How to Convert Property Leads into Paying Clients

Much of the time, how to convert property leads isn’t the real issue. Let’s face it: if somebody walks into your agency and tells you they want to sell their home, build an extension, get a mortgage, or whatever your service is, you already know what to say to increase the chances of them becoming a client. At least, I hope you do.

No, I don’t believe you have a conversion problem; it is far more likely that you have a lead generation issue or problems with a lack of trust in your services.

Given there is a chance I’m not 100% accurate in my assessment, and you really struggle with closing,  I’ll cover all three issues throughout this post.

Let’s get started.

The Challenge Of Converting Property Leads

To convert a lead into a sale, you have to be able to speak to your prospect. This is, by far, the biggest issue most property professionals face. We know that over 70% of potential clients won’t even entertain the possibility of speaking to a company until they have done some research online.

The Power Of A Content Goldmine

You want to build trust with a lead and turn them into a prospect, but with virtually no possibility of speaking with them first, you have to be online with the information they want.

If you’re not showing up at this stage, you’re already on your back foot when that prospect decides to reach out to the first few candidates for their business.

Even though you are committed to being a property professional and the go-to expert in your area, you’ve probably still got a little bit of work to do.

You need to create a content goldmine for your business. This is by far the best way to allow your perfect prospects to find you at the earliest opportunity.

The UK Property Professional’s Quest For More Bookings And Inquiries

Be There When They Start Looking

If somebody is looking to buy their first home and you provide a service that helps them do just that, it could easily be a year or more before they have a suitable deposit saved. Do you really want to wait until their deposit is saved before they know about you?

Maybe you’re an estate agent, and you only deal with selling homes. Perhaps you specialise in 4 bedroom family homes. Will you wait until they are ready to contact an agency and hope they walk into yours?

Are you mad? They probably started looking 6 months ago. Maybe the thought popped into their head in January when they were eying that gorgeous 3-meter by 3-meter corner suite in the sale that was too big for their current lounge.

Whatever stage a potential client is at, you need to have content available that is relevant to them when they go looking for answers online. If you’re not doing that, your chances of being the agent of choice are looking pretty grim.

That’s why you struggle with converting your property leads into clients. If you wait for people to come to you when they are ready, you’ll never have enough leads in your pipeline and won’t be speaking to enough people who are prepared to move, now.

Creating your own content goldmine will fix that particular problem.

Understanding Your Property Leads

When most people think about marketing, they have the idea that they need to know the perfect age of their ideal prospect, how many kids they have, and their income.

Well, yes, the standard demographics can help. Even these agencies who go so far as to give their avatars’ names, find out what brands their prospects like, and the colour of their car to the places they like to holiday aren’t entirely wrong. Look, there’s no doubt that when you can collect enough data, it can help you sell. This is why Facebook, Amazon, and Google do so well. Their targeting for paid ads is incredibly accurate because they have so much data.

However, you don’t need to be the next Facebook or Google to be able to find your perfect prospects.

Identifying Your Ideal Client

You already know from experience that there is no one-size-fits-all demographic or psychographic profile for your audience.

Sure, there will be patterns, but just because most people buying a 4-bed home are married with 2.4 kids, it doesn’t mean that a 24-year entrepreneur who has no partner and isn’t planning to have a family yet doesn’t want to be within a 10-minute walk of her office which just happens to be where that new development of 4-beds happens to be.

Instead of trying to be the next Mark Zuckerberg and discovering everything there is to know about your perfect prospects, start with solving the problems people have that aren’t based on demographics.

Building a Content Goldmine

Whatever you decide to start talking and writing about first, there is only one rule.

Here it is:

You will create no content without a purpose, and that content will be the best possible.

Okay, that might be 2 rules in 1. I won’t spend too much time on building a content goldmine here since I’ve already created another fantastic post called “How to Build a Content Goldmine”. Besides, there is a book with everything you need to know about how to get started on your content goldmine called Automated Property Leads Forever. I highly recommend it, but I may be a little biased. 😊

Here are the highlights of creating a content goldmine that will attract your ideal clients by positioning you as the go-to property expert in your area.

