by Mike Parker
I saw yet another ridiculous “technology” article in a newsletter recently–it dealt with the “importance or green-screening” for your videos. “Green-screening” (or “blue-screening”) is the process of filming or taping special effects digitally. This, to me, is just another example of how — in the need to fill columns and newsletters – many Editors have lost sight of what the agent needs today. I think agents need some help and mentoring, by people qualified to give it, in the fundamentals of selling – which will help them survive this market we are in.
One agent’s tools can be of no value to another agent
It is safe to say that most agents share the same challenges in their jobs. It just seems that some places are more challenging than others. Because of that, you would think that what works for one should probably work for all. In the six+ years I have been writing about online marketing for realtors I have observed that lack of training can make the complete difference between success for the trained agent and failure for the untrained agent.
Nowhere does this seem simpler than in the practice of following up on Internet leads. A client in Green Bay, Wisconsin called in and informed us that he was quitting the business because he just couldn’t make a go of it–despite a steady stream of good leads from the Internet. He asked if he could allow another agent in his office to take over his Internet prospecting website we managed for him. The new agent sold a home his first month from one of those leads, another in his second, and in his third month, that new agent doubled the size of his effort because “these leads are great!”
One good agent failed, another succeeds. Why?
“Following up Internet leads is a lot like knocking on someone’s door to see if they’re home”
I’ve known Priscilla Allen of RE/MAX Allen Group for more than four years as a client and now as a friend. She is a wise and funny woman who just happens to make a great living in real estate. When she uttered the phrase above, I asked her what she meant and here’s what she replied: “You know how if you send someone to check on whether someone is at home, but they don’t really want to do it?” she asked. “You know, they knock on the door, once, give it five seconds, then leave and report that no one is home? Well, that’s the way some agents follow up Internet leads. They’ll send an auto responder and when nothing comes back, that “proves” that the lead was no good. I don’t do it like that. I knock at least three times and wait a moment or two for them to get to the door. If they don’t answer the first time, I’ll come back and do it again two more times. I’ll either get them to the door, or I write them off if they don’t respond after that third time knocking.” Clearly, persistence is just as important to Internet marketing as salesmanship.
Assuming that you are not easily deterred when you don’t get through to someone initially, you then must have a plan and execute it faithfully every single time. (Incidentally, the reason that many “Internet leads” don’t respond to your call is because they don’t know who you are. The only kinds of Internet leads that matter are ones where the prospect has been on your site, seen your smiling face, and is inquiring about something they saw there. Those are what I am referring to when I say “Internet leads.”)
The “Game Plan” that top agents use
1) Respond quickly (Within 5 to 30 minutes) and personally by telephone. Your first contact should not be an auto-responder email. It might interest you to know that NAR reports that 50% of all Internet leads are followed up within 54 hours; the other 50% are never followed up. You need to receive and respond to your leads in the shortest possible time. How long do you wait for a “lead” to be given to you, to pass through the broker’s procedures, or even to be picked up by the clerical function person who is “responsible” for them in your office? They are too important to go anywhere but to you immediately upon receipt.
2) Have follow-up materials ready. Once you find out what the client wants, give it to them! If your prospect is “looking for a $375,000 home on the west side,” give it to them. If you don’t have any, there’s a course of action for that, too. Don’t send them a listing that’s not on the west side! The old way doesn’t work in the Internet world.
3) Customize your email and phone follow up to each lead. Always mention the precise thing they wanted to know more about every time you contact them; a list of foreclosures, for example. Put some real thought and effort into each correspondence. Whoever this person may be, each one of them represents your livelihood. To demonstrate a lack of concern for them or to send them a thoughtless auto-responder might as well scream out: “I’ll get to you when I’m in the mood! You’re nobody special to me!” Treat each prospect with respect and don’t waste their time.
4) Find out what they want. Then, find if for them. Often prospects can’t find properties that meet their unique needs. This can be because they are not “tech savvy” or it can be because they can’t stand (or understand) the typical MLS website search process. The reason is not important. What is important is that you do the heavy lifting in helping them find what they want.
5) Respond in kind: if the lead came by phone follow it up with a phone call plus a follow-up email. If the lead came by email, follow up by phone with a custom email. If the lead came by text message, follow up with an immediate text message, then email, then phone call.
6) Standardize. Many agencies rotate Internet lead follow-up duties, just as they rotate desk duty for walk-ins (HA!). This is a huge mistake. Have one or two persons well trained in proper follow-up and only allow those people to initially respond. Once that initial rapport has been established, than a hand-over of the lead is appropriate–but not at the cost of properly receiving it. Make agents receiving these gently coddled leads report to you on the disposition–follow up on them just as persistently as you follow up with your leads.
If you do this faithfully as well as learn how to send a proper email follow-up and how to understand what a prospect really means when they state what they want, you’ll do very well.
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