From Clicks to Contracts: Mastering Online Seller Leads

By Greg Harrelson

Greg Harrelson is the founder and leader of the largest Century 21 offices on the East Coast. With offices located throughout South and North Carolina, Greg coaches the top real estate talent in the Carolinas and also founded Real Estate Sales Solutions which has coaching programs like the Agent Success Academy.

Are your online seller leads in Myrtle Beach going nowhere? I talk to agents all the time who say they’re generating leads from home value tools and landing pages, but they’re just not converting. It’s frustrating, right? You can almost see the opportunity, but it slips away before it turns into a listing.

Let me break down three strategies that’ll help you start converting online seller leads into hot listings at the right price, and ideally within 90 days. These are simple actions you can take right now.

1. Ease into the conversation. A lot of agents jump straight into a pitch as soon as the lead picks up, but that can turn people off fast. Just because someone filled out a form or checked their home value doesn’t mean they’re ready for a hard sell. They gave you their contact info, so it means they’re interested, but you’ve still got to ease in.

I usually say something like, “Hey, it’s Greg Harrelson. I saw you were online recently, maybe checking your home value. What did you think of the number—too high, too low, or pretty accurate?” That opens the door for a real conversation. When you focus on connecting first, you start building trust, and that’s what leads to longer, more productive conversations.

2. Understand their timeline. You don’t want to push for an appointment if they’re thinking about selling a year from now, because that only creates pressure and usually ends in a no. If you have the right systems, you might already get a feel for their timeline based on how they’re engaging.

In our offices, we track their click patterns to gauge how soon they might take action. But even without fancy tools, just ask: “If you were going to sell, would that be this year, within the next six months, or sometime next year?” Their answer tells me exactly how to follow up and where to place them in my database. Whether it’s 30 days or 12 months, knowing that timeline helps me stay relevant and ready when they are.

3. Use tech to nurture them the right way. If a lead tells me they’re thinking about selling in six to nine months, that’s actually a win. In six to nine months, that turns into a “today” lead, and I’ll still be here when that time comes. I add them to my database and start a consistent nurture plan, reaching out four to five times a month, which adds up to about 60 touches over the year.

It’s a mix of emails, texts, and calls (not just one channel) because the goal is to stay top of mind. The real power comes from tracking engagement. I can see who’s opening messages, clicking links, and staying active. And if I notice a lead suddenly becoming more engaged, that’s my signal to reach out again, because their timeline might be moving up.

That’s it! These are the exact steps my agents and I use to build real listing pipelines. If converting more seller leads into listings sounds like something you want to do, I’d be happy to talk more. Just visit realestatesalessolutions.com and connect with me.