RECR's Blog: November 2007

RECR would like to welcome Amanda King, Century 21's International Realtor of the Year, to the ActiveRain network!  I have personally worked with Amanda for about 4 or 5 years.  She has been taking exclusive referrals from my company for that entire time.  To date, she recieves about 30% - 40% of her annual business from our referrals...which for her amounts to about $5.5 million in sales annually. (not a bad ROI when you consider her total annual investment ranges from $5K - $8K.  But, dont take my word for it, check out her testimonial and many others here.)

Again, Congratulations Amanda!!  And welcome to the AR family!

When I read credible blog posts, from real agents doing real business online - like this one from RealBlogging, I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for real estate marketing programs.

If you don't have time to read the entire post, it talks about RealtyGenerator, a real estate marketing service, being bought up by HouseValues, a lead generation program. Many agents have a huge distaste for "lead generators" to begin with - for the fact that much of the industry has been chewed up and spat out because of bad leads, junk leads and zero return on investment.

HouseValues just recently settled a lawsuit surrounding their prospecting process, and are working to clarify their lead generation process to work WITH agents, not against them. My advice: don't hold your breath.

I have never used RealtyGenerator - but many agents seem to be pleased with it, though it does have its shortcomings.  By buying up something that works though, I have to ask myself - is HouseValues going to taint RealtyGenerator, or is RealtyGenerator going to help build up the (perceived) value of HouseValues?

I'd love to hear other agents thoughts on this - where do you think the company will be in a year?

Personally I'd rather stick with referral prospecting that works - a service headed by real people doing real verification for real referrals, instead of investing my money in the corporate behemoth and not knowing what I'm going to get!

Most agents are already familiar with Zillow.com - a real estate lead generation site offering agents the chance to post their MLS listings and home sellers the opportunity to get a "Zestimate" or a computerized appraisal of their home's value.

Here's why this is a MAJOR problem:

If you want some background on why Zillow is stirring up so much controversy, check out Bloodhound Blog and the Rip Off Report . It's no surprise that homeowners are concerned about their "Zestimate" home value and the issue that Zillow won't update or remove listings once it has given an estimate on them - which can, as you'll read in the Ripoff Report file, adversely affect the sale of someone's home.

What You Can Do Instead:

Instead of relying on a computerized estimate of your home's value, you'll want to invest in a professional appraisal. But before you do that, you'll want some estimates to take to the appraiser to back up your home's ideal selling price.  To do this, get a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) - also known as a Home Valuation.

Real Estate agents will gladly give you a CMA free of charge to tell you a solid selling price for your home. They do this by gathering statistics from proprietary agent databases which compare your home to others like it in terms of age, size, amenities, location and more.  Having a CMA gives you a general number you can take to the appraiser before you get your complete, qualified home appraisal.

Click here to get a free home valuation right now courtesy of a local real estate agent in your area. There's no cost and no obligation to sell your home.  Your information remains private and confidential at all times.

...Because it really makes my blood boil when I read things like this and this - about how agents get sucked into these great-sounding lead products and end up flushing their money over and over again and can't get out.

If you read some of those comments in the links, you'll find that even their ex-employees are jumping ship and siding with the consumer/agent.

I say, good for them.

Because if you're paying for something like a lead generation program, you'd better have something to show for it.

A Really Good Lead Generation Program will do 3 Things:

1. They will set up their system so that you can get back your initial investment (and then some). Any good referral company wants you to try their product and LOVE it, because you are how they get their business. If you can't realistically make back your initial investment plus profit through commissions you earn in the first year, drop the program.
   
2. They'll be there for you.  If you read the reports by agents in the links above, you'll see that they were sweet-talked into signing up for a service, then treated like the scum of the earth when they tried to cancel. What ever happened to customer service? If you have an issue, whether it's with a referral, with your billing, with your contact information - whatever, you should be able to reach a knowledgeable, friendly, supportive person on the other line and get your problems resolved. Simple as that.
   
