Your Very Own Pond of Prospects

You may know what you’re supposed to be doing to convert online leads into new business, but are you actually doing it? Get pointers on streamlining your conversion process.

BY MICHAEL RUSSER

In the pre-Internet days, it used to be hard work to get good leads. It would sometimes require months of door knocking, cold-calling, and cultivating stay-in-touch programs. And, if the general market slowed down, like it recently has done in many parts of the country, your flow of leads would tend to slow down, too.

The Internet, however, never slows down and it never gets tired. It continues to deliver qualified leads regardless of current market conditions. This makes it the most prolific and reliable source of new business in the industry — period. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. As long as you know how to speak the language of your online leads, and you know what to do with them until they’re really ready to buy or sell, you’ll never have a shortage of clients.

Third-Party Lead Generation

There are two primary sources of Internet leads: your own Web site and third-party services. Generating leads from your Web site is a topic I have covered extensively in this column, so for now I’m going to focus on third-party lead generation. The following are several different categories of these kinds of services:

• Franchise-Based. Examples include RE/MAX’s LeadStreet, Coldwell Banker’s LeadRouter, and Prudential’s affiliation with Yahoo! These are programs that franchise real estate brokerages offer for the benefit of affiliated agents.
• Fee-Based. This includes HomeGain, Reply!, HouseValues.com, and many more. These companies spend a great deal of money to capture online real estate consumers and then sell them back to you as leads.
• Free Services. This is a relatively new hybrid lead generation model in which the lead generation company makes money on advertising and provides leads free to agents. The most recent of these is Zillow's Home Q&A feature. This allows any agent to answer consumer questions about any property (even if another agent has it listed) and therefore become the area “expert.” This service costs nothing to the consumer or participating agents.

Clearly, with these types of services (and, of course, a targeted Web site), online lead generation is not a problem. Instead, a much bigger problem — some would even call it a headache — is knowing what to do with the leads once you have them.

Can You Speak the Langauge?

Have you ever been trained to work with the Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC)? Many agents haven’t been, which puts them at a big disadvantage when it comes to turning those often-anonymous e-mails from online consumers into real business. Here's what you need to know.

To successfully convert these leads requires an understanding of human behavior within the online context. Here are some of the fundamental principles of that behavior:

• IECs want control, so give it to them. Because of their anonymity, the online consumer is in control and likes it that way. The more you try to take control (as you might do in a typical sales situation), the more you will push them away.
• IECs value their privacy. Take every opportunity to reassure your online prospects that their privacy will be absolutely protected by you and your staff.
• Few are ready to buy or sell. I estimate that 19 out of 20 online leads are from consumers in the information-gathering stage, and are not ready to explicitly declare their needs. These folks are easily converted to transactions, but only if you know how to nurture them to the point at which they are ready to move.

First Response Is Key

How you first respond to an online inquiry, regardless of its source, can make or break your chances of ever converting that lead into new business. Frankly, this is where most agents typically blow it. To provide some guidance, I created two e-mail scripts that I call “critical first response” e-mails. These are designed to be totally consistent with the wants, needs, and behavior of the IEC. There are two versions of this script, one for instances in which no phone number is provided in the inquiry, the other if there is a phone number provided. Below I’ve provided some excerpts, but you can click on the links if you have time to read the full e-mail script.

• Phone Number Isn’t Provided: “I realize that you’re in the information gathering stage, and may not be ready to open up about who you are or what your needs are at this time. When you are ready to explore your real estate needs further, I will be happy to assist you. PS: As a way of saying 'Thanks!' I've given you a complementary subscription to my information-packed monthly newsletter, FIRST HOME News." Read full script>
• Phone Number Is Provided. “Since you provided a phone number in your original message, it appears that you are ready to discuss your home buying needs. If this is not the case, please let me know via a reply e-mail. Otherwise, we can discuss your needs in detail over the phone." Read full script>

These scripts can do wonders, but they’re really just the first step. That’s because most of your online leads are not ready to do something now — they’re 3, 6, maybe even 12 months away from being ready to take action. Here’s how to make sure you don’t lose them between now and then.

