what leads do you all think that I have had the most success converting. And I'm going to like, I'm going to stop my share for a second. And like, see, so that I can see the chat. I should be able to put this up here somehow. But yeah, somebody, somebody tell me, what do you guys think?

Do you think I have more success converting Zillow leads or more success converting Facebook leads based on everything I just said? Anyone? Zillow. Really? Okay. Yeah.

Why do you think that? Well, I just think they're more motivated. Yeah. You would think that. But the reality is that it is Facebook. Facebook, I have more success with Facebook leads. And this is why I'm a little bit of an anomaly out there teaching a different style of follow-up. and why I think I am more relatable to the 92% of agents that are making one call.

Okay. So did I show it right screen? It says Facebook, right? You could see it. Okay, cool. So that is the reality of the situation instead of Facebook. So what does it take to convert? First of all, with Zillow, yes, they are more motivated.

I'm not going to downplay that. However, with Zillow, it is really coming down to those seconds and the way that they connect with you. Okay? So they're more motivated, but they're also more motivated to find whoever they connect with first, and that we'll show them that home first. So if you're too busy, uh-uh, you're done. And this is literally who I was when I was shopping for, um, to buy my first home. And I was that person.

I would go online, look at homes, drive by, call the person. call the person, I didn't, you know, like people that are not in real estate don't know that you shouldn't talk to the seller as your agent, right? So you call the person on the sign, say you want to see the home. If they don't pick up, you go look for another one. And that's how I used to do it. So I understand. But we need to understand what it takes to convert so that we can connect with the people that we want to get to the point where they know like and trust us that they will use us as their agent. Okay. And the first thing I would say that is the most important part of this is your mindset. And I know that sounds cheesy. Your belief that you can do it and your mindset, because I will tell you this right now, if you are going into this and you hate making phone calls, then and you're like, I hate this. I don't want to do this. Nobody ever picks up. I'm going to get yelled at. What you are going to get is exactly that. You are not going to get the nice people. Like, I mean, obviously, random. you're going to get good stuff too. But the reality is, is that whatever you're putting out

there projecting, you're probably going to end up receiving because maybe you're influencing the situation because you're negative. And so they're hearing that in your tongue. You don't really know how people can react. But honestly, people know when you're smiling, when you're talking on the phone, as weird as that sounds, right? I'm sure you've heard that. That's a pretty common thing. Okay. Consistency. Obviously, we've already talked about why you need to be consistent. Like, you can't just make one call and then expect to convert any kind of leads. Like right now, the industry has completely flip-flop from what it was two years ago. Two years ago, it was such a like market for sellers that the buyers weren't even able to get into homes, right?

All the agents didn't even need to do anything. They could let the AI run because they were so busy out there showing loans and selling homes and things like that that. It didn't really matter because the interest rates were so low. But now we're not in that same market, right? we have to be consistent. We have to take initiative and we have to continue that step in the right direction with positive mindset

and with a positive environment with knowledge about our market. Like if you went to a new market and you don't know how to say you know pronounce the names of certain cities or something like that, do some homework, do some research. Like you're a real estate agent.

Figure out how to say the names of the cities in your market. Don't say them wrong because that's the first thing that'll tip people off to you don't know what you're talking about. You know? Like if you're calling someone and you're like, yeah, oh, I see that you have a home in Puyallup and you don't say Puyallup, you say Pooyalup. Okay, I'm in Washington State and it's pronounced Puyallup. And if you say it some other way, then we're going to be like, where are you from? Right? I'm sure you all have cities like that in your markets. There was a weird one that was called Maui the other day. I think it's Maui. I had to look about how to say it. In Ohio. Okay. You have to have the problem. tools, right? So when you sit down to make your calls, you need to have a good environment, a clean environment, you have to have a positive environment, maybe play some good music,

get, you know, get yourself in the right headset, mindset, and have a headset, if you need a headset, have a dialer, have a list to call, know what to say, know what they clicked on, how old are they, and what you should do next. So you need some things in place. But you would be surprised at how easy it is to just have a conversation with people. I've actually converted some leads from 2021 recently, which was really shocking to me. And I approached it like, hey, I know this is going to sound really strange.

Like, because they hadn't been contacted in the last two and a half years. They were from the beginning of 2021. I said, that's going to sound really strange. But way back, like two and a half years ago, you click something online inquire about possibly selling this home on whatever street, right? Just want to check it.

with you see if that's still a case right and they're actually like oh that you know a lot of them are like oh actually we sold it or oh no you know we decided to stay in it and we just um refinanced or something like so it's all about how you approach it and i know this goes against what a lot of people will tell you because they're going to tell you to be very aggressive that's a zillow approach that's a like and yes you should do that but you should also be approachable you should also be understanding you should also be empathic all of those things right okay Some of the other things that you need is you need to have put the time into it. You need to set it aside.

If you're one of those people that hates follow up and you don't put it on your calendar, then it's not going to happen, right? Because you're not going to really want to sit down. So you should put it in your calendar. You should set up a reminder to tell you 15 minutes before that this is what you should be doing. I know I'm like one of those people that like doesn't want to exercise, right? So even though I put it in my calendar sometimes, let's still don't do it. But it's there and it reminds me that I'm not doing what I need to do.

So eventually I'm going to start exercise, right? Okay, so you need to implement things. You need to have patience. This is a long game. This is a slow burn. This is a pot roast. Eight hour, right? This is like it needs to marinate, okay?

That's what we do. Real estate is no longer immediate microwave food, if that makes sense. I hope this is translating. Maybe I'm hungry. Okay. You need to take an accent and you need to be adaptable. Things have changed.

