Aiva
Qualifying Leads
What is LPMAMA in Real Estate?
Talking to leads on Zillow can be fun (sometimes)! Here is a roundup of the four types of common leads you will likely encounter and how to deal with them.
Chances are, if you understand how Zillow premier agent works and talk to about 50-100 leads, you’ll start to see some recurring patterns of conversations. At Aiva, we chat with a LOT of real estate leads each month, a large chunk of them happen to be Zillow leads a month and we definitely find some similar stories time and time again!
Here’s our roundup of the five (some funny!) types of Zillow leads we commonly encounter:
Genuinely interested, but has an agent already
Let’s call this lead Gene. Gene submits their information via Zillow, you call Gene and he’s very happy to chat with you and is genuinely interested in viewing the property. He’d want to schedule a viewing this Saturday with his partner after he drops his kids off at soccer practice.
Gene has been in the market a while, is pre-approved and his budget is higher than your average sale price, and he can pull the trigger tomorrow if you help him and his partner find the right home. You are very excited to talk to Gene, it’s a change from other leads who are either busy, disrespectful, or don’t want to talk to you.
At the end of the conversation, Gene happily volunteers that he will bring his agent to the listing appointment. Uh oh! And he’s a 100% committed to his agent, but rarely likes the listings his agent shows him so he scouts them out himself on Zillow.
How do you deal with leads like Gene? Just ask them at the beginning of the conversation if they are already working with an agent and if they are 100% committed to their agent. Saves you time!
Completely shocked you’re not the listing agent
Let’s call this lead Shanna. Shanna puts her info in, wants to schedule a showing for Saturday, she volunteers her search criteria to you, she has no interest in viewing anything but 458 Elm St, which she submitted the inquiry for originally so you're thinking you can probably talk her into checking out a few more homes after you meet in person.
At the end of the call, she asks you a rather odd question. “Would your seller reduce the listing price if I put down a cash offer?”. You then proceed to tell her you’re not sure it might be a question for the listing agent. She’s shocked! She asks you if your name is Lisa, the listing agent on the Zillow profile, you say “No, my name is Katie”, she’s confused and upset that she spent 10 minutes on the phone with you thinking you’re the listing agent. Shanna only wants to deal with Lisa, the listing agent, not you … uh oh!
How do you deal with leads like Shanna? Ask her at the beginning if she's open to working with a buyer’s agent, and if not ask her "why not". Tell her your negotiation skills can probably get her a discount better than 3% off of the selling price (only if you think you really can).
Wants you to value their home so they can refinance
Let’s call this lead Sakina. Sakina and her husband want to upgrade their home, they’re expecting a newborn soon and having a bigger kitchen would be really nice in addition to turning their garage into a den. Sakina’s friend told her that she should consider a home equity loan, then she does some research and learns that she’ll need an appraisal done before getting her loan approved.
So she heads over to Zillow, find her home, looks at Zillow’s estimate, disagrees with it, and submits her information into the box. She knows she has to talk to a real estate agent to get an appraisal done. You call her, she lets you know she wants a valuation done, “Great! We can put one together no problem” you say hoping to score a listing appointment. Then you ask her what her selling timeline is, she says she’s not looking to sell, just wants an appraisal that can be used for her loan application .. uh oh!
How do you deal with leads like Sakina? Ask her if she’s thought about buying a new home instead of remodeling their existing home. Tell her house prices have gone up, rather than borrow against their equity, it might make sense to cash that equity in, use some of it as a down payment to buy a bigger home and keep their monthly payments around the same.
The lead thinks you work for Zillow
Let’s call this lead Lan. Lan submits her information on Zillow, you reach out. She’s very happy you called, but immediately starts yelling at you to change her home value estimate on Zillow. She knows her home is worth more, way more, than what’s it’s listed on Zillow as. She won’t give you a second to breathe and get a word in. Finally, ten minutes later, you explain to her that you’re not Zillow and you don’t work for Zillow, but you just advertise on there. She doesn’t buy it … uh oh!
How do you deal with Lan? She went on Zillow for a reason, ask her why she was on Zillow in and if she’s looking to sell her home or buy another home. Chances are she’s thinking about it, but probably 4-6 months away. Tell her you’ll send her a home estimate monthly. Fingers crossed, she’ll remember you in a few months when she’s ready to sell and you’re her favorite agent! Oh and while you're at it you could direct her to the Zillow Owner Dashboard page she can use to update her home details if she wants to.
Converting real estate leads can be challenging, especially given the stress you have to deal with trying to convert them to earn your commission! Once in a while it helps to step back from the day to day activities of chasing them down, think about the patterns you are seeing, and thinking or talking through some creative solutions to ensure you are focusing on the most qualified leads.