Your Private Pond of Prospects

If you’ve ever done any fishing you know that unless the fish you caught is at least a certain minimum size, it must be thrown back into the water. Now think about your chances of ever catching that same fish again once it has grown to legal size. Not very good odds is it?

Yet, that is what the vast majority of agents do when they get an online lead that isn’t ready to move. They simply throw it back — or worse, ignore it. Now imagine that you have your very own private fish pond. And every time you caught a fish that was not quite ready, instead of throwing it back, you put it in your special pond. There, you have someone tending to the fish all the time, feeding and nurturing them until they were ready. This would mean you are practically guaranteed to convert all the “fish” you catch into business, at some time or other.

The most effective way to accomplish this is to hire an assistant or a virtual assistant who is adept at managing online leads. They will continue to “feed” your leads with appropriate drip e-mail until they are ready to be taken over by you. This strategy allows you to focus on listing, selling, and negotiating, yet guarantees a high online-lead conversion rate. In essence, you get to enjoy the best of both worlds, without being stuck in front of a computer.

Invaluable Skills

Online leads are a dime a dozen. Lead management and conversion skills are far more valuable. If you can learn to be a great online-lead farmer, you’ll reap more business than you ever thought possible — no matter what is happening to the general market.

How to Direct Customers to Your Web Site

How to Direct Customers to Your Web Site

by Kim Morlan

1.	List your site with Internet search engines and in legitimate directories.
2.	Link your site to as many complementary sites as you can, but avoid linking only with other real estate agents (as this can cause you to be de-listed by the search engines). Instead, link to contractors, mortgage brokers, home stagers, handymen, and anyone else that you have developed a referral business network with.
3.	Start your own e-mail newsletter or blog. Build the content around the interests of your customers and feature items specifically related to what's happening at your site.
4.	Make sure your Web site address is on all of your company's stationery, forms and business cards. A company vehicle and promotional items such as coffee mugs and pens are also great places to advertise your online venture. Don’t forget to put your site in your voice mail message and email signature too!
5.	Consider purchasing a small banner ad on a popular Web site or placing an advertisement in a blog with high circulation. These venues offer maximum exposure for a small cash outlay.
6.	Invest in your online marketing! Advertise in the search engines through Pay-Per-Click campaigns such as Google Adwords, or save time and use traffic generation programs such as Buyerlink to drive targeted buyers to your site. As your budget permits, hire a respectable SEO company to boost your ranking in the Search Engines to increase your exposure.
	Tips:
	Publishing a quality e-mail newsletter or blog on a regular basis is time-consuming. Be prepared to spend time maintaining your contact database and developing content.
	Be sure to track visitors to your site. Find out where they heard about your site so that you can evaluate which methods of promoting your site work best.
	Warnings:
	Don't send unsolicited e-mail advertisements, better known as spam. Besides being extremely irritating to the recipients, your Internet service provider can cancel your account if people start filing complaints. Make sure that anyone on your email list has contacted you first.
	Newsgroups and comment boards aren't the place to post advertisements. These are forums for open discussion, not for unwanted ads. (That said, they can be a great and subtle way to get exposure for your site, so make sure you are linking back to your website when posting comments on other people’s blogs!)

Win Your Share of Online Consumers

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), more homebuyers find their agent on the Internet than in all traditional marketing channels (newspaper ads, direct mail, refrigerator magnets, phone directories, etc.) combined. In fact, the Internet has forever changed the way people buy and sell homes, making “the way it used to be” unlikely to ever be again.

As a group, online consumers have higher incomes, spend more money on their homes, do much of their own research and take up less of your time before initiating a transaction. Another study suggests that most Internet-savvy prospects also prefer to work with Internet-savvy agents. So if you want to capture your share of today’s home buyers and sellers, here’s how to put the power of online marketing to work for you:

1. Create a business Web site that reflects your practice, area, specialties and current listings—including a number of different pictures of each property. Include some photos of yourself and enough personal information to help prospects get to know you, but don’t overload your business site with too much detail about hobbies, pets, celebrations, etc.

2. Keep your site organized so visitors can easily find what they’re looking for. Information that isn’t organized clearly and logically will cause many prospects to quickly lose patience and move on to another agent’s site.