Your content goldmine will be:

• Well Researched
• Expertly Written
• Well Laid Out
• Available in Multiple Formats
• Able to Capture Lead Information
• Published Regularly
• Optimised for SEO
• and Distributed on Multiple Channels

Once you can do this consistently over a long period of time, you will have more leads than you know what to do with. Don’t worry; I also cover that in my book and other posts on this website. 😉

Leveraging High-Quality Content

The key to the success of your content goldmine is all about the quality. There are no shortcuts here. Even if you know your stuff inside out and back to front, you’ll still need to research and learn how to create an engaging post.

Quoting facts and figures helps establish you as a knowledgeable agent but doesn’t build much trust and certainly no rapport with your prospects.

Describing a process will help educate your ideal clients but won’t necessarily help them relate to how the process works in their situation.

Don’t Be Like Everyone Else

Also, just because you’ve published something doesn’t mean you can’t edit or rewrite it.

Your first post, like your first video, will not be the best. But it doesn’t have to be. Now, if you’re already a good writer and come across well on video, great, you’ve got a headstart.

If not, don’t worry; nobody will see it anyway. Not at first.

It will take at least a couple of months of persistent publishing before Google will start to take you seriously as a content creator. Unless you already have a thriving social media audience, building up a good audience will take time there, too. So, you have plenty of time to make your content really good before it starts to matter. With my help, you’ll know whether your content is good from the first post and what to look out for if it’s not.

Utilising Diverse Content Formats

Think of your content goldmine much like you do a property listing or an investor’s sales pack.

• A basic property listing description will mean that people get the facts.
• If you’re a creative writer and can describe a property well, the listing might stand out and get more interest than a basic description.
• Add a floor plan, and you give people a sense of the layout at a glance.
• Adding a walkthrough video to a listing helps people get a sense of scale and feel, and you can add a personal touch.
• Add a 3D virtual tour, and a listing will stand out above 85% of others without people even watching it.

Effective Lead Generation Strategies

So you know that creating your content goldmine with excellent expert-level content that engages your audience is your starting point.

Optimising SEO for Property Professionals

Optimising your content creation using SEO techniques will ensure you’re heading in the right direction, as well as taking care of any SEO optimisation needed on your website. The final part of the SEO optimisation process is local SEO for targeting your audience in areas specific to your patch.

I talk about this much more in my “What is SEO?” Post, so go and look at my take on SEO there once you’re done here. It’s not techy, so hopefully, you’ll enjoy it.

Social Media Engagement

Much conflicting information exists about the best way to use social media channels. What is correct for you? I cannot say with any certainty since I do not proclaim to be a social media expert. However, I can lay out your options.

Many of the social platforms have several things in common. You can utilise these core principles on whichever platform you choose to be on.

All social media platforms like people who :

• post original Content
• post consistently (different on every platform)
• interact with their followers
• attract higher levels of engagement

If you use hashtags to make your content findable long past its normal social shelf life and track your analytics to understand what works best for your audience, the social platforms will reward you with more organic reach. Just not very much. They do, after all, want you to pay them to advertise.

The other things to keep in mind when creating content for your social channels are:

• Use high-quality visuals
• Use relevant headlines
• Tell stories
• Be yourself
• Be authentic

This could be said of anything you do to promote yourself or your business anywhere in any way, but it’s worth mentioning here since so few people actually do this well.

Controversy For The Win

While I don’t recommend you talk about politics, don’t be too surprised if the stuff you like to talk about doesn’t get massive amounts of engagement.

This is why making your content as helpful and relevant as possible is so important. You’re unlikely to set the world on fire with a post that helps your prospects, but there is a good chance they will share stuff they find really useful.

When using your social media channels to help generate leads, you can use all the lead magnets from your content goldmine as giveaways to capture their information. As well as providing valuable and engaging content for people to find when they look you up, this will be the best use of your social platforms.

