Online leads are becoming increasingly more common in the real estate world. Many brokerages are incorporating online leads into their business models and they are increasing more with each coming year. Online leads may be difficult to keep track of since you are not physically talking to someone face-to-face, but there are some tips you can follow in order to make sure that you’ll get the most out of your online leads.

1. Respond quickly.

This is perhaps the most important part of competing with the virtual real estate market. If you do not respond in a timely manner, someone else will. It is recommended to respond to an online lead within 90 seconds in order to ensure that someone else does not pick up the lead before you do.

2. Have the end game in mind.

While there is a sense of immediacy in the online lead market, the long-run is much more important. It is easy enough to claim a lead for your brokerage, but closing a deal is a whole other story. After gaining a new lead, keep in mind that your focus should be on the end, as opposed to the present.

3. Don’t forget to keep it personal.

We tend to fall into a robotic trance when communicating online, and leave a personal touch out of any business we conduct virtually. It is important to still be personable and add warmth to any emails you may send, in order to maintain a personal touch online. Especially during holidays, even adding one line wishing your clients a warm holiday season or happy new year could be the key in successful deals and satisfied clients. Real estate is very much a “person” business, and it is important to keep that aspect alive, even when conducting business online.