3. Make it easy to reach you by clearly posting your email address, office phone, mobile phone, pager and/or fax number on your site. Include your office address, directions and hours if walk-ins are welcome. And always add your Web address to business cards, emails, signage, newspaper ads, etc.

4. Keep information up-to-date to avoid misleading prospects and missing opportunities to win their business. If an offer is pending, the asking price or other key information has changed, make sure the new information is reflected on your Web site right away.

5. Let your system do the work so you have more time to spend with actual clients. With 74% of homeowners listing with the first agent they talk to, you need to be the first point of contact and then stay in regular touch with prospects until they’re ready to make a move. The most successful agents use a Web-based contact management system to build long-term prospect relationships and automatically send out new listings by email to increase their chances of winning more clients.


Why it pays to market your business online

• 77% of homebuyers consider detailed property information to be “extremely valuable.”
• Baby boomers and seniors are the fastest growing segments of the Internet population.
• As a result of using an Internet site, 72% of buyers drove by and viewed a home
• Buyers who use the internet work with an agent only two weeks on average to purchase their home, compared with six weeks for traditional homebuyers.
• NAR confirms that 70% of homebuyers now use the Internet to shop for homes.
• A 2003 California Real Estate magazine survey noted that the volume of Internet homebuyers jumped 61% in only one year.
• The wealthiest Americans ($100K or higher annual incomes) are the largest group of online users.
• Nearly three out of four people surveyed reported that convenience and being able to research properties before talking to an agent were the top reasons to search for a new home online.

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips
by Philip Jordan

Sales is a contact sport and prospecting for new business is the name of the game!

You will never meet a salesperson that failed because they had too many prospects to talk to. For the majority of salespeople, finding new customers is without a doubt the most difficult and stressful aspect of the profession.

Prospecting should be viewed more as a mindset rather than merely as an activity. It is something you need to be constantly aware of because you never know where your next prospect will be coming from. It really doesn't matter how competent you are or how well you know your product line, if you don't have a qualified prospect in front of you, you don't have a sale.

1. Prospecting for new business is similar to working out. You know it is good for you and it will produce positive results if you do it routinely. Professional salespeople prospect daily. It is important to block-off specific time on your calendar for prospecting activities such as phone calling and emailing. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect as you would any other important appointment, otherwise, there is a tendency that it will slip through the cracks. This is not the time to check your emails, play solitaire on the computer, make a personal phone call or chat with your associates. Stay focused and take your prospecting seriously. Set the tone by closing your office door and have your incoming calls held unless it is a call from a client or a prospect.


2. Be prepared, get organized and take good notes. It is critical to have a computerized contact system to record remarks and suspense future contacts or appointments.


3. Use a script - don't shoot from the hip. There is only one thing worse than listening to a salesperson read a script over the phone and that is to listen to a salesperson without a script. Obviously, it is important to not only have a script but to practice it until it sounds smooth and natural. Set aside time to role-play with an associate over the phone. By taking turns presenting and critiquing you will gain confidence, polish your script and be more effective. When prospecting, avoid the temptation to sell over the phone. Your objective is to gather information and make the appointment.


4. Strike while the iron is hot! When working with a new prospect, it is important to make contact quickly. Prospects are perishable. No matter how interested a prospect may appear, don't wait for them to call you. You are only one of many competing interests for your prospect's time and money.


5. Keep the high ground and avoid the temptation to badmouth your competition. While it is fair to make head-to-head comparisons, you should avoid personal attacks. Attacking your competition makes you look unprofessional and petty. Emphasize the benefits of your product or service by guiding your prospect through a comparison of quality and price. Play to your strengths and not the weakness of your competition. Let your prospect draw their own conclusions from a well-presented comparison.


6. Rejection is a natural aspect of the sales process so don't take it personally. Learn from rejection, use it as a feedback mechanism and look for ways to improve your presentation. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale. Sales is a numbers game pure and simple. As a professional baseball player, if you can average four hits out of ten times at bat you are heading for the Hall of Fame. Research indicates that in sales you can expect your prospect to say no five times before they buy. With this in mind, realize that with every sales rejection you receive, you are one step closer to making the sale!

