The Harvard Business Review reports that 78 percent of the time, the first person to respond to an inbound prospect wins the business. The conversion rate increases 391 percent if you connect with the prospect within the first minute after she submits the lead. If, on the other hand, you wait longer than five minutes to respond, your likelihood of converting drops by 80 percent.  

The hacks below will help you prioritize “speed to lead” so that you can connect with your prospects quickly and win their business.

Pick up the phone

Always start by dialing the number. If the call goes to voicemail, leave a message, and then send a text after you hang up. 

Hey! I just left you a voicemail. I know that you may not be able to talk right now. Is there a good time to connect with you about your real estate needs?

Texts have a higher response rate than calls, but calls tend to convert better. So use the text message to try to schedule the initial phone call which will lead them down the path of conversion.

Send a text to the lead

If you see a lead come through but you aren’t in a position to call, send a text to let the prospect know that you’re not available right now. 

Hey! I’m not in a place where I can talk right now. May I give you a call after (suggest a time) when I’m free?

These texting scripts will help you connect with your prospects, and if you save them to your phone, they’ll help you respond quickly, which will improve your conversion rates.

Use keyboard shortcuts to create text scripts

Because you’re likely sending the same messages to clients over and over, use keyboard shortcuts to send common text messages to your clients without spending the time to rewrite them each time. I got this shortcut from my former Zillow rep Brad Holcomb and it has improved our ability to respond to our prospects quickly. 

On your iPhone, click on Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Once you get to that screen, you’ll create text shortcuts that will link to longer prewritten messages you’ve saved to your phone’s settings. One example is the preloaded “omw” shortcut that will generate the full phrase “on my way” when you type the shortcut into your text messages.

For example, I created a script on my phone that includes the links to my team’s Zillow sales results as well as the reviews from our past clients so I could send that information out to prospects without having to rebuild the script or pasting in links each time I send it. 

Hey! It’s Tom Toole! Sorry I wasn’t able to reach you on the phone, but I’m sending a link to my website and my team’s Zillow profile so you can get a better feel for the results my team and I deliver.  

I used the shortcut “zzzzz” (for Zillow) because that’s not a phrase I would ever use otherwise.

If this option won’t work for you, consider saving scripts to your contact relationship management system so you can access them easily without retyping them each time. 

Imagine how much time you have spent typing the same message over and over.  Not only is this faster, but it is also more efficient. 

Use evergreen video messages to supplement phone calls

Additionally, if you’re a BombBomb user, or any other video email platform, create an evergreen video email message that you can send to prospects along the way. 

Hey! It’s Tom Toole. I wasn’t able to reach you but I’d love to connect with you to talk about your real estate goals. In the meantime, here’s our Zillow profile and our team’s track record so you can get a better feel for the results my team and I deliver.   

BombBomb allows you to add a link to a video inside your text messages, so you can save this shortcut as “bbbbb” (for BombBomb) in your phone anytime you need to send this message. When you pair this tool with the text message shortcut above, you’ll reach your prospects quickly with effective messages that will help you convert, and the use of video will differentiate you from others who might be reaching out to the prospect as well.  

Use these hacks to streamline your outreach and connect with your inbound leads as quickly as possible. Statistics prove that agents who connect with prospects quickly increase their odds of landing a conversation, which improves their odds of conversion.