While having a powerful online presence is critical to growing your real estate business in the digital age, there is still value in leveraging more traditional methods, like hosting open houses, to generate solid real estate leads. A strong open house sign-in sheet is the key to bolstering your list of future clientele during open house events. Open house sign-in sheets can help you sell more homes and help buyers learn about homes before they make offers. Read on to learn how to create an effective open house sign-in sheet and the steps you should take to get the most out of it.
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What you should include on your open house sign-in sheet
Beyond a visitor’s basic contact information, a solid open house sign-in sheet should ask the following
- If they own or rent their home
- How long they’ve lived in their current residence
- If they’re working with another real estate agent
- How they found out about you and your open house
- If anyone else in their household may be interested in real estate
The answers you get from these questions will help you understand how to prioritize contacting your leads following the event. For example, if a client is already working with another real estate agent, checking in a few weeks post-event to ask if they successfully purchased a home with that agent may be more appropriate than following up immediately after the open house. It would be best if you prioritized immediate follow-up with visitors actively searching for homes but not already working with a real estate agent.
This information will also provide insight into which marketing strategies are most effective for you. It also helps you understand where you should invest more of your marketing budget. You can use this information to optimize for upcoming open house events. Also, if any guest came from a referral from a past client, make sure to send them a personal thank you note.
Keep it simple
Don’t make your sign-in sheet too long or complicated. If you ask too many questions or collect irrelevant information, the buyers visiting your open house will quickly lose interest in reading through it all.
You can also opt to use a digital sign-in sheet, like a Google form, to collect visitor information versus traditional pen and paper. A digital open house sign-in sheet saves you time uploading contact information into your database for lead nurturing and ensures all contact information you receive is legible.
Where to place your open house sign-in sheet
Your sign-in sheet should be visible and accessible to potential buyers entering the open house. If you have a dedicated space for this purpose (e.g., on top of a table), make sure it’s easy for people to find.
Generally, we recommend you verbally encourage visitors to fill out the form as you greet them from the home entrance. However, if you’re busy giving a tour or answering questions from potential buyers, consider adding some signage directing them toward the sign-in sheet. Place the sign-in sheet close to the home’s entrance and on a table or counter. Try to place it within line of sight to ensure the visitors don’t walk past without looking at it.
How to get buyers to fill out your open house sign-in sheet
Requesting contact information at an open house can be daunting, especially when consumers are inundated with thousands of marketing emails, calls, and ads daily. While most serious home buyers are willing to complete the sign-in sheet to hear updates about the property, others may be hesitant to share their contact details. In this case, you may consider offering some freebies in exchange for filling out the open house sign-in sheet. For example, you could provide a free consultation, some home essentials, or gift cards from local businesses as additional incentives.
How to follow up with the leads on your open house sign-in sheet
Your open house sign-in sheet is more than just a form. It is a gateway to building relationships with prospective clients. Hence, a strong follow-up strategy is essential to convert the leads you receive during the open house into future clients.
Email automation is a very effective strategy for nurturing your real estate leads. Several email marketing solutions can help you stay top of mind to prospective clients. They provide pre-written emails you can send to buyers and sellers. They also offer sequencing templates to follow up with your leads based on their engagement automatically. Some of our favorite email CRMs at Luxury Presence are SendGrid, FollowUp Boss, and Contactually. They integrate directly with our website platform, making lead nurturing a seamless experience for our real estate agent clients.
Collecting emails on your open house sign-in sheet is also beneficial for long-term lead nurturing. You’ll be able to share a newsletter to keep your prospects updated with new listings and the market in general. If you want ideas on what information to include in your newsletters, here’s everything you need to know about crafting a real estate newsletter.
Don’t just rely on email to follow up with your leads. Phone and video calls are crucial to building a personal relationship with your contacts and keeping your inbox flowing. Face-to-face meetings and video calls can help you connect better with your clients. You can use these highly effective cold-calling scripts as a tool to carry out follow-up conversations with the attendees. Communicate your trustworthiness, helpfulness, and knowledge to potential clients using phone calls, video calls, or in-person meetings to ease their concerns and provide them with relevant solutions.
The bottom line
It’s no secret that sign-in sheets are the unsung heroes of open houses. When done right, they open the door for you to foster promising relationships with potential clients. To get the most out of your open house sign-in sheet, remember to keep them simple and place them in an optimal location. But, most importantly, ensure you have a strong follow-up strategy to nurture the contacts you collect on your open house sign-in sheet.