Creating a Good Bio

The most important reason a personalized bio should be taken seriously, is because your visitors are showing to have an equitable interest in who they do business with. By reviewing your visitors click habits, you can see that your bio page is often in the top 5 most clicked/viewed pages.

With that in mind, it makes it easier to also understand the logic of getting good search engine placement by simply creating a personalized website. The goal of a search engines is to keep their visitors coming back by placing the best, most informative, and unique websites at the top. The more common your website's information, the less likely people want to learn or buy from it. The less likely people are to learn or buy from your website, the less likely search engines will consider your website as a valuable resource.

Here are a series of questions that will help you create a unique and informative bio. By creating your bio, you can expect better search engine placement, as well as a better customer experience for you clients. By answering the questions below, you will be able to create a powerful bio that helps you build trust and excitement with your visitors. Be specific, sincere, and most importantly...unique!

INFORMATION REGARDING:
Architecture Arts Business Dining Growth History Landmarks
Nature Nightlife Recreation Sports Shopping Tourist Attractions

Architecture:
Describe to me what makes the style of homes and property in your area unique.
Arts & History:
What is your favorite landmark in the area ? What is the history behind it?
What museum or park do you recommend I visit first?
Describe things I may see and/or do there.
What type of, and where can I go, to enjoy the performing arts?
How would you describe the landscape of the land?
What seasons of the year do you enjoy most?
Business:
What type of Industry and Business fuel the local economy?
Dining:
What are some of your favorite places to go if casually dining out?
What are some of your favorite places to go if celebrating a special occasion?
What is a common fast food that I may not find in other areas of the country?
Growth:
How would you describe the growth of your community?
History:
Does your area have a unique history?
Landmarks:
What are your favorite "natural" landmarks in your area?
What are your favorite "manmade" landmarks in your area?
Nature:
What type of wildlife thrives in your area?
What type of foliage thrives in your area?
Nightlife:
Where can I enjoy your area's nightlife?
Recreation:
What are some of the outdoor activities people in your area typically enjoy?
Sports:
What professional and college sports teams can I cheer for?
A) Professional:

B) College:
Shopping:
Where do you recommend I do my department store shopping?
Where do you recommend I do my home shopping?
Are there any unique villages or strip malls for me to spend my Sunday?
Where would you buy a new pair of shoes?
Tourist Attractions:
Parks?
Shopping?
Etc…?
If your area had *blank*, how would you describe it?
A) Flavor:

B) Style:

C) Feeling:

D) Scent:

E) Pace/Speed:

F) Sound:

Below are some questions that will help your visitors learn about "who" you are. Here's what I'm looking for:

INFORMATION REGARDING:
Availability Community Involvement Experience Family
Hobbies Passion for RE Language Travel

1)Availability:
Are there times and/or days you find yourself unavailable?

Is there a certain type of client you're looking for?
(first-time, investor, luxury, HUD, VA, FSBO, expired, etc.) Please be specific

What do you feel you offer that's different from everybody else (avoid "customer service")?

2)Community Involvement:
Are you a member of any local clubs/boards?
(Chamber, Rotary, Women's Council of Realtors, etc.)

Have you ever done anything that's made a big impact on the community?

3)Experience:
When did you first get into real estate?

Do you have any credentials?

What work did you do before real estate?

Did it have an influence on you when choosing to get into real estate?

4)Family:
Are you married? (if yes, please describe your significant other)

Do you have any children? (if yes, please describe your children)

5)Hobbies:
Other than real estate, what else interest you?

Where do you go to enjoy your personal activities?

What was something you are tremendously proud to have done?

6)Passion for RE:
What do you specifically love about real estate?

Describe your best transaction and that customer?

What was the nicest thing a customer every said to you?

7)Language:
Do you speak any other languages?

8)Travel:
Where have you traveled in the past?

If you had to move to another city anywhere in the nation, where would it be?

Why?

If you had to move to another city anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Why?

