After Bob Stewart announced his latest challenge/contest about how to convert internet leads, I wanted to take a few minutes to share what has worked for us to this point. This may not seem overly organized, since I never seem to take the time to outline anything before it spills out onto the screen, but that's okay, right?
Either way, I hope you find it to be helpful.
I remember when my business partner and I started our real estate website, AustinTexasHomes.com, back in 1998, and I also remember the types of questions we heard from our colleagues:
This may run counter to your notion of what constitutes proper etiquette, but I assure you that it works. I sold a $1 million+ home on a golf course near Lake Travis to a buyer that my assistant called SEVENTEEN times before she reached anyone. By "assistant", I mean "wife". :) Was the buyer upset? Nope. He was grateful that we finally made contact and provided the information that he wanted. He ended up buying a downtown area condo for his daughter from me later, too.
If you think about how busy you are during an average week, you might appreciate this approach more. I'm not recommending that you leave sixteen messages. I'm suggesting that you earnestly try to reach each buyer at different times of the day for the first 48 hours or so after you have the lead in hand.
Will this work for every buyer? No, it won't. Will you increase your conversion rate if you manage to get more buyers on the phone? I would like to say an immediate "yes", but it probably depends on your phone skills, frankly. Which leads to my next point...
Having used many "back end" systems (including a period when we had none at all), I can certainly attest to the importance of having a solid drip email campaign coupled with listings that meet your client's criteria. We use Automated Homefinder for this - it was actually developed by a friend of mine who is right here on ActiveRain: Joel McDonald. I have found the features therein to be robust and helpful for our agents. There's an interesting newer tool which allows us to look up the buyer on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn before calling. Hopefully, I don't have to go into great detail about how helpful this information can be when you make the first phone call or send the first email.
Automated Homefinder or any good CRM system does a good chunk of the work for the agent, but don't kid yourself into believing that automation can supplant the personal touch. Select a tool that works well for your needs, but keep in mind that it's meant to enhance your relationship, not replace it. As a side note, I was not paid for my endorsement of AHF, but if you sign up with Joel, let him know I sent you and he might compensate me. Who knows? :)
Four years ago this month, I answered a phone call from our website from someone who was interested in buying a home on Lake Austin. 22 days later, I closed this buyer on a $3.4 million home. Yes, really. It was one of the top 10 sales for 2006 in Austin. What's the lesson here? Answer the phone! If someone calls or emails you, and it takes days to get a response, do you think they will wait patiently for you and only you to get back in touch? You already know the answer to this question, I hope.
You've probably also heard this axiom at some point, or maybe many, many times: Internet buyers have a longer sales cycle. While this can be true, I think the anecdote I shared just above this section refutes this, and I have plenty of others. That being said, I will share another story with you in the interest of bragging teaching. In 2005, my business partner made contact with a couple who were very interested in relocating to the Austin area from out of state. Their budget wasn't unlimited, but it made my pulse race a bit. He met with them during two or three visits, months apart. After roughly 13 months of staying in touch with this couple, he sold them an luxury acreage property for almost $4.1 million.
This is one area that I probably need to work on a little bit in order to achieve it consistently, but I can give you a couple of quick examples from my experiences that might help:
For other methods of converting internet leads, be sure to check out giftofshift.com/activerain where you can purchase a limited edition hardcover of Gary Keller's book SHIFT, which comes with a free version of the eBook Soci@l: Attract Friends, Followers and Connections to Your Business, written by Ben Kinney and Jay Papasan (in which Ben shares his 'ten days of pain' lead conversion method) as well as free audio versions of Millionaire Real Estate Agent and Millionaire Real Estate Investor all for $19.99.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gesteves/2477396306/