RECR's Blog

Housevalues?  HomeGain?  RealEstate.com?  ServiceMagic? 

Have you been down this road before??  Names like these usually strike fear into the hearts of those that have used them for one reason or another....whether it be the lack of quality referrals or the huge monthly fees and diabolical commission splits or hidden fees. 

Having said that, I would like to introduce to everyone a better option.  Century21's International Realtor of the year, Amanda King, has been taking referrals from www.recr.com for 4 years...and says that 40% of her annual sales comes from recr.com.  And, for her, that equates to over $5million in sales.  Below is a short comparison between online lead generation companies and my company...

Online "Lead Generation" Services	Real Estate Client Referrals
Locked into a long-term contract. Early cancellation fee applies.	No long-term contract. Cancel anytime.
No exclusivity. Leads "recycled" and shared with other agents.	Exclusivity guaranteed. No "referral recycling".
No guaranteed closings.	1-4 GUARANTEED closings (see below for details)
Takes up to 30% of your commission on every closing.	You keep 100% of your commission
Charge monthly fees whether you get the leads or not.	No monthly fees - you only pay for referrals when they come in
No automatic follow-up with prospects.	Automatic drip campaign with your contact information, photo, and more
1-in-20 closing rate (not verified)	Independently verified 1-in-5 closing rate
No money-back guarantee	30 day no-questions-asked money back guarantee.

If you would like more information, please visit www.realestateclientreferrals.com/news.  If you call the 800# on the website, ask for Clint and he will be able to assist you.

Everyone should be working on thier budgets for 2008.  With that in mind...I thought it was important to re-post an old blog of mine with some info for everyone about referral companies and 'lead generators'.  For those of you that have read this one before...sorry for repeating myself.  For those of you that havent, you need to read this before you choose a referral company.

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 and a recent lawsuit in the state of Washington.

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.