Profile of an Online Prospect

By Chris Abad, Z57 REALTOR® Resource

Many REALTORS® just don't understand that Internet leads are very different from offline leads that call from a sign or walk into the office. Online buyers have a tendency to collect data and do research until the very last minute when they then realize they need a REALTOR® for the transaction. Because of this, they are reluctant to give up personal contact information, (especially phone numbers, exactly what they're looking for) at first. The whole trick is to continuously keep in contact when them so when they do get serious, they come on back.

1. Internet buyers spend an average of 5.9 weeks considering the purchase of a home before contacting a REALTOR®, compared to 2.1 weeks for traditional buyers.
2. Internet buyers spend an average of 4.8 weeks investigating homes and neighborhoods prior to contacting a REALTOR®.
3. Having done significantly more research than their traditional buyer counterparts, Internet buyers spend less time looking for a home once they began working with a REALTOR®, spending just 1.9 weeks on average, compared to 7.1 weeks for a traditional buyer.
4. The typical Internet buyer also visited fewer homes with their REALTOR® than the typical traditional buyer. Internet buyers visited an average of 6.1 homes with their REALTOR®, whereas a typical traditional buyer visited 15.4 homes with their REALTOR®.
5. Internet buyers tended to be younger than traditional buyers with a mean age of 38.5 years, compared to 43.5 years for traditional buyers.

What does all this mean to a REALTOR®? What this means is that the Internet home buyer is not the same home buyer you thought you knew. They take longer to choose a REALTOR®, but that's because they are beginning their process much earlier in the game. (It doesn't require much effort to decide one day you want to browse around online and start looking for some homes. It's a bit more of a commitment to set aside an afternoon to go driving around looking for open houses). What's most important is that these people WILL BUY. In fact, once they choose you as their REALTOR®, they're actually BETTER buyers. They don't shop your services as much, they usually have more money, and they're better educated (both about buying a home and in general).

Most REALTORS® have difficulty is seeing past the extended initial phase that Internet buyers are so well known for. Instead, they usually are seen literally throwing this business away and writing it off as "bad leads". Your ability to effectively manage and maintain the Internet buyer during their initial phase of home buying is what will set you apart from your competition and ensure your success.

Following Up With An Inquiry
Your initial follow up with an inquiry is a critical stage in the process. Poor follow up stops everything in its tracks. When it comes to following up with inquiries, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

1. Immediacy is crucial. A unique attribute of the Internet is that information is accessible immediately. Because of this, Internet users have developed into a very impatient "now" culture. If you do not respond to an inquiry within 12 hours (at the most) of receiving it, your chance of losing their interest increases dramatically. Best practice is closer to a 0-15 minute response time. Because of this, the auto-responder built right into your landing page can be your most powerful tool. Be sure to customize this auto-responder to your specific needs.

2. Ask leading questions. Many REALTORS® make the mistake of putting a sentence like "If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask." Then they wonder why no one replies to their emails. Be sure to ask questions that provoke an immediate response. Initiate the conversation, rather than waiting for them to decide they're ready to talk to you. Asking questions like these in your auto-responder are sure to turn those inquiries into real conversations: Are you looking for a place with a pool? Are you looking for a 1 or 2 story house? Do you have children? If so, are you looking to move within a particular school district? Where will you be working?

3. Include a value proposition for your website. Getting someone to come back to your website is important. You increase your brand awareness every time you are able to get yourself in front of them. Be sure to include a reason for them to go back to your website other than the reason why they went there in the first place. Just ask yourself, "What else do people buying a home in my area want to do on my website, other than search for homes?"

Inquiry Incubation
Due to the need to hit short-term sales goals, many agents will focus all of their attention on working "hot leads". Focusing too much on this can cause problems in your marketing strategy. The cost of generating a "hot lead" can easily be more than 10 times greater than the cost of generating any other lead. You will experience harsh lows in your sales pipeline, when all the "hot leads" sell. You end up being caught in a vicious cycle of actively searching for the next "hot lead" at a very high cost. With Internet-based marketing, the key to driving down your cost of acquisition and maximizing the benefits reaped from your advertising dollars is to practice effective inquiry incubation methods. This means to not just focusing on the hottest leads, but to also identify the warm, and even cold, inquiries and nurture them over time into hot inquiries.
Keep these things in mind when dealing with your online prospects and make them a part of your Internet marketing strategy.

