When leads come in from your website or another source, responding promptly is important. Multiple studies have shown that a faster response has a more successful outcome. But how do you determine which leads are "hot" and which are not? A recent article from HubSpot may provide some insights. Inspired by their article, we're listing a few criteria that may be helpful for grading real estate leads.

1) Does the lead include complete contact information?

A more valuable lead will include multiple types of contact information. For instance, it will include an email address, phone number, first and last name, and perhaps even mailing address. Someone who enters complete information is probably more serious than someone who throws just a first name into your lead capture form.

Just as a side note – many real estate website developers will give you the option of requiring complete contact information if someone submits a form. Leveraging this functionality is probably a good idea.

2) What was the source of the lead?

Some marketing channels generate leads that are more likely to convert. If you carefully track your Web analytics and marketing efforts, you may begin to notice these patterns. Leads that come in from the higher-converting sources are going to be hotter than leads that come in from sources that rarely convert.

For more about tracking marketing results, read The 'Scientific Method' for Marketing Success.

3) Did the lead opt-in for email communication?

If someone is serious about buying or selling a home, they're more likely to opt-in for educational materials such as your email newsletter or property alerts. Email marketing is certainly one way to build a relationship with someone, but it's better to take the communication out of the digital world and into the "real" world. If the prospect included a phone number on the lead capture form, give them a call to thank them for joining your eNewsletter list, introduce yourself and offer to answer their questions or otherwise be of service.

Read more about email marketing.

4) Do they have saved searches?

If someone has saved a search on your real estate website, it probably indicates that they're more serious about buying a property. This saved search can also tell you exactly what they're looking for, giving you more information to respond in an effective method, and thereby making them a more valuable lead. While your website provider will probably provide them with email notifications when a new home matches their search, it's still a good idea to give them a call with a property that might be a great fit and to fine-tune your understanding of what they're looking for.

5) How engaged are they?

How often are they visiting your site? How long are they spending on the site? How many pages are they visiting? The answers to these questions will help you determine a lead's engagement. If they have opted-in for email communication, you can look at engagement indicators like open rates for email, as well. The more engaged the lead, the hotter the lead.

Next Steps

We're not saying that you should only follow-up on "hot" leads promptly. Nor are we saying lead management is easy. If you're feeling challenged by generating and managing leads, there are companies that can help. Check out our product directory to learn more about lead generation and lead management.

You can view the original HubSpot article here.