One of the drawbacks that comes from labelling a sales and marketing technique a “funnel” is that it ignores the essential nature of what the funnel intends to be: a long-term relationship. Nurturing a client-business relationship is the goal of a sales funnel, as the sales funnel holds much more potential than a transient means to close a deal. In other words, it’s not just a product or service that you want to sell but also your brand.

Let’s be realistic about real estate. Unless someone is a property investor seeking to grow their portfolio, it’s unlikely that someone who buys a piece of property will immediately go out and buy more. However, they will likely decide to sell and purchase again, and you can anticipate them doing so at some point in their lives. Real estate brokers can’t count on repeat clients to rapidly grow sales the way other sectors may because of this rather unpredictable process.

It’s feasible to cultivate long-term real estate clients who refer you to their friends and family and return to you when their lives change, thanks to efforts in customer nurturing. And lest we forget, people relocate, sell, reduce the size of their homes, increase their family sizes, and so on.

Your real estate sales funnel, on the other hand, has to be dynamic with a constant flow of new customers looking to buy who are in the market for a new home right now.

A real estate “sales funnel” is akin to a reflection of what’s going on in the lives of all concerned, including major and minor changes along the way. The young couple who bought the starter house a few years ago can be helped by the correct customisation and personal touch if and when they decide to start a family, and you can help a household relocate to adapt to changing working conditions, such as with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the meantime, the most important thing is to keep your current customers happy so that when they’re ready to buy or sell, you can help them. You also need to find new customers to keep your business running smoothly.

Build a strong online presence

In the digital age, the internet is typically the first means through which someone will search for what they want, whether it’s a birthday or Christmas present for a loved one, or a new dream home.

Of course, homebuyers aren’t going to press a few clicks and buy online like you would a birthday present. They will, however, likely start their online search with something like Google to gauge what’s available on the market and the current prices. Indeed, statistics show that over 90% of homebuyers (98% of millennials) will start their search for a property online. This means that your brand has to have a strong online presence if you want to be competitive.

To put it simply, your main marketing goal should be to build a strong online presence.

For homebuyers, a recognised and trusted real estate professional is a must. One way to build trust and credibility with potential clients before you’ve even met them in person is to have a strong online presence.

Before contacting you, potential customers may feel more at ease if they have a better understanding of who you are and what you do. This could include reviews on your website and examples of past properties that you have sold.

This includes setting up a well-designed website that is easy to use and looks good, as well as joining a lot of online groups (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and so on).

Submit postings to third-party property websites

Prospective homebuyers aren’t most likely to begin their search for a new residence with the help of a real estate website in mind, although this would sometimes be the case. A third-party site like Zoopla is usually used to get a sense of what they have to choose from.

Such third-party portals enable home hunters to gauge what’s on the local market and what they can buy with their budget in mind. Importantly, it helps them learn about the many real estate agents and businesses in the area. It also helps them figure out how much they can afford based on their needs.

As a real estate agent, you might be losing out on lucrative leads if you aren’t active on sites like these, where many start their property hunting searches.

A positive aspect of such a website and generating more leads for your business is listing your homes on third-party real estate websites without having to spend any money on additional marketing. These websites tend to be user-friendly, and so setting up and listing properties can be done very easily, such as uploading quality images and descriptions, and letting the website work its magic.

Visitors to these portals may also find information on nearby schools and the community on these sites, giving them a clearer picture of what to anticipate.

Pro tip: For third-party property pages, you want to be thorough and provide all of the relevant information for site visitors. Incorporate a full agent profile and links to your website. But don’t presume that the visitor will automatically follow these links directly to your website; many find it cumbersome to do so.

Rather, if you view the pages as the only pages visitors will view before contacting you, then you will want to take full advantage of them by making sure they contain as much information as possible to pique their interest.

Build an inspiring landing page and not a property page

Potential buyers will naturally want to view the homes you currently have listed on your website in their area and price range when they go there. This is typically achieved by many real estate agents by building property pages to show off their listings.

A good first step is to create a separate page for each location, which makes it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for. However, a basic web page is unlikely to suffice if you want to capture their imagination and interest. A potential buyer may never get in touch with you if you make it difficult for them to contact you. In other words, make sure there aren’t any barriers to communication.

To help improve engagement on your property pages, create completely optimised landing pages as a blueprint for them. A landing page is more than simply a collection of photographs and a list of the property’s top features. Ideally, it should compel the customer to take action and engage with your agency.