In a recent webinar, Ryan Young, CEO of Fello and leader of Ohio's #1 real estate team and the #15 U.S. team, shared his proven strategies for generating more listings and preparing for the Spring 2025 market. Ryan's team, consisting of just 15 agents, is on track to close 475 transactions this year without spending money on Zillow or Realtor.com leads. Here's how you can implement his listing-focused approach to dominate your market in 2025.
Why Focus on Listings?
Before diving into strategies, it's crucial to understand why listings should be a primary focus. Ryan's team data reveals:
- Average listing commission: 3.22%
- Average buyer commission: 2.23%
- Listings require significantly less time investment than working with buyers
- Listings generate more leads through sign calls, showings, and open houses
Three Key Strategies to Generate More Listings
1. Build Your Database Strategically
The foundation of generating consistent listings is a robust database. Ryan's team has grown their database to 55,000 contacts, with 45,000 having verified addresses. Here's how to build yours:
- Download contacts from your phone and social media
- Use QR codes and personalized URLs on all marketing materials
- Host community events and create engagement opportunities
- Focus on identifying homeowners within your database by enriching data
- Prioritize finding contact information for past buyers who are now homeowners
Download this guide to see more ways Ryan and his team build their database without buying leads:
2. Implement Strategic Database Marketing
Once you've built your database, consistent engagement is crucial. Ryan recommends:
- Send home value updates every 15–30 days. Drive your leads to their homeowner dashboard to check the value, don't provide it in the email so you can see who is interested in checking
- Leverage current market news and events in your messaging, e.g. "this company just announced 1,000 new jobs, how will that affect the value of your home?"
- Segment your database for targeted messaging based on:
- Length of homeownership
- Home equity position
- Current mortgage rates
- Property value
- Type of property
- Use multiple communication channels e.g. email, direct mail, SMS, social media
3. Convert Database Contacts into Listings
The key to converting contacts into listings is using data-driven approaches:
- Focus on homeowners who have been in their homes longer vs. owners who have been in their home for less than 10 years
- Target properties with more equity rather than less
- Prioritize follow-up with contacts who engage with your marketing, e.g. check their home value, scan postcards, open emails, etc.
- Track and analyze lost listings to improve conversion rates, e.g. did you follow up enough?
- Implement a consistent follow-up system for engaged contacts with a combination of automated drip emails, SMS, and calls
Action Steps for Spring 2025 Success
- Clean and Update Your Database
- Verify addresses for all contacts via tools like Fello's data enrichment
- Identify homeowners (who has a home address) vs. non-homeowners (who don't)
- Update contact information
- Remove duplicates and outdated entries. Seeing who has hard bounced from email sends is a great way to remove outdated entries
- Create an Organic Growth Plan
- Set weekly goals for database growth
- Implement systems for capturing new contacts, e.g., landing pages, widgets, forms, etc.
- Focus on quality over quantity
- Track your progress regularly
Here's how Ryan gamifies getting reviews for The Young Team, but the same approach can be applied to getting more contacts in your database, getting more listings each quarter, or any other goal.
- Analyze Your Business
- Calculate your average commission rates for listings vs. buyers
- Track time invested in different activities, e.g. showing housing, preparing contracts, etc.
- Identify your most profitable price points, and what price points you do the most volume
- Understand your market's limitations and opportunities
- Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan
- Create segmented contact lists
- Design targeted messaging for different groups
- Plan your communication frequency — don't over email. One email a week should be your maximum
- Monitor engagement rates for various marketing channels, such as:
- Email: Deliverability, open rates, clicks, as well as unsubscribes, marked as spam, and bounces
- Direct mail: Scans or website visits, and then action taken from there
- Landing pages: Traffic, form submissions, conversion rate
- Text messages/SMS: Replies, calls, links clicked, and also unsubscribes
- Implement Accountability Systems
- Track lost listings and analyze why they were lost. You can't get them all, but you can improve processes and get more
- Monitor contact attempts and follow-up activities, e.g. how often are you following up, how are you following up (text, email, call), how promptly are you following up?
- Set specific goals for listing appointments, e.g. how many you want to get, ideal conversion rate, as well as listing volume, etc.
- Regular review of metrics and adjustments as needed — this is the most important! Review what's working, and what's not
The Power of Predictability
Ryan always emphasizes that success in real estate isn't about waiting for market conditions to improve or interest rates to drop. This is what Ryan means when he asks "Do you rent or do you own your business?" Is your business success overly impacted by situations you cannot control, or are you in control of your outcomes? It's about building a predictable business through:
- Consistent database growth
- Regular engagement with contacts
- Data-driven decision making
- Strategic follow-up processes
- Focus on high-ROI activities
By implementing these strategies now, you'll be positioned to capitalize on the Spring 2025 market opportunity, regardless of market conditions. Remember, the key is to own your business rather than letting market conditions control your success.
Start implementing these strategies today to build a more predictable and profitable business focused on listings. As Ryan demonstrates with his team's success, you don't need to buy expensive leads to create a thriving real estate business — you need a strategic approach to building and leveraging your database.
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Ready to crush the Spring 2025 market? Book a demo to see how Fello can help engage and nurture your database, completely on autopilot, 24/7.
If you're already a Fello user, check out our Help Center for how-to articles to maximize your Fello account, watch tips and tricks videos in Fello Academy, or reach out to your Customer Success Manager or email success@hifello.com to strategize how to rule your market.