12 Ways to Capture More Leads Online

12 Ways to capture more leads online

Twelve Ways To Capture More Listings Online
by Dan Gooder Richard


Old Rule: The Internet will dis-intermediate real estate professionals.
New Rule: The Internet makes personal service even more priceless.

It's long been a widely accepted principle that real estate professionals prefer listing properties over working with buyers. After all, the potential profit is greater with listings, because they are more easily managed and require less personal attention. Yet, curiously, many agents market online almost exclusively for buyers.
Fortunately, the online opportunity is already in place to accelerate a shift in the balance between marketing to buyers and marketing to sellers. Agents who have cut their teeth on the Internet by marketing mainly to buyers have only a bit of rethinking and website tweaking to do. Here are a dozen actions you can take to boost your listings online:

1. First, market to home sellers as if they were buyers. Since most sellers approach the internet first as interested buyers, ask on every response form if the buyer prospect has a home to sell. Include features in your website designed to capture seller prospects. Offer free, no-obligation trade-up "coordination" services that appeal to the double commission sell-to-buy prospect.

2. Grab sellers early and don't let go. Once you have the seller's contact information, follow up fast with drip e-mail responders. According to NAR's October 2004 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 73 percent of prospective home sellers list with the first agent they contact. So make it your #1 marketing mission to be that first contact.

3. Ask for the listing. Entitle your response forms with a straightforward phrase such as "For Sellers," "I want to Sell My Home!" or "What can I get for my home?" Don't be shy. Appeal directly to home sellers on your top level navigation.

4. Determine a timetable for your follow-up campaign. Include a simple qualifying question on your website response forms by providing two check-off boxes: "Planning to move in less than six months?" and "Planning to move in more than six months?" Offer different information kits to each self-qualified group.

5. Cultivate prospects with drip-marketing follow-up. Use automated e-mail responses, based on the seller's timeline for moving. Send more e-mails more often for prospects that plan to move soon. Include response links in every e-mail.

6. Drive prospective sellers back to your site again and again. Give prospective sellers the keys to the mansion with easy access to your rich content library filled with accurate, up-to-date information, buyer and seller tips, calculators, and forms to request related services.

7. Make it easy for sellers to request a competitive market analysis, which you can deliver by e-mail, postal mail, or in person. Refer to your personal visit as a prelisting home inspection or marketability evaluation visit. Offer a quick "over the Internet price opinion" alternative by e-mail where the prospect doesn't have to speak to an agent.

8. Continue to market to sellers by phone and mail as well as online. Feature continuous direct response offers designed to demonstrate your knowledge and skills and convert e-leads to live appointments. Often making "buyer" offers to prospective sellers (latest listing updates, relocation information, schedule a showing, etc.) will alert you when a long-term prospect is ready to list.

9. Promote your promise to provide an all-out marketing campaign for each listed property. Set up a unique website address for each listed home; feature virtual tours plus multiple photos. Highlight their home on e-cards, e-brochures and printed flyers as well as on multiple websites. Establish an e-mail first alert network of company colleagues and area co-brokers who have active buyers for new listings.

10. Invite nosy neighbors in. Include a response form in your website that neighbors can use to find out what a house down the street sold for. Feature this free service in your neighborhood direct-mail farming newsletters and "Just Sold" postcards. Archive sold information on your website to bring homeowners back to your site for "Market Updates."

11. Create a plan to pull in FSBOs. Offering genuine assistance to do-it-yourselfers is the most effective rapport-building technique. Have an automated system that lasts a minimum of five weeks. A minimum of 10 contacts per prospect is recommended, including five e-mails with helpful advice on pricing, marketability, and property promotion. You can also send market updates, your guarantees, your commission rate, and a complete run-down of your listing services. Ask for the FSBO's "extra buyer" referrals in exchange.

12. Convert expireds to listings. Establish a web form on your site specifically for expireds and prominently label the navigation button with an apt title such as "House Didn't Sell?" Offer to provide a report that explains "How to Sell a Home That Didn't Sell" and a free room-by-room "Marketability Analysis" if they want to re-enter the market.