Email Marketing for Lead Nurturing

For most people reading this, an email list should be something you’re already familiar with. Most property professionals already use mailing lists to keep people up to date with the latest instructions or rentals available, maybe with the odd updates about government policies or other significant changes in the market.

What isn’t so common is nurturing prospects with valuable information about all aspects of buying, selling, renting, or investing. This is a huge mistake and one of the reasons you don’t have enough leads in your pipeline.

Email is a tool that costs very little and is already something you use daily. So, why wouldn’t you use it to nurture your leads into paying clients? The answer is pretty simple: most businesses don’t have the amount of high-quality expert content needed for delivering value over months if not years.

Nowadays, it’s simple to personalise an email, segment your list, and automate follow-ups. What’s not so simple is following up for an extended period without being repetitive, pushy or salesy.

Since you can monitor open rates and gauge the performance of your emails over time, testing various methods for keeping your leads aware of your presence is much simpler than when you had to use snail mail.

Email is still a very effective tool; just be sure to use it to its fullest potential.

Engaging Your Leads

When somebody finds you online, what do you think they will think of you? Seriously, are they impressed? Will they get lost in your content for hours?

I’ll use an estate agent’s website as an example here, but whatever area of property you specialise in, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out how you’re the same as everyone else.

What I Usually Find

Look, if I get to your home page and I’m faced with a “Find a Property” search box next to a “Book a Valuation” button with a list of “Our Services” below, I am NOT going to be impressed. That is the same as a dozen websites I’ve looked at this week and probably 10,000 others I’ve not seen yet.

Okay, let’s say I’m not phased by the standard website template with all too familiar offerings on the home page, and I decided to see what your news/blog has to say anyway.

I get to the relevant section to be shown the most recent news and insights, of which the last 4 were posted on the same day 3 months ago. Sure, there are sporadic posts over the past 2 years on the first couple of pages. 18 posts in 2 years; way to go. Always keep them wanting more, eh? 😐

Despite this, one of the posts catches my eye. I click, and I’m taken to the post, which consists of 200 words and a photo. I try a few other posts, but none are very interesting. They have a few pictures and consist of a few paragraphs, maybe as many as a thousand words.

No videos, nothing to educate me or keep my attention. There’s nothing for me to download. I can’t even search all the posts since this website has no search box on the blog page. Well, maybe I’ll return when I’m ready to sell my home.

I Hope This Doesn’t Sound Familiar

Building Trust and Credibility

You need something interesting to engage your leads that will keep them on your website. In case you were wondering, that will be your content goldmine.

To build trust, you need to inform. For building credibility, you’ll need to consistently produce high levels of expert content that educates your perfect prospects and is balanced and transparent.

To keep them coming back for more, you’ll want to be informative and exciting, tell stories and add your own unique twist to your content. This will build rapport with them, and you don’t even know their name. Yet!

When used as a home for a content goldmine, your website becomes much more than a digital business card; it turns into a lead-generating machine that will have you wondering why you didn’t start doing this years ago.

Indeed, it’s something I wonder about nearly every day.

Establishing a Strong Online Presence

You may think that establishing an online presence that positions you as the go-to property expert in your area will require a budget the size of a megacorp. This was true in decades gone by, but today, we live in the age of the internet.

The advances in AI mean that search engines, and I’m really talking about Google here, can understand what people want so well that their algorithm has advanced to the point where they are desperate for experts to share their knowledge and to tailor it for their local audience.

Maximising Impact: Strategies That Only Make Sense When Used With a Content Goldmine

Yes, you’ll still need a professional website design, and you’ll still need to manage online reviews and testimonials, and there are a dozen other details you’ll need to take care of. But, once you have a content goldmine, all of the various other pieces start to make sense.

For example, whenever I hear about companies using SEO and it not working that well for them, then I look at their website, and I can’t find a coherent content creation strategy, it kinda blows my mind.

SEO doesn’t work without content. Consistently make excellent content, and SEO works really well. It’s pretty simple to understand.