People are no longer answering their doors. So if you go door docking, you're going to get a camera and you're going to get talked to through a microphone, at least in my house. And you're going to hear dogs barking. So I probably won't even hear you anyway. So, I mean, that's kind of the reality. Things have changed. We need to be adaptable. Okay.

This is the method that I take on my follow. What I do is I call them. And on the very first call, I say the name if I can pronounce it. So I'd be like, Hi, Steve, this is Sarah with EXP Realty in Seattle. I saw that you were looking for three bedroom plus homes for sale in King County. And you requested a list of those homes.

Did you get that okay in your email? So that's kind of like the Facebook book. If it was Zillow, I was like, Hi, Steve, this is Sarah from EXP Realty in Seattle. So you wanted to go see this home on XYZ Street. I'm ready to go show it to you. Just give me a call back. I'll text to you as well.

And then I always send a text. Right. So the very first call, I leave a custom voicemail. After that, it's pretty generic. It's like, hey, Steve, this is Sarah. Give me a call back when you have some time. Hope to hear from you soon. Okay.

And then pretty much I kind of just adjust that. But I say it differently every time. So that they're not getting a robot. Like, some people will record a voicemail and drop and they'll just drop the same voicemail every time. Don't do that. And that's like they're going to think it's a robot. And now there are AIs that make phone calls.

So don't do that. Okay. All right. So some of the other things that I do is I send videos and digital content in my text messages. So the first thing is leaving a custom voicemail about what they clicked on, about what, why I'm calling. It's very forthcoming. It's very specific. Then I send them a text message that said, and let me see if I have it.

No, I took it out because I thought this was too long. Okay, but actually, maybe I can find it. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me stop my chair for one second. And if you guys have questions, feel free to put them in, but I think I can find this and again. And I will show you what it looks like because I want you to understand how I do it.

Every market is different, though. and emojis, give or take, okay? By the way, I will just say this right now. There are Facebook ads do not work in luxury markets, second home market. So San Diego, uh-uh, does not work. Does not work very well at all. Whereas like Phoenix, it works just fine. It's really strange, but that's kind of the way it was always because I have this open.

Okay. Let me show you all. this looks like. I'm going to share my screen again. Now that I have it. Oh, I shared the wrong screen. Of course I would do that. Stop sharing. Here we go. Okay. Don't mind this very old-looking dialer here. Just first and up here. Yeah. Um, should let me, okay, so this is, this is what it looks like. Um, let's just go with. like uh about

anything for one um Alicia 12 tip okay somebody that request 12 tips for sellers hi Tyrone I work with Alicia Collins at EHP well I say that I work with Alicia Collins because I'm an ISA and I'm not calling for myself but you can change that what do you think of the 12 tips for sellers that you requested actually I would put online recently or on Facebook recently right so this is what

this would look like. I use a lot of emojis and then I have a short intro video from YouTube. This is a really key part of what I do because YouTube is really, really a crucial part. It makes you less threatening and it shows up as a preview that people can click on right from their phone. If that makes sense. Okay. So if you've ever gotten a YouTube video text to you, especially if you have an iPhone, you probably know what I'm talking about where it will show up as a preview of the name and title of the video, a thumbnail, and then you can click it right there. You don't have to even open YouTube usually because most of us all have YouTube downloaded on our phones and it'll let you just

play it right there. So that's the cool thing that I have with it. So Evergreen videos about your community, about who you are, you know, an intro video. What is like to live in Seattle, Washington, what it's like to live in Toledo, Ohio, those kinds of things. And if you don't have videos on YouTube. It's okay. Most of us all have home, what is it? Home buyer guides, home seller guides, right? You can text those. Usually

they're digital content. Okay. Pros and cons and living in this area, there's all kinds of videos. And just another thing is like, if people are saying like, I'm just looking, be like, I get it. A lot of people are just looking when they click on that. You know, but since you already gave us your info, would it just be helpful? if we sent you a monthly market update

and kept you in the loop with what's happening in that area, in that neighborhood, right? And if they're a seller, then I'd be like, okay, well, since you already gave us your email and your address, would it be helpful? If we just gave you, like, a rough estimate of what your home might be worth and an email every month,

and then just come from their email. That's kind of what I do. Okay. Next slide. So, yeah, that was perfect timing. Okay, recap. Your mindset has a, direct impact on the outcome. Don't be a statistic, right? Make more than one follow call.

Provide value with every single contact attempt by using video or digital marketing materials or tools. And use them strategically in your text and emails. You can even use the ones you send your email in your text, right? Like you could do bomb bomb. There's a whole bunch of different ways that you can do at Vimeo. I really love YouTube, like I said, because it's not threatening and most people have it and it doesn't look scammy or spammy at all. Okay. Um, be honest, why you're calling. There is no point in beating around the bush or trying to manipulate somebody because, like, reality is if they, if they feel that way, then they're probably not going to follow through. You're probably going to have difficulty with the transaction and things like that. Um,

I've, I've seen agents do this where they argue with people, argue with teenagers even, things like that. Don't do that. Okay. Don't be like, like, yes, you did. click on it. You clicked on it at 1155 p.m. or something like that, right? Don't, don't do that. Just be like, okay, sure. I understand that your voicemail says that this is not Steve, but, or that this is Steve, but you're telling me you're not steep, right? Don't argue with you. Just, just let it go. And have fun doing it, because actually it is fun. Like, I'm, I love my God. I didn't, I, selling real estate to me is not fun, but setting appointments for other agents to sell real estate is a lot of fun for me. So I absolutely love it. And,

I think that it's, you know, it's one of those things that not a lot of people know how to do, but it's not as scary as you think it is, and it's not as hard as you think it is. You could probably make 20 calls in an hour, and 20 calls an hour a day is a really good way to start, even five calls a day. I mean, anything more than one call and one and done, right?