Every business, no matter the industry, understands the importance of leads. Without them, businesses cannot thrive; however, alongside generating leads, qualifying leads poses an additional challenge specifically for real estate agents.
Qualifying leads is necessary for weeding out the time-wasters, but it can also become incredibly time-consuming in and of itself. A way to reclaim some of the hours spent vetting leads is to look for a marketing qualified lead and know how to identify them when you encounter them.
Together, let’s break down what a marketing qualified lead is, how to identify one, and how you can use them to close more profitable deals.
What is a Marketing Qualified Lead?
In real estate, there are three different kinds of leads: regular leads, marketing qualified leads, and sales qualified leads. Which category your lead falls into is dependent on their behavior. A regular lead is someone who is still in the browsing phase. They may have come across your real estate firm during an exploratory Google search trying to define what it is they want out of a property.
In contrast, a marketing qualified lead (MQL) isn’t your typical lead. They are promising, more likely to become a customer down the line, and they want to know more about your company. They have an idea of what kind of property they’re looking for and might even be evaluating your agency as a viable option. What makes them a marketing qualified lead is that they have expressed interest in your services by intentionally engaging with lead actions like submitting their contact information or downloading materials. However, there are other ways that they show interest, including opting into a program, repeatedly visiting your site, or adding items to their digital shopping cart.
A significant difference between a marketing qualified lead and a sales qualified lead is that MQLs aren’t ready to become your customer just yet. They may require a bit of nurturing before they’re prepared to take the final step and purchase. Identifying who a prospective buyer is early in their buyer’s journey enables you or your sales team to keep an eye on them so that when they’re ready to buy a property, you can be right where they need you.
Identifying and engaging MQLs is the first step in gaining new customers. After that, the next step is to move into sales qualified lead status (SQL) before they ultimately become a customer.
How to Identify Your Marketing Qualified Leads
Knowing whether a potential buyer is a marketing qualified lead isn’t always obvious; sometimes, you may have to probe and ask questions to vet your lead and determine if they’re worthy of marketing qualified lead status. Here are a few areas to touch on in your exploration:
Define What an MQL Is
Although there is a definition of what a marketing qualified lead is, it is important to remember that every real estate firm is different. So, to yield the best results is crucial for your agency to define what a marketing qualified lead looks like for you. We recommend taking the time to evaluate who your ideal buyer is and what their end goal is. You can use analytics, demographics, and customer behavior to map out what actions are qualifying features.
Look for Trends
When identifying marketing qualified leads, one way to gather insight is to look at the trends in your process. Ask yourself what do you leads who result in a close have in common? What outlet results in the highest number of MQLs? Identifying the trends in your process, can further inform you on who you need to focus your efforts on trying to convert.
Reason
Everyone has a reason for buying a property, whether it’s their first home, time to downgrade or upgrade. Your job is to find out what the reason is and verify that it is worth your time. Ask your leads probing questions to gauge what their motivation is. The answer may be a sign of a great investment or a potential time-waster. Adding this question to your arsenal can also help you match future properties to the right buyers and ensure that deals have a happy close.
Timeline
A surefire way to figure out if a prospective buyer falls into the regular lead or MQL category is to ask them how soon they are looking to buy a property. This gives you a timeline. A typical lead may not be interested in buying for months, maybe even a year, whereas a qualified lead may be ready now. It also informs you on where they are in the buyer’s cycle and what kind of support you need to offer. Alongside asking what their budget is, this question can tell you a lot about who you’re working with.
Budget
Knowing your lead’s spending budget ensures that you won’t show them properties they can’t afford. Start by asking what they can spend on a property, how much they’re willing to pay, and if they have any dealbreakers. This helps your narrow down the number of property options they have to sift through, and if they’re willing to look at other properties, if, say, you find a property that matches their price range but is in another part of town.
Mortgage
Next up, after learning about their budget, you should ask whether your prospect has been pre-approved to finance a property. Knowing whether they are pre-approved lets you know a few things; most importantly, they are motivated and serious about buying. A lead who has done the preliminary work signals to a real estate agent that they are an MQL, possibly even an SQL.
Appointment
One of the final qualifying questions that you should ask is when they can meet for an appointment. Although it may sound off-putting to ask them when and not if they can meet, there is a good reason. If your lead is truly ready to buy a property, they will have little to no resistance in meeting to either view properties or further hash out the details of finding their dream properties. Marketing qualified leads tend to be motivated individuals who are ready to pounce.
Call Motivated Sellers
Marketing qualified leads are essential to a successful deal. Although they don’t guarantee that a lead will purchase a property with you, they have a higher likelihood of doing so versus other kinds of prospects. And when the time comes to vet your leads to become sales qualified leads, reach out to Call Motivated Sellers for help. Our cold calling experts will comb your list and return only top quality, ready-to-buy leads. If you have questions about your process, we’re happy to consult you, too!
Ready to get started or learn more about our services? Contact our team today!