Other things that companies/people try in isolation that make no sense without a content strategy are:

• Local SEO
• Content Marketing – obviously 😊
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Online Reputation Management
• Link Building
• Community Building
• Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Now, I can understand that you might be looking at this list and thinking, well, you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would reputation management or word-of-mouth marketing only make sense if you are creating content?

I agree; it seems an odd statement until you understand how reputation management and marketing work.

Content Makes Your Reputation

Look, if you’re concerned about your reputation, pay for any service that looks for your name, brand, or bespoke services so that you can reply to anything that anyone writes, good or bad. You understand that trolls exist, and people who aren’t even your clients can say bad things about you, your company, and your brand. Very smart.

But, what can anyone else reading the comment compare it to?

Where can they go to find out what your position is on the subject matter?

Recommendations Need Content Too

Okay, that makes sense, but what about word of mouth? A recommendation doesn’t need to be backed up with content.

In the past, that was true. Business was a recommendation and a handshake; you could trust you’d get what you expected. Now, I wouldn’t be so sure. With such low expectations in the property industry, the most genuine and excellent agents must prove their worth.

Let’s say I get a recommendation for your service from a good friend that I really trust. I looked you up online, as is my want, and found a basic website with only a little information about what you do, how you do it, and why.
I look around, find a few reviews and a testimonial, and everything else seems to be above board.

However, whenever I search for something about your service, you don’t appear, but this other agent keeps showing up. They have really in-depth content about the problems I want to solve. In their videos, they talk about my problems passionately. They talk about various red flags to watch for, the tricks of the trade that the unwary might be fooled by, and how to check that everything is in order before I sign a contract. They even have a free checklist to download to ensure I haven’t missed any steps.

These other guys have also sent me several emails since I signed up for that handy checklist, and I’ve found some other beneficial things I needed to check out, which will likely save me quite a bit of cash and, undoubtedly, a ton of time.

Sure, I’ll probably talk to you, but I’m not making any decisions until I’ve spoken with these other guys. They really know their stuff and haven’t tried to “sell” me on their service once. Incredible.

Who Would You Choose?

Even in the face of such strong content marketing, you could still be so good that you still get my business. I’ll concede that many top-rate property professionals really want to help and are exceptional at their job, and you could well be one of them.

But what happens if the online playing field is level? You also have a content goldmine that has been automated to nurture your leads into prospects and sales with minimal effort from you.

You’ve got the recommendation and the information available online to back you up.

The Art of Conversion

Now, if you’ve got this far and you’re still thinking, nope, I don’t have a lead generation problem; it’s definitely converting my leads that’s the problem, then here are a few things you can look at.

First, converting a lead into a sale is only necessary if you haven’t effectively qualified your prospect and overcome their objections. If you believe you’ve both qualified your prospect and overcome their objections, we’re back to trust or value issues.

I’ll stick with the estate agent examples since they overlap with many other property services.

Assuming that you’ve handled the usual suspects:

• Price
• Location
• Conditions
• Competition
• Lack of urgency

Then, you might need to dive a little deeper into the real reasons you’re not converting your prospects into sales.

These could be that the buyer is:

• not authorised to make a purchase decision
• waiting for a mortgage approval
• waiting to sell their current home before buying a new one
• having trouble getting their finances in order
• having second thoughts about buying a home

Now, this is pretty standard stuff regarding sales in the UK property industry, and if you’re struggling here, maybe you need better sales training.

It could be that you’re not listening to what your prospects tell you. Making assumptions is a common mistake that many novices make when learning how to sell. Perhaps your body language is giving off signals you’re not aware of. This can happen if you’re desperate to close, don’t honestly believe in what you’re saying or selling, or there is some other disconnect between you and your prospect. These subtle cues can create mistrust and hinder the conversion process. Therefore, it’s crucial to pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal communication and ensure that your interactions are built on genuine understanding and trust.

Always Improving

If sales training within your business is unavailable, or perhaps you’re a solopreneur, and the funds aren’t available for live sales training right now, here are a few books to get started with to improve your sales abilities.

