Lead Management Cash Cow or Mad Cow - Century 21 Leadership Conference

Lead Management:
Cash Cow or Mad Cow?
Jonathan D. Nicholas, The Virtual CEO
jonathan@TheCompanyCEO.com
www.jonathannicholas.com
Toll Free: (888) 800-8991
©2009 The Company CEO, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Technology Disconnect

The Internet Empowered Consumer
Average Internet Buyer is:
29 Years Old
Getting Younger Every Year

On the Flip-Side…
Average Agent:
51 Years Old
Not Getting Younger Every Year
Average Broker is 54

Leads Management
A system for tracking the life-cycle of a prospective customer, from source of contact through transaction completion (or abandonment)

Disconnect Continues
Comments heard in the office….
“These internet leads are worthless!”
“They won’t return my phone call!”
“None of them are ready to buy!”
“They told me to stop stalking them!”
“I’m not taking any more internet leads!”

Lead Conversion

e-Leads
Are all internet leads bad??
Not if you take the time to understand a little more about them.

Internet Consumers
According to a NAR study on Internet Buyers and Sellers:
They tend to have higher Incomes
They tend to be better educated
They have a shorter search time
They view fewer homes
They are more likely to use a REALTOR

Internet Consumers
According to a CAR study on Internet Buyers and Sellers:
92% found their agent on a web site
63% found through a search engine
0% found agent through brochures, flyers, yard signs or mailers.
100% started looking at homes first, for their agent second.

Internet Consumers
Internet buyers took 2/3 less time
Internet buyers interviewed only one agent; others interviewed three
Internet buyers were far more satisfied in every research category of satisfaction than traditional buyers were

Internet Consumers
97% of internet buyers said that they would use the same agent AGAIN!
Wow! They really are lower maintenance!

Internet Consumers
Percentage of those who used the first Real Estate Professional they talked to:
80% of all Buyers
74% of all Sellers

Generational Shift
Gen-X and Echo Boomers (Age 14-43)
86% used internet to find a real estate agent
45% used to find a real estate company
75% used it to find their actual home
66% used it to get financing
62% to get neighborhood information

Expectations?
15 to 20 Minute Response Time
15 Second Site Patience
4 Second Property Patience
“Connected” Agent
All the information
All the images
The good, the bad and the ugly

Brokerage Realities
50% of leads are not responded to
50% of leads are responded to
Took an average of 54 hours to receive a response from an agent or brokerage
80% are abandoned after 6 days

Brokerage Realities
Alarming Reality
$2 Billion was spent to drive online leads
We are only nurturing 10% of the pie
We lost out on the other 90% due to our own bad habits

Brokerage Realities
The Entire Internet Pie
189 Million Daily Unique Visitors
115 Million Average Daily Visits
455 Million Daily Page Views
10 Billion Daily Hits
28.1 Minutes per Visit

Brokerage Realities
The Internet Pie VS. REAL ESTATE
189M Vs. 44M Unique Daily Visitors
115M Vs. 5.4M Average Daily Visits
455M Vs. 2.8M Average Daily Page Views
10 Billion Vs. 171M Daily Hits
28.1 Minutes Vs. 9.1 Minutes

Brokerage Realities
Hitwise
August
2009

Website Standards

Brochures are OUT!

Website Standards
Minimum Standards:
Quick Search and Advanced Search
Interactive Mapping & Community Content
Emphasis on Visual Content including Video, Pix, Tour
Consumer Dashboard
Content Rich
Lead Generation Forms
Syndication
Lead Management Module
Follow an e-lead Management Process

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
What are you doing to generate traffic?
Google Adwords
Media driving to URL
Syndication
Listing Updates
Drip Campaigns
Social Media

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
What are you collecting from the traffic?
Data
Who, when, how long, what, where, how much
Referring URL/Source
ROI
Type of Form
Leads
Quality
Verification (Password)
Registration

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Scrubbing the Leads:
How & where were lead generation forms submitted?
Segment & Qualify
Touch Base
Assess urgency

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Who is worthy?
Office Policy or Company Culture
Certification on Internet Consumers
Internet Virtual Agency
Standards & Accountability
What’s best for the consumer
What’s best for your reputation

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Incubate the leads that are not ready
Drip Campaign
CRM Activity Plan
Communicate as the lead requests
Cultivate relationship
Provide resources and information

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Track
Who has the lead?
Did they respond, and how long did it take?
What is the status – weekly report?
Quartile – Immediate, Incubate, Dead, Test
Where are my best leads coming from?
What is paying off?

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Assign the leads
When they raise their hands
Are qualified
Show urgency
Come List Me
Evaluation
Relo
Lead-assignment criteria

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Sold/Abandon
Only know if you track the status
Did you close them?
Did agent abandon them?
Did we re-assign?
Was CPR administered?
Were they not qualified?
What is the result? Dead – Revived?

e-Lead Process

e-Lead Process
Follow-Up
Debrief
Study the data and look for the story
Discover trends
Improve the process
Increase your ROI
Know the numbers

Lead Management:
Jonathan D. Nicholas, The Virtual CEO
jonathan@TheCompanyCEO.com
www.jonathannicholas.com
Toll Free: (888) 800-8991