Lead Management Mishaps
How to avoid them and lift your bottom
line
By Roger Cruzen
Even top professional athletes drop the ball from time to time.
That’s not such a big deal when errors are occasional,but it can make all the
difference in the world when team members commit them on a regular basis.
So it is in real estate, where a fumbled lead or a slow reaction to a client
request in today’s market can severely impact a brokerage’s profitability.
While figures are hard to come by, the data that are available suggest the
critical importance of lead follow-up: Fully 90 percent of home buyers who
began their search online stated that an agent’s response time was extremely or
very important in the agent selection process, according to C.A.R.’s 2007
Internet Vs. Traditional Buyer study.
That’s why real estate professionals are willing to spend anywhere from a few
hundred dollars to more than $1,000 to recruit a single client. The desire to
maximize that investment and minimize the income lost from mishandled leads
also explains why brokers have invested lots of time and money on systems and
processes that focus on rapid lead response—particularly after Realtor.com
estimated in 2004 that 71 percent of the leads it sent to agents went
unanswered.
“Lost leads often show up at the next office down the block,” laments broker
John Wilson of Weichert, REALTORS®—Valley Associates in Turlock. “It’sa vicious
cycle. The leads just work their way down the block until someone at another
office pays attention.”
What are the most common lead management mishaps and what steps can brokers
take to prevent them?
Mishap #1: Slow or no response to a lead. The data are clear:
Being the first to respond to a potential lead exponentially increases your
chances of conversion. Even so, that doesn’t always motivate agents to be
first.
> Solution: Use technology to get an edge. Computer-based
lead management and rapid lead response systems come in all shapes, sizes, and
price ranges. The most sophisticated ensure that every consumer who inquires
gets a phone call within minutes. For example, Coldwell Banker’s system
provides the agent with a client’s name, telephone number, and
property-specific information—all within 15 seconds and while the potential
client may still be on the Web site. If the agent is busy, he or she can reject
the lead and another agent is automatically dialed.
“We’ve found that a fast response creates astonishing results,” says Bob
Bronswick, president and chief operating office of Coldwell Banker’s
Sacramento-Tahoe region. “Nine out of 10 consumers end up working with that
agent because that agent has quickly responded to their need.”
New to California, Weichert, REALTORS® offers a slightly different approach.
Internet-generated inquiries or calls to its 1-800-USA-SOLD telephone number
are connected with a live consultant whoscreens the lead before calling an
agent and facilitating an introduction. Leads then are tracked through the
brokerage’s client management portal to ensure follow-up.
However, a speedy response to Internet and telephone traffic is only part of
theequation, according to Realty World®-Northern California, Inc. President and
COO Scott LeForce, also a broker.
“Consumer expectations are being groomed by Orbitz and Amazon.com, and they
don’t have a lot of people standing by to call the customer just because they
are online,” LeForce says. “Some people fancy that real estate is the same
thing as buying a size 9 1/2 pair of penny loafers, but I don’t think that’s
what consumers expect. When I hit my doctor with a question, I know he’s not
going to be sitting right there waiting to answer it.”
Brokers also need to rationalize the return on investment on lead management
technology expenditures and the staff time and attention needed to take
advantage of allthe features and keep them operating. “You have to manage this
stuff,” LeForce notes. “You can’t just buy it and plug it in.”
Mishap #2: Flubbing the fundamentals. There’s no question that
generating more leads than thecompetition is what it takes to win at real
estate. But lead generation systems are only as good as the willingness of
agents to apply them to their daily business processes and to new market
realities.
> Solution: Focus on “the basics.” “I don’t care whether
your lead management system is a stack of 3 x 5 cards or a sophisticated
computerized program, agents still have to meet, greet, establish rapport, seek
and find a need, isolate indifference from objection, validate what the client
is seeking, and close,” says LeForce. “That’s called sales skill, and
technology can’t replace that.”
Follow-up also is more than just a phone call or an occasional e-mail. LeForce
advises brokers: “Tell your agents to get some air under their hind ends and go
spend some time rocking on the porch with buyers and sellers.”
Wilson concurs. “If you’ve got agents sitting around the office waiting for
sign calls, you’re going to go broke. Moneyis made outside the walls of the
office. My agents are sitting on six or seven couches every afternoon. When I
have agents in a house, that’s opportunity time.”
Mishap #3: Allowing agents to become “slackers.” Experienced
brokers cite fear and laziness as the two primary reasons why agents drop the
ball on a lead or fail to respond in the first place.
> Solution: Hold agents accountable and follow up on a
regular basis. Most agents are independent contractors, but that doesn’t mean
brokers can’t hold them accountable for pursuing leads. “If they feel you are
going to hold them accountable, then they are more likely to respond,” says
Wilson. “As a broker, it’s in my best interest to ask, ‘Hey, what’s going on
with this or that lead?’” That means sending out regular motivational e-mails
to agents and taking the time to counsel or problem-solve with them. “Sometimes
people just need to be reminded,” he says.
Mishap #4: Prematurely classifying a lead as “dead.” Some
brokers argue that no lead is ever a dead lead—even if the potential client at
the other end is a habitual “tire-kicker” or has registered with a false name
like “Charity Pancakes” to gain access to the listings on your Web site.
> Solution: Scrub and re-scrub leads. Even though Bronswick
estimates that 35 to 40 percent of leads that enter the Coldwell Banker system
eventually are marked as “dead,” it’s worthwhile to spend the time and energy
to “scrub” leads that may be salvageable. “Sometimes an agent will mark a lead
as bogus, but with additional follow-up we end up with a live person on the
other end,” Bronswick says. The process of scrubbing and rescrubbing leads pays
dividends down the line by identifying live leads and preventing truly
inaccurate addresses and other information from poisoning drip e-mail,
postcard, and other campaigns.
Mishap #5: Dropping all but the “hottest” leads. As the
housing market slowed, some brokers focused their agents’ attention on “most
likely to…” leads that offered the potential for a speedy close. Longer term,
that’s a mistake, experts say.
> Solution: Close the hot deals, but keep the pipeline
stoked. It’s tough to know if a lead is “hot” or “not” unless you have a
conversation.
“Good follow-up is all about asking the right questions so you can figureout a
client’s incubation period,” says Bronswick. For example, it’s important in a
declining market to gauge a “Looky-lou’s” motivation. That’s because the lead
who may seem vague may, on further exploration, reveal they are behind in their
mortgage payments and are in need of immediate counsel.
Although a slower market may suggest that brokerages should employ the old
“hard sell,” Wilson says the opposite is true: “People don’t want to
beconstantly hounded. You absolutely need to ask for their permission to keep
in touch. If they feel you’re pushing them into something, they’ll go cold on
you real quick. The one who is there the fastest and who keeps in contact but
doesn’t irritate these folks with too many e-mails and voicemails is the one
who wins at the end of the day.”
Roger Cruzen is a freelance writer and public relations consultant based in
Minneapolis, Minn.
Print