Expired Lead Campaign

INTRODUCTION

This Expired Leads Campaign blueprint is a targeted strategy to reach homeowners whose property listings have expired without selling. This approach involves purchasing targeted expired leads, initiating cold-call and email cadences, and utilizing direct mail campaigns to re-engage these homeowners. By offering solutions to overcome past selling challenges, agents can establish rapport and position themselves as the go-to choice for a successful re-listing.

TOOLS NEEDED

• DealTrail App for managing contacts, tracking engagements, and automating workflows.

• DealTrail Single-line Dialer/WAVV Triple-line Dialer to start calling up leads

• DealTrail Lead Store to purchase expired listing leads

• DealTrail Direct Mail to send out postcards/letters

WORKFLOW

Lead Generation and Upload

The focus in this step is on gathering high-quality, recently expired listings and preparing them for targeted outreach.

Start by prioritizing fresh expired leads—listings that have just expired within the last few days or weeks—because these homeowners are most likely to still be considering their options. They may have experienced frustration with their previous listing experience, making them more receptive to a proactive and value-driven approach.

To ensure you’re not contacting homes that have already found new representation, scrub your list for re-listed properties on the MLS. This practice will prevent any potential friction from reaching out to already-represented clients.

Each lead record should include additional details beyond property data to strengthen your outreach, like:

• Days on Market (DOM) offers insights into the listing's potential challenges—such as pricing issues or low exposure—that you can address directly in your messaging.
• Last listing agent and their brokerage enables you to tailor your approach by highlighting your unique strategy, while also helping you avoid conflicts with agents from your own brokerage.

Getting Leads from the DealTrail Lead Store

If you don't have a preferred lead generation platform, you may purchase leads from the DealTrail Lead Store.

Click here to learn how to use the Lead Store.

Uploading Leads to the DealTrail App

Uploading leads to the DealTrail App via CSV creates a Bulk Action, but for better lead management it is advised to add tags specific to your lead types. In this context, you may use the DealTrail App's pre-built tag for expired leads. The tags can also be used to trigger automations you would be setting up in the future.

For more details on uploading leads via CSV, click here.

Initial Contact - Cold Call

During the Initial Contact with an expired lead, ask key questions to understand their experience and gauge their openness to a new agent. Start with, “Why do you think your property didn’t sell?” to uncover frustrations or challenges. Then, ask “Are you considering re-listing with the same agent, or exploring other options?” to assess their readiness for a new approach.

Other helpful questions include:

• “What feedback did you receive from buyers?” — Understand unresolved issues.
• “What’s most important to you in the selling process?” — Identify their priorities.
• “If you had continued, what would you change?” — This helps you align your approach with their expectations.

These questions build trust and show that your focus is on addressing their unique needs. However, If there is no response after three call attempts, you may transition the lead to a direct mail campaign.

Access sample expired lead call scripts here.

Direct Mail Campaign

In the initial letter and postcards, avoid heavy-handed sales language, which could deter homeowners. Instead, highlight your unique marketing strategies, success with similar properties, and readiness to help them achieve their selling goals. Make the messaging feel personalized and empathetic, addressing their potential frustration with a previous listing experience, while subtly positioning yourself as a solution. 

Initial Letter

In your initial letter, start with a brief introduction,  and acknowledge the homeowner's situation with empathy, mentioning that you understand the frustration of an expired listing. Then, share your background and experience with selling similar properties. This sets a supportive tone and shows that you are sensitive to their experience.

Provide a quick overview of your unique approach to re-listing homes, highlighting any specific strategies you use to help homeowners achieve successful sales. Close with a clear but low-pressure call to action, inviting them to reach out for a consultation to discuss their goals and explore how you can help them achieve a better outcome this time.

Postcards

For the follow-up postcards, keep each message brief and impactful, focusing on key highlights of your services. Use these mailers to showcase success stories of similar homes you've sold and to share relevant market updates that build confidence in your expertise. Reinforce your credibility by including client testimonials, sales statistics, or awards to build trust with the homeowner. Keep the call to action consistent and inviting, using friendly language like, “Find out how we can help,” or “Let’s discuss a fresh approach,” to encourage them to reach out without feeling pressured.

