RECR's Blog

There are dozens of different lead generation programs online today, and it's hard to know who to trust. 

Here's my advice:  Don't trust any of them.  They're outdated - nothing more than dinosaurs caught in the world wide web.

Technology has already shaped the way we agents do business.  First with the MLS, then real estate web page listings, and lead generation services.   Each of these programs had a critical flaw in it, however:

That factor is "human interaction". 

Lead generators are far too impersonal and amount to nothing more than "screen scraping" names and numbers (often faked).  Why should you pay a chunk of your hard earned commission, or a monthly or annual fee to a company that just provides you with a name and phone number? Worse yet, how "real" do you think that phone number is and how "recent" was that person's request? 

All too often, the human factor is sorely overlooked - even moreso now that realtors have embraced the Internet.  How many times have you called on a lead only to hear, "Who did you say you were? I'm not interested in working with an agent...or even worse -- I'm not even buying/selling a home!".

Social applications and web services are just now starting to make their way across the web - also known as "Web 2.0", a term that involves groups of people branching out to share interests, information and opinions.  ActiveRain is one such community. 

Lead generators are just giant factories crunching and spitting out names and numbers.  Lose the lead generator and move up to the "2.0" version of prospecting:  Referral Agencies. 

A referral agency, such as Real Estate Client Referrals, does things differently.  Everything we do revolves around the "human factor". 

We use professionally designed websites to attract our prospects from across the U.S. and Canada. We offer them the opportunity to get free real estate services that most agents would gladly do at no charge (such as a CMA or getting them a list of homes on the market in their area).

 This gives them a great incentive to want to be contacted by an agent.  But we know that some people will just "take, take, take" and leave us with a fake name and number.  We delete those people from our system before you ever see them.  Obviously, they also don't get the real estate service either - so it pays them to leave accurate information.

Just to make sure, though, we also have a trained staff of verifiers who call each and every prospect and ask questions not just to verify the information they submitted, but also to make sure that they're not already working with an agent and that they understand an agent will contact them to give them the service or list they asked for.

What more could you want in a warm referral?

After all, I think real estate agents are some of the hardest working people on the planet.  Customers really don't understand how much work really goes into what we do.  We don't just get paid for being a warm body in a cold office cubicle.

So why should you pay money for just a name and a phone number?

Plus, we keep the "human factor" in mind with our customer service - the best in the business.  If you're not able to make contact with a prospect we send you even after we've verified them - we'll give you a new referral free.  If you have any questions or concerns at all, we're just a phone call away.

To get more information, just call 1-800-977-7058. We look forward to talking with you!