by Bernice Ross
Inman News
With the advent of the national “don’t call list,” cold calling may no longer be a viable option for lead generation. Traditional face-to-face prospecting methods, such as calling on expireds, FSBOs, or door-knocking, are still excellent choices, but if it’s cold, rainy, or if you just don’t feel like pounding the pavement in your 3-inch high heels, there’s a much better way to generate leads.
My biggest “take-away” from the Real Estate Convention was how to effectively conduct business in the 21st century. In fact, I’m almost tempted to stop speaking and writing about real estate and get back into selling. What I’m about to suggest costs money. Nevertheless, it’s more efficient than mailing postcards and a whole lot easier than pounding the pavement or sitting there calling people who don’t want to hear from you. If I were going back into business today, here’s what I would do.
1. I begin by identifying two or three specific geographical niches I wanted to service and then set up a detailed Web site with as much information about the area as possible. The Web site would focus on what my customers want rather than being an electronic billboard for me. My Internet branding would reflect what I do, whom I do it with, and where I do it.
2. To generate leads, I would sign up with several referral companies. First on my list would be HomeGain.com. It spends millions of dollars advertising on the Web, and I see its ads everywhere. In fact, one agent recently received a $10 million listing off the service. The HomeGain model is a nominal monthly fee plus a 25 percent referral fee. Since I have to compete with other agents for the leads, I would hire a virtual assistant (VA) to monitor my Web leads frequently throughout the day. I would also make sure I had 8-10 template letters written so my VA could respond immediately with both general information as well as a personalized response. In addition, I would sign up with the other companies who provide referral leads where I don’t have to compete with as many agents. These companies include e-agent.biz, ServiceMagic.com, Number1expert.com, and Realtynow.com. Because several of these companies allow agents to purchase an exclusive territory, I would evaluate the cost for my area, the number of leads the service generates, plus the types of leads generated for my specific market region. Once I had 3-6 months’ experience with these services, I would identify which services are producing the highest quality leads and focus my efforts there.
3. I would also sign up for the Lending Tree Referral program. Lending Tree reaches a different audience from the other referral services. Lending Tree clients are pre-qualified and they expect to pay a 6 percent commission. The client actually gets part of that commission back, but this caps my exposure on taking a reduced commission. Lending Tree has joint marketing agreements with US Airways, United Airlines, Costco, Continental, plus a huge contingent of banks that are part of the Lending Tree Network.
4. In addition to an immediate response from my VA, referral leads would receive an e-coupon, an offer of a money-saving report, e-mail newsletter, or other service based upon my lead’s areas of interest. I would use a program like MyHomeOwnersClub.com to provide helpful services over and beyond real estate brokerage.
5. Since I will need a program for my traditional and Web marketing campaigns plus a database to track my marketing efforts, I would look for a program like the one from SharperAgent.com that handles all of these functions. Since my VA handles this aspect of my business, my role is to go on appointments, negotiate and handle closings.
6. I would also want a Connecting Neighbors Web site for each one of my niches. This serves two functions. First, by sponsoring a neighborhood Web site, I have excellent exposure in a given geographical area at a minimal cost. Second, it’s a great place to refer potential leads to discover what the people in the neighborhood are like.
7. I would place an 800-number call capture system on my Web site, my listings, ads, and other marketing pieces. Since the system would contact my VA immediately with a valid phone number when someone calls, no leads would be lost.
8. In case it’s getting too busy, I can always hire more virtual assistants or a buyer’s agent to handle the buyer’s leads. (Current statistics suggest about 80 percent of the referral leads from services are from buyers.)
Does this sound expensive? In most cases, the costs are actually less than doing one mailing per month to 500 people plus your normal print advertising costs.
No cold calling, no door knocking, a VA who can handle my Web marketing—just going out with clients, negotiating and closing—now that’s something I can get excited about!
— Bernice Ross is an owner of Realestatecoach.com
and can be reached at [email protected].