Got Leads? Now What?

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Got Leads? Now What?

By Maria Patterson

Winning in the online marketing game is no easy task. Between the never-ending barrage of new technology and the increasing demands of today?s savvy real estate consumer, it?s easy to understand why online lead generation can leave many brokers dissatisfied.

If you look under the hood, you?ll find that this dissatisfaction is usually not about the quantity of leads brokers are receiving from the Internet. The rising issue, rather, has become turning those leads into sales. For brokers and agents to truly succeed in online lead generation, utilizing strategies to turn those leads into sales has become essential.

Putting Leads to Work

As Paul Yarmo, a broker at RE/MAX Excellence in Hudson, New Hampshire?serving central and southern-central New Hampshire?says, paying for online leads and not following through on those leads properly is ?like having a Bowflex in your bedroom and never using it.? According to Yarmo, a broker for six years, reaping the benefit of online marketing involves three components: ?You have to have a source on the Internet to get the leads, then you have to have a source to incubate those leads and monitor your return on investment. But those two things by themselves don?t work. The third component is the real estate professional who has to capture the lead at the right time.?

To help generate online leads, Yarmo uses the services of HomeGain, specifically BuyerLink. He believes that the pay-per-click model of BuyerLink garners better results than pay-per-lead services. ?I don?t mind paying for a lead when the lead is a good lead,? he explains. ?If someone in New Jersey calls me up and says they have a friend moving to New Hampshire and will I pay a 30 percent referral fee, I?d say, ?sure? because the likelihood of the sale is high. But, with some Internet models paying 30 percent is really high; I have to work really hard to capture that lead and there?s no loyalty or commitment. I?m overpaying for that lead.?

Yarmo?s sentiments echo a growing concern over Internet lead generation models, that being, the quality of the leads. He sees a much better return-on-investment from pay-per-click models. The key to generating this positive ROI, however, lies in Yarmo?s steadfast efforts to incubate those leads.

For Sorn Richardson, a self-professed ?victim or product of the dot.com bust,? the value of online marketing in real estate is obvious. Just over a year old now, Richardson?s company, Boston Realty Source?serving the Boston metro area?was born out of his experience in the tech arena.

Like Yarmo, Richardson also uses HomeGain?s BuyerLink. ?It caters to our business model in that we?re trying to get consumers early in their research cycle,? he explains. ?We want to be there to be their resource center. With today?s consumers it?s no longer just, ?I want to look at this property??they need someone to ask questions to and hold their hand from research to closing.?

The Nurturing Process

Through HomeGain?s dominance in search-engine results, Yarmo is able to ensure strong visibility among real estate consumers. After BuyerLink gets consumers to Yarmo?s Web site, however, the onus falls upon Yarmo and his 12-agent team to turn those clicks into viable business opportunities. This is where MLSPulse takes over, a critical part of the lead incubation process for Yarmo.

It goes something like this: When a consumer uses a popular search engine, say Google, to search for real estate in a particular geographic region, HomeGain comes up high in the search engine results. When that consumer then enters one of the geographic ?slots? that Yarmo has paid for on the HomeGain Web site, he or she is brought to Yarmo?s MLSPulse site.

Being directed to MLSPulse, a company out of Manchester, New Hampshire, goes a long way toward getting consumers interested in Yarmo. After selecting one of Yarmo?s geographic areas on the HomeGain site, consumers are directed to MLSPulse where they are temporarily granted full access to all of the MLS data from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Once a subscriber logs on to MLSPulse, he or she will get a phone call within one hour from RE/MAX Excellence, usually from Yarmo?s wife, Debbie, who will then distribute the leads to the agents. If the phone call is not answered, a customized e-mail goes out thanking the customer for logging into MLSPulse and advising them of a phone call to follow. That e-mail also directs consumers to Yarmo?s personal Web site.

Given the typical buying cycle of Internet real estate consumers, MLSPulse is a key part of the online lead process for Yarmo. ?HomeGain is a source of leads,? he says, ?MLSPulse is a source of incubation. Internet buyers tend to be looking six months before they?re ready to buy. You need to have a source of incubation. MLSPulse is a great way to do that.?

Another reason Yarmo believes so strongly in MLSPulse is that it is giving consumers what they want most: listing information. ?I think a lot of agents miss that step,? Yarmo explains. ?If you go to HomeGain and search for homes, generally you?re brought to an agent?s Web site. Agents often make the mistake of promoting themselves rather than the property.?

All that said, perhaps the most crucial part of MLSPulse for Yarmo is that it enables him to monitor ROI, an otherwise allusive process. He explains that through MLSPulse, every lead is classified by something called a ?P code.? ?This allows me to identify the source of the lead,? he says. ?In year?s past, I would get a hit and not be sure where the lead came from.?

?MLSPulse allows me to determine my ROI at the end of the month,? Yarmo continues. ?At the end of the month, I can say for example, ?I spent $1,000 on HomeGain, or 200 click-throughs, and I?m going to get three closings.? That way I know that the money I spent was worth it.?

Richardson agrees that HomeGain is very cost effective. ?It?s basically like hiring a subcontractor to help you.?

He also confirms that what you do with online leads once you get them is key. ?You need to have a quick response to the initial inquiry?both phone and e-mail,? he explains. ?You need to call to let them know there?s a real live person on the other end to help them with what they need. You have to find a way to cultivate the relationship. You have to be proactive and stay with the client and make sure all their needs are met.?

The biggest problem most Realtors have in terms of online leads, says Richardson, ?is that they give up on them way too soon because they?re not turning over. They?re thinking that it?s not money today and that?s where most people are making a mistake.?

Choosing the Right Partner

For Yarmo, HomeGain is a perfect partner in his online lead generation efforts. ?HomeGain specializes in being everywhere. They are always in the top ten search engine results.? He also appreciates the company?s efforts to make sure that all agents in a particular geographic slot get equitable exposure during the course of any given month. ?They monitor every town, every month.?

?I think that the Internet is a really important place to buy search engine placement,? says Yarmo. ?Another important source is to just drive leads yourself through your advertising and even your phone messages. When I change my answering machine daily I refer people to my Web site. I?m always reminding people about my Web site through my mailings, as well.?

Ultimately, says Richardson, online marketing is a full-fledged effort, with services like HomeGain complementing a comprehensive approach. ?We look to partner with sites that share our demographic like newspapers and universities. You have to find a natural match throughout different industries. The more partners you have, the more business you?ll get.?


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