More and more, companies are driving prospects to their website in order to capture contact information from the visitor. This is where productive marketing gives way to poor follow up.
In a recent study, Inside sales visited five hundred of Alexa’s highest rated websites and filled out web forms. Eighty two percent of those companies failed to ever call and forty eight percent failed to send a simple email. Of those that did call, the average first call came almost 24 hours after they visited their website.
Think about the buyer mentality for a moment. They just typed in something not unlike “I want to buy a home in your area” into Google, found a site, filled out a form because they are motivated, then pressed return.
So what happens next?
Either the baby cries so they need to go change a diaper, or they go back to Google and search again except this time they will not be searching for you they will be searching for your competition. Usually they will continue to search after filling out a web form until something happens. As a real estate agent you want this to happen, the phone rings, and when it does you get the opportunity to thank them for their interest. And they will say “wow that was quick”. Remember according to the NAR in 2008 66% of all buyers bought from the first agent they spoke with.
Why do you want to contact your leads right away?
In another study I found conducted with the help of MIT and Northwestern Universities to see the effect early attempt has on the contact and qualification percentages of a web lead. The study suggests that the odds of converting a web lead are twenty-one times greater if you attempt to contact that lead within 5 minutes compared to 30 minutes. Without increasing your ability to close, your marketing budget or your product offering, if you could contact 210% more of your leads, what affect would that have on your bottom line?
We can’t rebuild communities with empty homes. This is the most important moral imperative America has had since John F. Kennedy was president. And believe it or not, it must start with real estate agents who already know what the internet is about. Agents who blog and are active on the internet, you are the ones who “Get It”.
Make Service Your First Priority, Not Success and Success Will Follow.
Richard Bonn is the owner Real Estate Lead Source. For more information on Richard please visit http://www.RealEstateLeadSource.com
[tags]Real Estate Leads,[/tags]
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