14 Easy Ways to Increase Lead Responsiveness

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Copyright© 2025 | RealTech Solutions, LLC | All Rights Reserved

If you pay for leads, you know how expensive they can be! Approximately 35% of real estate agents pay at least $250 per month on lead generation, and the cost per lead can run into hundreds of dollars depending on the marketing channel and quality.

To increase your overall sales volume, you can either generate more leads and wish for the best or develop strategies for a better response rate. Read on to learn how some solutions to the most common problems in working with new leads can be implemented in your overall marketing plan.

Note: This article is a follow-up to “14 Reasons Why Your Leads & Contacts Ignore You” and provides solutions to those problems covered in that article. Please refer to the first article for a more detailed description of each problem referenced below.

1. PROBLEM: YOU’RE TOO SLOW
SOLUTION: AUTOMATE YOUR RESPONSES!
While it’s nearly impossible to check your email or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system every few minutes, you can set up automated communications via text and/or email that will respond to inquiries in as little as 1 minute. There are multiple software vendors with marketing and CRM systems that have these functions and more. Some of these systems are Follow Up Boss (FUB), BoldTrail / kvCORE®, LionDesk, and WiseAgent. Aside from a full-blown CRM platform, there are many autoresponder software products to choose from. In either case, you will still need to create all of the campaigns and content with multiple touchpoints for each buyer and seller in various stages of their real estate journey. And if the system already includes preformatted language to cover those bases, make sure you check what each communication says because the message often is not very professional, warm, or doesn’t present you in the best light possible.

Also, don’t forget to set your email for “out of office” mode when you will not be able to personally respond for a period of time.  With this feature, you can personalize an automated response message that lets people know when they can expect a reply.

Finally, make sure to take advantage of a free online Integrated Voice Response (IVR) phone system that allows a user to select from a menu of options, recognizes and greets a known caller, and allows you to provide answers to common questions before allowing them to leave a message. Better yet, it will provide an option to speak to somebody else with a warm transfer to a stand-in while you are busy with other customers. Regardless of the communication avenue covered here, timing is everything and people expect quick responses especially when done so online. If you are not responding quickly enough, the potential customer might very well find another agent who does.


2. PROBLEM: YOU ARE TARGETING THE WRONG AUDIENCE
SOLUTION: GET PERSONAL WITH CUSTOM CAMPAIGNS AND HASHTAGS

Make sure communications sent to each contact is appropriate for them. Nothing will decrease your conversion rate faster than a buyer receiving an email about staging a property when all they want to do is purchase one. Your potential customers want to feel like you care about them and their situation. Make sure you have additional campaigns addressing First-Time Buyers and For-Sale-by-Owner prospects at a minimum to distinguish between different types of buyers and sellers. You can also further sort your contacts into separate campaigns such as “neighbors”, “military” or “school parents”, mark each contact with a hashtag that identifies them, then provide each group the content that is specific and helpful for that hashtag.  Some ideas for additional custom communications may include:

  • Neighbors: Local events, community get-togethers, neighborhood-wide thrift sales, coupons for local businesses
  • Military: VA Loan programs, other VA benefits, SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) programs for renters, military charities, base activities & events
  • School Parents: Monthly school calendars, bus routes and schedules, school supplies needed, after school activities

3. PROBLEM: YOUR LEAD FUNNEL IS TOO BROAD
SOLUTION: TRY TO ONLY ATTRACT POTENTIAL BUYERS AND SELLERS
To get real estate leads, you need to attract real estate customers – not with a landing page just about restaurants in the community for every Tom, Dick, and Harry who wants to know where the best burgers and beers are. Instead, create a landing page that offers to provide a list of properties within walking or short driving distance of said restaurants. With this feature, you have a better chance of attracting people who are interested in properties more than the businesses in that neighborhood.