Daniel Dima Batsalkin is a brave man...
Not that many people would publically admit this level of fail. But, he did. And, I give him credit for it. I also give him credit for his feature post below...and for allowing me to re-blog it.
Ouch! Not Doing Lead Follow-Up Just Cost Me $18,125!
I thought I would share this story in the hopes that it would hurt a little less.
A few months ago through prospecting I got a decent lead. The prospective client owned an investment home that was rented but had negative cash flow monthly. I followed-up with an e-mail and that was that.
The lead sort of got buried on my desk and I found it today, a few months later. Of course I picked up the phone and here's how it went ...
Me: "Hi there ... this is Danny following-up to see how everything is going with the house at _____."
Prospect: "Oh, I never heard back from you ... I actually listed it a few weeks later with someone else and escrow closed last week."
Me: "Good for you! What did it sell for?"
Prospect: "$725,000"
That's right folks ... 2.5% of $725,000 is $18,125. Ouch!
Not doing proper lead follow-up just cost me $18,125!
-- Danny
I have long preached about lead follow-up and it's importance.
To put it simply: The leads you have in your database are in other Agents’ databases as well. Whoever calls them and meets with them first wins the game.
Improper follow-up costs you money. Don't believe me??? Ask Danny......
If you would like more information about RECR and how we can help you get more referrals, contact Clint at 800-977-7058. Or, follow me on Twitter. Or, fan us on Facebook!
Clint,
We can preach this 'till we're blue in the face, but perhaps putting a dollar amount on it with a real-life story will better send the message. It's a compelling post and I hope more agents read it.
We have a client who will ALWAYS call within 15 minutes any prospect who submits a registration or inquiry on their IDX solution. And guess what? They close more than triple the industry average of the leads they capture.
Sure, there are lots of factors of how agents run their business that can make or break a deal, but failure to properly follow up a lead should never be one of them.
Rich Bailey
WolfNet Technologies, LLC
Clint ~ ouch is right! I'll bet he never does that again. And I agree, he was brave for calling himself on it! Thanks for the re-blog.
Rich -- That was the reason I contacted Danny and asked his permission to use his story to my benefit. :-) Thankfully, he agreed. ;-) Love hearing the testimonial about your client!! Awesome proof that we do know what we are talking about...LOL
Dawn -- Yup....bigtime. He told me he has a note on his monitor about this so he remembers to do his lead generation EVERY DAY. ;-)
Clint - I think this happens more often than agents will admit. It's a great reminder to stay on top of our leads daily.
What a powerful blog and so well written. It got right to the point. No telling how much money we lose by not staying in touch.
Clint, so true. The agents that don't follow up have the least success in lead generation, but you know I know that. OUCH is right, a BIG ouch on this one.
Michelle -- I would certainly agree with that statement.
Barbara -- Amen...and, when you think about it, its almost staggering.
Missy -- Yes....I know you know that. ;-) I think you and I write about that more than anyone on AR. ;-)
Hi Clint! Nice chatting with you yesterday. I hope everyone learns from this small mistake and does lead follow-up every single day! Remember ... leads aren't worth anything ... only appointments, contracts and commission checks are! Go get 'em!
-- Danny
Danny -- And you as well..thanks again for letting me use your little story here as evidence that lead follow-up (when done wrong) can cost you bigtime. ;-) Chances are, you will see this one crop up again in another blog or 10. ;-)
Well, I'm constantly guilty of that. OuCH! I do need to do a better job at that.
Loreena -- Ouch is right....makes you wonder how much money you have left on the table, huh.... ;-)
Yep, Ouch is RIGHT! You can't be too sure when you let one of those go either--it's always best to be safe, not sorry later!
Clint - Wow! That really hurts seeing that he missed out on the 18k by just not following up on the lead. I'm going to have to focus on my lead follow up I wouldn't want that to happen to me.
Robert -- I know....hard lesson to learn, fo sho! ;-)
I follow up periodically with reminders to myself. You never know when a cool lead becomes a warm one and then a hot one. Kinda like watching the teapot.