How to Convert Real Estate Leads: Scripts, Relationships, and AI

In our latest /RealEstate episode, Chris sat down with North Carolina broker-owner Dustin Owens (Mantle Realty) to unpack his relationship-based system for turning cold website registrations into active leads. 

In this article, we break down the conversation as we cover topics such as real estate AI and Dustin's exact call structure.

Expect to learn all the prompts, zaps, and talk-tracks he actually uses to convert his website's users. You’ll also learn how to open calls so people want to talk to you, what to ask (and in what order), and the best way to use AI without sounding robotic.

And if you'd rather listen to the full conversation, check out the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

What’s the Best Way to Start a Call With a Real Estate Lead?

When a lead lands on your website and you call them, the best way to start a call with them is to ask "is now a bad time to talk?".

This concept comes from Chris Voss' book Never Split the Difference where he explains that people's instant reaction is to say no when someone asks for something. By asking if it's a bad time to talk, you remove pressure from your lead and you foster a safe environment for a more productive conversation, as they'll likely answer that it's not a bad time to talk. 

Dustin follows this up with a simple context hand-off:

“I saw that you signed up on our website and wanted to see what I can do for you. Could you tell me a little bit more about why you clicked on here?”

This open question takes your lead into story mode, which further fosters the feeling of safety as they start to build a connection with you.

While these two questions are a fantastic setup, speed still matters. Dustin's approach works because he calls the leads as soon as they land on his website (or as soon as possible after they land). Data shows this, too.

Companies that respond to online leads within 5 minutes are dramatically more likely to connect and qualify versus slower responders, per a widely cited lead-response study originally covered by Harvard Business Review (via Zapier).

And here's where we find the first opportunity for artificial intelligence to make things easier for you. A 24/7 AI autoresponder will allow you to instantly connect with your leads even as you sleep, and it will let you know exactly when you should take over. 

If you think autoresponders sound too robotic – think again. Nowadays, they may sound more human than you. For example, Geek AI evolves with every interaction it has, ensuring that your follow-up process stays ahead of the curve with up-to-date responses.

Which Questions Help Me Understand the Homebuyer’s Motivations?

Use reporter questions (who/what/why/when/how) and start with their present reality. For example: “So tell me what you like about where you’re at right now—and what do you hate?”

This invites a story, rather than a checklist. 

Then, Dustin suggests you ask who the decision maker in the process is. Oftentimes, the decision maker is not the person doing the research.

How Should I Frame Money Questions Without Killing Rapport?

Rather than asking "Are you pre-approved?”, opt for more open-ended questions like “How are you going to pay for the property? What’s your plan?”.

This invites the lead to give a longer answer, which further builds rapport.  Once they explain their payment plan, like a VA loan, then you can ask smarter follow-up questions, such as inquiring about their buying timeline, property condition, appraisal risk, and more.

You want to ask questions that help reveal the buyer’s financial and situational boundaries in a way that feels respectful, not interrogative.

How Can AI Help Me Convert Real Estate Leads?

Pick your LLM of choice – ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude – and tell it about your client. You can describe who they are (a family with kids under 5, a recently divorced man in his 50s), the neighborhoods they're interested in, their style preferences, and payment plans. Then, ask your AI to draft property shortlists, call plans, and follow-ups targeting this client. 

If you’re using Real Geeks, Geek AI can summarize inquiry intent, draft response options in your voice, and propose next best actions right inside the CRM (no tab-hopping). This keeps you in control while letting AI do the clerical heavy lifting.

If you're not already doing this, you're behind the curve. Adoption is very, very real: NAR reports roughly 28% of REALTORS® are experimenting with AI, and usage is growing across marketing, lead gen, and customer comms — a trend highlighted in a recent McKinsey & Company report.

What Should I Do if Leads’ Contact Info Is Incomplete?

When you get on a call with a lead who you think has missing or wrong information, once you've established rapport, you can ask them: "is this your primary email?".

You can also use people-finder tools like TruePeopleSearch and That’sThem (free) or Forewarn and BeenVerified (paid). Then sanity-check social profiles to further understand your leads' life stage, family cues, and timing. Manually add this information to your CRM's notes so you can come back to it before your next call.

Dustin personally loves incomplete leads because they show intent plus privacy.

How Do I Write Listings So AIs and Search Engines Can Find Them?

Put the most important entity terms first (neighborhoods, lakes, school names) then describe the benefits. Do not repeat what checkboxes already say — instead, use remarks to tell a story about the property.

For example, instead of writing "Great house with lake nearby" write “Located in the Peninsula on Lake Norman…”.  

Make your data machine-readable. For market pages and tables, use HTML instead of screenshots so crawlers can crawl the content—Google explicitly advises avoiding text embedded in images if you want that text indexed and accessible. 

Remember that systems, both search engines and Large Language Models (LLMs) scan from the top down. So if it's important, say it early.
 

How Do I Keep Improving My Real Estate Site’s SEO Month After Month?

Let your numbers guide you. SEO tools like Google Search Console (free) or Ahrefs (paid) will show you which keywords and pages from your website are improving in terms of organic traffic, and which ones still need some work.

Focus on what's working and keep improving your pages based on that. Now you can even track your business' AI mentions with tools like Peec AI or LLMrefs. 

How Does Real Geeks Make This Easier Day-to-Day?

Two places:

• Geek AI inside Real Geeks can draft empathetic replies, bullet key needs from long messages, and suggest next steps (e.g., “Ask who else is involved in the decision”).
• The Real Geeks Dialer (native in the CRM) reduces context switching so you can click-to-call, log outcomes, and keep momentum without juggling your phone. That focus matters for contact rate and follow-through.

What’s the Mindset That Ties It All Together?

Automate what repeats (website responses, follow-up sequences) and over-deliver where your human touch matters most (calls, after-purchase gifts). 

Like Dustin says: “If I have to repeat it even once a month, I’m going to try to automate it.”

Use AI to prep, summarize, and draft; use you to listen, de-escalate, and ask the next right question.

Why this approach works (and scales): Automation isn’t about replacing agents; it’s about eliminating busywork. Analyses from McKinsey show ~60% of occupations have at least 30% of activities that could be automated with current tech—exactly the kind of routine tasks in lead follow-up and data entry.

Your Next Step: Learn, Automate, Repeat

Be sure to download the AI Workflow Recipe Book from our conversation with Dustin Owens. This free download features his lead-winning prompts, automation checklists, and step-by-step marketing workflows that help you work smarter, not harder.

And catch the full conversation of Turn Every Task into an AI-Automated System with Dustin Owens on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.