Open houses are one of the most powerful things that real estate agents can do. In essence, an open house is your ‘office’. This is where people come to see who you are and what you sell! Additionally, we believe that hosting open houses is a great prospecting tool! Why? Keep reading.

Our lead Metrix Coach, Ryan Melville, has outlined a ‘how-to guide’ for hosting a successful open house. Here is what he suggests:

Step One: Plan ahead

We believe that one of the best practices in hosting an open house is planning ahead and setting yourself up for success! By planning ahead you are able to leverage various forms of lead generation, like door knocking, texting, calling, etc. If you are hosting an open house on a Saturday or Sunday, then you want to be sure to start your lead generation five or six days prior — in this case you would start on Monday or Tuesday.

Step Two: Consistency is Key

You will host many open houses throughout your career, so it is important to have a system in place to maintain consistency and simplicity! Treat all open houses the same; don’t cater to one more than another. Some homes will be larger or have a higher value than others, however this does not mean that you should treat these open houses any different than you would a less expensive or lesser quality home. 

Step Three: ‘Pipeline Mindset’

Setting yourself up for success involves having a consistent and effective system, as well as developing the right mindset! Go into each open house with an objective to add ‘nurtures’ to your active sales pipeline. Set a standard for yourself. For each open house you host, how many people are you committing to adding to your active sales pipeline?

Step Four: A Compelling CTA

When developing your system, be sure to include how you plan to collect contact information of those who attend each open house. Don’t use the “for security reasons and to protect our seller, we need to collect your information. Can you sign-in on this sheet?” approach. Take the pressure off of your seller and think about why someone would want to hear from you. What is in it for them? In conversations with visitors, ask questions to discover what they are interested in. Think of off-market properties or investment properties that you could share with them. You want these people to WANT information from you! 

Step Five: Update Your CRM

This is a crucial step in the ‘how-to guide’ — even though it takes place after the actual open house! After each open house, be sure to add ALL new contacts to your CRM, put them in the appropriate pipeline, and follow-up with them accordingly.