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
• Bare Knuckle Selling by Simon Hazeldine

There will undoubtedly be dozens of other books you could learn from, but if you want to improve, you need to read one or two of these books and start implementing what you learn immediately.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to learn more and more. Get the basics and start practising. It will be best to find somebody who will help you, a friend, a colleague, or even a random stranger from one of the dozens of property groups you’re undoubtedly a member of. An accountability partner will mean you progress much faster than trying to do it alone.

Effective Sales Funnel Management

I want to touch on the best way to manage your sales funnel rather than try to detail every step of this process. I will likely cover that in detail in another post.

One reason a content goldmine is so valuable is that your funnel management is mostly automated. Of course, you’ll still need to speak to your perfect prospects at some point, but until they are ready for that step, you just need to remain top of mind for anything property-related.

People find you online, consume your content, learn about your values and stories, and sign up for your various lead magnets without needing you to get involved. This allows you to simultaneously engage with hundreds or even thousands of prospects while your competitors pick up the stragglers.

If you’ve mapped your buyer’s journey and created content for each step, you’ll always be able to anticipate their needs and provide answers to the problems they will be facing. You can then demonstrate your understanding of their issues by checking they’ve covered all the bases up to that point and map out the journey they will be on until completion. Your uncanny ability to know precisely what they need and when they’ll need it will all work to build trust and rapport.

Use The Tools You Have

Part of your automation will link to your lead magnets and follow-ups to your Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). Using the features in your CRM to track their progress, you can see where they are in the process and what message they are opening.

Not needing to speak to your leads continually and always having precisely what they need, when they need it, will make you an invaluable resource which they are unlikely to forget about when the time is right for them to start speaking with a property expert.

Converting Leads to Clients is Only For Beginners

If you are serious about being your area’s best-known, most trusted agent, you must create a content goldmine. It’s currently the only way of positioning yourself as a go-to expert without the backing of a major media outlet or publishing agency.

If you want people to come to you instead of paying for every low-quality lead and spending most of your time chasing them to be your next client, self-publishing expert content is your only real option.

People will only come to you if you give them a reason to do so.

Creating expert content, solving people’s problems, telling them about your values, opinions, and stories, and letting them into your passion for delivering excellent service are superb reasons.

Get Started

If, on the other hand, you want to build an asset that will leverage your time and efforts a thousand times over, then go for the transformative power of a content goldmine. Be aware that it is not something you can experience fully, with all the benefits, until you actually do it properly. It’s not like a paid ad. You can’t have a go for a month or two and see how it goes. It’s an all-or-nothing endeavour, so you must be serious about following through once you start.

If it sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. It might seem like it will take some time to get off the ground because it does take time and effort. If you don’t think that many people are using this strategy, you’d be right. It is the reason you should start as soon as possible.

Very few people are willing to put in the effort required for an easy life. This makes it a golden opportunity for you.

The Pro Conversion Method

You do not need to sell anything to a well-informed prospect. If you educate your prospects and show them their options, you only need to help them make decisions. Selling is going to be obsolete in 90% of conversations. “When would you like to get started?” will likely become your most asked question.

There will always be a few that need that final push, but for the most part, your marketing machine will sell you, your brand, and your services on autopilot by educating your leads on the decisions they need to make.

Learn How to Build a Content Goldmine

So, this is the bit you’ve been waiting for, where I sell you on my fantastic coaching programme and tell you how the few thousand it will cost is a mere pittance next to the hundreds of sales you’ll make over the next decade or two.

Of course, I do have the coaching programme, but the good news is I’ve also turned that very same 12-week course into a book. For as little as £6.95, you can read about everything you need to get your content goldmine started at your own pace.

If you decide afterwards you’d still like to work with me, I’ll still be here. Get your copy of Automated Property Leads Forever here:

Don’t just think about it, do it. Tens of thousands of property professionals have thought about doing something to stand out, so where are they all?

Be the change you want to see. You know everything you need to do. Use my framework to make it a reality.

I look forward to seeing you online soon.