Open houses are just one of the many things that real estate professionals do to help market their clients’ homes and increase their exposure. But open houses don’t just benefit the seller – they also provide real estate agents with the opportunity to reach potential new clients.
But your approach can make or break your efforts to lock down leads and convert them into bonafide clients. If you’re too passive, you may miss the chance to snag a potential client. On the other hand, if you come across as too pushy, you could drive away clients that may actually be in need of real estate services.
Consider the following tips to help you make your open houses successful not only for your seller clients, but for you too.
Greet Visitors When They Arrive
This might sound like a no-brainer, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. When guests arrive, be sure to greet them at the door and thank them for their visit. A sure-fire way to catch everyone who walks through the door is to keep it locked. This will not only prevent unannounced arrivals and keep you informed of exactly who is in the house, it will also provide you with the opportunity to properly and formally welcome visitors into the home.
Once visitors enter, offer them the marketing information you’ve prepared, point out a noteworthy feature of the property, and let them know that you are available for any questions that they may have throughout their walk-through. Ask them to jot down their name, phone number, and e-mail address. This is a must both for safety purposes and to give you the chance to collect their contact information.
Properly Present Your Marketing Materials
You want your open house visitors to know as much about the property as possible, which is made easy by gathering all the relevant information into one neat little package in the form of marketing materials. Insert as much information about the home and the surrounding neighborhood as you can, and be sure that you place it in a spot that is easily noticeable.
Some agents like to place their marketing materials on a console right at the entrance of the home, while others choose the dining room or kitchen table. Whatever spot you choose, just make sure that it is an deal spot to grab guests’ attention. At the end of the day, you want to entice visitors to talk to you, establish yourself as an expert resource, and develop a potential client-agent relationship. Do your best to keep your name top of mind with visitors so that they’ll think of you first if they need real estate services.
Chat With Visitors After They’ve Completed Their Walk-Through
Visitors should be given ample time to walk through the home and scope out every square inch of it without feeling rushed or hounded over. However, that that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the opportunity to approach guests during their visit and ask them if they’ve got any questions about the property or get a feel of what they liked or didn’t like about the home.
Not only does this provide you with feedback about what can be done to improve on the home, it will also give you the opportunity to snag them as an actual client. Just be conscious of your approach – you don’t want to come across as being too assertive. Keep your antennas up to gain some insight into whether they appreciate your assistance, or whether they’d rather be left alone.
Carefully Gauge Visitors’ Needs and Intentions
Let’s face it: many of the visitors that attend open houses are nothing more than tire kickers who are either just killing time on the weekend or are simply nosy neighbors who want to have a look at how other people live. However, there are plenty of other visitors are attend open houses because they are legitimately interested in finding a new home for themselves.
Use your people skills to get a feel for the intentions of visitors. Find out what they’r looking for, what type of property they would be interested in, and whether or not they need a professional to help them navigate the world of real estate. Make the most of the in-person time that you have with visitors before taking the next step to collect their contact information and call them back at a later time.
The Bottom Line
Not every open house will churn out all those leads that you inevitably want to land. However, when you conduct yourself appropriately and prepare yourself adequately, you can make your open house successful not just by finding a buyer for the home, but also allowing it to bring in some serious leads for other listings you might have.