Sample Drip Sequence

Initial Letter

• • Content: Introduction, understanding their expired listing frustration, brief overview of your unique marketing strategies, offer of a no-obligation consultation, and CTA.
  • Example: "Dear [Homeowner’s Name], I understand your home didn’t sell, which can be frustrating. I specialize in helping homeowners like you by using fresh, effective marketing strategies. Let’s discuss how we can position your home to sell this time around. Feel free to call or email anytime."

Postcard Sequence

• Postcard 1 (1 Week After Initial Letter): Success Story

  • Highlight a nearby property you sold quickly. Include brief details and a simple CTA: “Let’s talk about a strategy that works.”

• Postcard 2 (2 Weeks After Initial Letter): Market Update

  • Provide an update on the local real estate market and emphasize buyer demand. CTA: “Discover what your home could be worth today.”

• Postcard 3 (3 Weeks After Initial Letter): Marketing Strategy Overview

  • Highlight one unique aspect of your approach, like targeted online ads or professional staging. CTA: “Ready for a new strategy?”

• Postcard 4 (1 Month After Initial Letter): Testimonial

  • Share a short testimonial from a previous client, ideally from an expired listing. CTA: “See how we helped homeowners just like you.”

• Postcard 5 (6 Weeks After Initial Letter): Home Valuation Offer

  • Offer a free home valuation as an incentive. CTA: “Find out how much your home could sell for today.”

• Postcard 6 (2 Months After Initial Letter): Seasonal Message

  • Use a timely, seasonal message, like preparing for spring or fall selling seasons, with tips for maximizing value. CTA: “Get ahead for [season]!”

• Postcard 7 (10 Weeks After Initial Letter): Data-Driven Message

  • Share statistics on average days on market for your sold listings compared to the market average. CTA: “See how our approach shortens selling times.”

• Postcard 8 (3 Months After Initial Letter): Final Follow-Up

  • A friendly reminder that you’re available and ready to help when they are. CTA: “We’re here whenever you’re ready to get started.”

This drip campaign keeps the homeowner engaged with varied, valuable information, while maintaining a non-intrusive approach that positions you as an effective solution for selling their home.

AUTOMATIONS

To help streamline some of the steps in the SOP, we’re providing some sample automations you can use.

Cold Call Distribution for Multiple Agents

Trigger: Expired Lead tags added to a Contact (if you prefer not to use tags as trigger, you may also add contacts manually on the workflow prior to confirming upload.

Actions:

1. Assign to User - this action assigns an agent to the contact so they can start working on them.

• Select the agents who you want to receive leads

• Make sure that the Split Traffic is set as Equally for a Round Robin setup, unless you want to assign different traffic weightage to agents.

• In the case of Uneven Split Traffic, keep in mind that the order of the agents to receive leads first are the same order as how you selected them in the Users field.
• Traffic weightage determines how many contacts the agent receives before the automation assigns the next contact to the next agent on the list. In the example below, the 1st time the trigger fires, the contact would be assigned to Tom. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times the trigger fires, the leads would be assigned to Jhaila. The 5th - 9th times the trigger fires, the leads would be assigned to Ian, and then the 10th time the trigger fires, it would loop back around and the 10th contact would go to Tom again. 

2. Add Manual Action - this action creates a task on the DealTrail App's single-line dialer for the agent to call the contact. 

 

Call Attempt Automation

Trigger: If initial call does not get answered/goes to voicemail

Actions:

• Day 2 Call Attempt - Next day
• Day 3 Call Attempt - Next day
• Day 4 Call Attempt - 3 Days after
• Day 5 Call Attempt - 3 Days after
• Day 6 Call Attempt - 1 Week after
• Day 7 Call Attempt - 2 Weeks after
• Day 8 Call Attempt - 1 Month after

If call was not answered after these attempts, automation tags the contact as "lead unresponsive".

 

Postcard Drip Automation

Trigger: If initial call does not get answered/goes to voicemail

Actions:

• Day 1 Postcard
• Day 2 Postcard 
• Day 3 Postcard  
• Day 4 Postcard 
• Week 1 Postcard 
• Week 2 Postcard
• Week 3 Postcard
• Week 4 Postcard
• Week 5 Postcard

After all postcards have been sent, lead is automatically assigned a "postcard campaign done" tag