Next
102 - Onboarding > Zillow Preferred > Zillow Lead Follow Up – Why & How

Zillow Lead Follow Up – Why & How

Why Follow Up With Leads?

With today’s world, people are on the move and busy. We have all become accustomed to convenience, everything right at our finger tips.

To combat this, we need to be more convenient, and more valuable than any other option.

Put yourself in your lead’s shoes.

Let’s use the example of a Zillow lead. This person has likely scrolled MANY times on Zillow. They are window shopping online, because it’s convenient for the lack of pressure, and how quickly and efficiently they can look, while feeling like they are educating themselves on the market.

As a real estate broker, you know that is NOT the way you become educated on the market. They don’t have the data you do, they don’t know how much activity a property is getting, if the property is priced right, and they don’t know how it shows in person.

If shopping for a house on Zillow was really a viable way to buy a house, then the first house a buyer looked at would be the one they bought. But it never is! (Ok, occasionally it is, but we call these Unicorns for a reason). That’s because it’s more likely that the buyer was simply more ready to take the next step forward in the home buying process, in that exact moment they saw that house on Zillow.

So knowing this, when you lead follow up, you are simply placing yourself in front of that buyer, so when they are ready again, they will decide to call on you.

You need to be MORE convenient and more valuable than Zillow.

How can you do that?

Here are some big dos and don’ts to get you to your end goal:

DO NOT:

  • Do NOT send a bland message “Hey just checking in”
  • Do NOT reference failed communication from them like:
    • “Hey did you get my message last week?”
    • “I’m just following up from that appointment you missed yesterday, hope everything is ok.”
      • This has a high likely hood of evoking a negative emotion from that lead, therefore causing them to avoid or become irritated.
  • Do NOT send a lengthy message
  • Do NOT reference financing

DO:

Compose your messages, and prepare your phone calls, to be quick and valuable.

Here is a list of things we have seen work:

  • Voicemail “Hey it’s ________, give me a call back”.
  • Text listings
    • People love seeing pictures of homes. Just be sure it’s a NEW listing, and not something they have likely already saw on Zillow.
  • You can send these in these styles:
    • With no texts
    • With a link to your calendar
    • With a Y/N question
    • With specific questions:
      • “This stove has a 4 burner, I know the last one we talked about had a 5, thoughts?”
      • “Do you like this kitchen?”
  • With negative comments
    • “This looks great, but it’s next to a very busy road. If we go look at it, I want to get a decibel reading, but I’m not hopeful”
  • Send houses out of there area/price point
    • “Hey this one is about 10 minutes further out, but I just thought you might want to see it. Too far?”
  • Ranking “Thumbs up or down?”
    • “1 – 10, where are you at with this one?”
  • Reference pictures
    • “This one has terrible pictures, BUT I bet looks great in person”
    • “This one has some great photos, but I see some things that make me question what it would actually look like in person”
  • Send Design Realty listings! Highlight on before/after photos.

 

Available Platforms:

Text from Phone | Text from Zillow | Email from MLS

Zillow Activity

Take a property they were looking at and send it with a “Want to go take a look today?” message.

Video Tours This is one of the BEST things you can do for a lead. You are out showing properties already, so grab some tours! Try messaging a lead with the listing “Hey I’m going to be showing this one today, I’ll grab a video for you”, then you can plug in the video tour, and even delay sending the video until later that day.

Old Listings

Send old listings with sales price and DOM

Market Data

Send market data regarding a property they like.

For example:

  • “Hey, so this particular place you liked that went pending, it looks like in April of last year there were over 50 similar ones sold. With it being February, obviously there isn’t as much on the market, but I’m confident you will find a place as it opens up.”

OR

  • “Hey, so this particular place you liked that went pending, I’m not seeing much in the last 12 months like that. I know you loved this one, and I’ll keep my eye on it. In the meantime, I did find these other two that though a little different, I think you still may like a lot”

Social Media

Friend on social media – I know, SCARY! However, a social media platform is just another place to stay in front of people.

Home Pop By

Stop by homes they may have liked, and tell them what you find, all the pros/cons.

Articles

Send articles that are relevant, but stress to them “Hey I sent this article your way, it’s worth a read for sure”

Yes / No Questions

Ask specific yes/no questions. Keep this quick, and simple.

It is communicating you are hard at work for them, not busy trying to butter them up.

  • “Is the master on the ground floor ok?” or
  • “Is an older home ok if it’s been updated?”

Video Message

Use video messages! You can send a video message with a link, or as you would send a video to a friend, or you can email one as well.

Reviews Don’t hesitate to ask for reviews! Zillow allows anyone that has worked with you, regardless of closing, to review you. This is a great tool if you have had a good relationship, but the client maybe years away from buying.