Converting Internet Leads Properly: Another of the Keys to Online Marketing Success

By Mike Parker Print Article

RISMEDIA, February 2, 2010—Recently a Mississippi agent wrote to a client of ours who is on our website’s list of success stories, asking for advice. “I am with Coldwell Banker in Mississippi and looking into the PROLeadS™ system with Compass,” she wrote. “I saw a success story about you on their website and I would greatly appreciate your opinion about the number of leads and the quality of them as well. $4,000 is a lot of money to me in this economy but would be worth it for quality leads that I could convert.” Our client copied me in on her reply and I print part of it here with her permission: “We had a total of 59 transactions (31 of those were direct Compass Leads – more than half). The total volume for those 31 Internet sales: $5,721,114. The total commissions paid for those 31 Internet sales: $191,351. I attribute that success 100% to my friends at Compass.” With respect, that is not entirely true.

While it’s extremely flattering when a client tells anyone that kind of unequivocal reinforcement, it isn’t just that the client receives adequate quality leads. Rather, the success is due to the client’s unflagging enthusiasm, professionalism, and follow-up on those leads. I spoke with the client, Priscilla Allen at Allen Realty Group (RE/MAX) in San Antonio to obtain a few nuggets of advice that every agent can use to help convert their Internet leads to more sales.

Many agents receive leads; few have a system to convert them to buyers
Last week’s column was about how to avoid failure in Internet lead conversion; if you missed it and would like a copy, you may obtain the short game plan below. From feedback I received, it appears some agents thought I was blaming them for improper follow-up of such leads. Actually, I was trying to point out that most agents have never received good coaching or training on how to properly follow up such leads and that many could use such help. It’s my belief that often the reason agents don’t follow up properly is that they never learned a game plan or a reliable consistent way of doing that. Last week’s article talked about ‘Having a game plan’ and listed particular things that are necessary in converting Internet leads to sales. Once an agent has that part of Internet marketing in place, there is more needed than simply a game plan, however. And this article is less about lists of things to do than about the kind of mindset that a consistently successful agent like Allen has and that you can adopt as your own.

“Following up Internet leads is a lot like knocking on someone’s door to see if they’re home”
I’ve known Priscilla for more than three years as a client and now as a friend. She is a wise and funny woman who has the ability to explain things in an amusing and illuminating way. (That’s probably why she does so well at selling and listing property, too, do you think?) 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).

As if to illustrate that more clearly, Priscilla related this experience: “I had received an email lead from a soldier deploying to Afghanistan. I responded and we went back and forth a few times, then I heard nothing further from him. I called him several times and finally re-connected with him. It turned out that he was going to be gone for a year and he had concluded that he didn’t have time to come here and choose a home for his family (his wife is also serving) before shipping out. His wife was understandably reluctant to come here by herself, even though she had received her new orders relocating her to San Antonio. As we talked on the phone, he mentioned that his wife had a friend, also deploying here later. I suggested that the two women come down and I’d take care of them together—not leaving them to fend for themselves. I picked them up at the airport and drove them to their hotel. The next day, I started working with the wife of the original lead when the wife’s friend told me she decided that she might as well start looking for her family at the same time. Each of them bought a home. Neither of them would have had I let the original lead just fade away.”

“My team and I treat every Internet lead like it is a direct referral from an existing client of ours: promptly, persistently and respectfully—maybe that’s why we can point to about $200,000 in income from the Internet leads in the past year from our less-than-$4,000 investment.”

The game plan Priscilla’s team uses

1). Respond quickly (Within 5 to 30 minutes) and personally by telephone. Your first contact should not be an auto responder email.

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, for example. Put some real thought and effort into each correspondence. Whoever this person may be, they might be a real buyer and 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 it 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. 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.

In order to convert any Internet lead to a sale, it has to be a real lead
By following these simple steps, you will start selling more of your real Internet leads. The system doesn’t work with bogus “leads”—only with real ones. Thus, the first thing to learn is whether or not the leads you get from your website or other method qualify as “real;” do they contain the name, email or phone number (or both) of the inquirer and—most importantly- is the inquiry coming from something the inquirer read about on your site? If you’re getting just a small number of those leads monthly and you follow the procedure, you’ll do fine; if you get leads but they aren’t real ones, even Priscilla Allen couldn’t sell them a home. Also, don’t prejudge these leads: it makes no difference what they come to you asking about, what matters is what you can establish in the way of a relationship with them to give them what they really want. Just because someone comes in from a “foreclosure” lead doesn’t mean they won’t buy a regular type of property—they just want a good value, most likely. If they’re talking to you, you are in the ball game. Likewise, some agents think you need to have say, 100 leads a month to sell one or two of them. Not true; you can do that with 8-10 real leads each month. Don’t dismiss your chances of converting your prospect before you know the facts; don’t prejudge anything.

Priscilla Allen and her small team sold 59 homes during 2009, earning about $380,000 in GCI. More than half of that continues to be produced by her successful Internet marketing program. She has learned much, but this is what she considers the bottom line to it all: “Selling homes to Internet buyers is a process. It is not any one thing, but rather, a combination of proven best practices repeatedly and consistently applied that produces success.” If you work the game plan when you follow-up, all you will need are real leads to make the Internet work for you.

Mike Parker (mparker@theblackwatercg.com) has authored more than 200 published articles about online marketing services for Realtors® and other real estate professionals. If you’d like information about how to obtain Real Leads and what to do when you obtain them click here and we’ll be happy to provide more information for you at no cost or obligation.

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Friday, March 12, 2010