3. They'll give you your money back. It's your money, and if you didn't get any value out of their service, why shouldn't you get it back?  Lead generation programs that take your money, then refuse to give you a refund if you're not satisfied are only looking out for themselves.  Worse yet, they "lock you in" to a long-term contract, knowing very well that you'll soon see them for what they really are and ask for your money back. That's when they can gleefully point to the fine print you signed where you basically agreed to burn your hard-earned cash for nothing.

If you've already signed up for a service that doesn't do these three things...be prepared to live on water and crackers for awhile because that may very well be all you can afford. You'll begin to think that the real estate industry did this to you - that it's not worth the trouble and time to follow up with all those fruitless leads.

But there are genuinely interested prospects out there. If you know how and where to find them. You do this through your own traditional prospecting, but you also work together with a company that knows how to reach out to local buyers and sellers and get them to act.

Real Estate Client Referrals actively calls the individuals who request CMAs, or free lists of MLS homes, and we verify their interest in either buying or selling. We don't use a computer filtration system - so you don't get bogus 555-1212 numbers and have to pay for it.

Get in touch with real clients who genuinely want to work with an agent. We only work with one agent per area - so the sooner you join up, the sooner you'll see results. There's no additional charge for extra areas either, so take all you want (or actually - take all you feel you can reasonably handle!)

So, are all lead generation companies scams? No, of course not. But it pays to look through all the advertising hype and glitzy TV ads and see them for what they really are.

Every agent knows that services like HomeGain and HouseValues are still licking their wounds after being crushed (in the form of a $900,000+ profit loss) in a recent lawsuit.

But many agents still rely on services like these to help them add to their existing business. And rightly so - because when done right, online referral efforts really DO pay off. 

So what should an agent know before they choose a "lead generation" company?

1. Know that no service, not even referral generation, will be 100% perfect all of the time.  Like other forms of business, real estate lead generation follows the 80/20 rule - in that 80% of the clients, no matter how well-scrubbed, verified and ready-to-act, will simply waste your time.  It's an unfortunate fact that not everyone is ready to business right when you contact them.  BUT, 20% of them will be what increases your business and your commissions. Knowing this will save you so much frustration, time and effort in the end.

2. Know that not all homeowners are going to buy or sell immediately.  Every person is at a different step in the buying or selling process. Some are just getting started and doing research on "what's out there". They really don't need or want to work with an agent yet. Some are just curious to find out how much their home is worth and aren't ready to sell -- yet.  For these prospects, just being there to answer their questions will help put you at the forefront of their minds when they are ready to take action

3. Know what you're really getting - and getting into.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Are you paying a fee every month but not receiving leads?
• Are you paying a commission split (sometimes 30% or more!) with each successful closing?
• Are you being charged for multiple areas you service?
• Are you locked into a long-term contract or have to pay a cancellation fee if you terminate early?
• Are you getting "junk" leads with names like John Doe and numbers like 555-1212?
• Are you finding that you're spending more than you're getting out of lead generation services?
• Is there a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied with what you're getting?

If so - DON'T SIGN UP . These services drain your time, money and effort and give you little - if anything - to show for it.

Fortunately, you don't have to give up on lead generation - you just have to refocus how you look at it.  Instead, consider referral prospecting, which is a service wherein referrals try out free real estate services (like a CMA or get home listings via their local MLS each week). When this happens, they are directed to ONE and only one - select agent who owns that territory.

That means the prospect isn't getting bombarded with calls from real estate agents, and you're not forced to compete with a dozen different other agents to get the prospect's business.

A referral prospecting service like Real Estate Client Referrals helps put you in touch with qualified, personally verified prospects - with no "referral recycling" or sharing of leads - ever. In addition, Real Estate Client Referrals actually GUARANTEES you'll make money, in the form of 1-4 guaranteed closings within a year.  No "lead generation" company can guarantee that.

There are also no monthly or annual fees, no commission splits, and no other hidden fees - you pay only when you get referrals.  Plus, you can grab as many territories as you feel you can reasonably handle - at no extra charge.  The more areas you lock in, the more referrals you could get!

These are referrals with real names, real numbers and a real interest in working with a real estate agent. Go give Real Estate Client Referrals a try today. There's a full 30-day money back guarantee if you're unsatisfied for any reason.