I have never made any secret of the fact that I work for an internet lead generation company. And, having been at this company for nearly 5 years, I do believe that, when worked properly, internet leads can and will make you money. But, as with anything in life, there is no "magic pill" that will allow you to automatically be successful. This remains true for anything in life, but is especially true when discussing real estate...more specifically, internet-generated leads.
Really, what it boils down to is this: If you suck at follow up...internet leads are not for you. (By the way, did you know that an internet-generated lead degenerates by 50% every single day that it sits without an initial contact? How fast do you follow up with your internet leads? Three days? That lead is now worth 12.5% of what it was when it first came in! One day? 50%. Bottom line, if your answer includes the word ‘day', it is not fast enough! In fact, if you can not respond within the first 12 hours, you probably failed.)
I've written previously about agents that are admittedly too lazy to work the clients they already have...and about how working your leads can lead to great things.
But nothing has driven this point home more for me than the story of Barbara Ripple. Barbara works for Real Estate Brokers in and around Winston-Salem, NC, and is quite possibly the most tenacious agent I have ever met. Her tenacity and her exemplary follow-up skills have set her up for an agreement that is every agent's dream.
Here is her story in her own words:
When I first received a call from Real Estate Client Referrals, my thoughts were, "Why not take a gamble?" So, I did.
Several referrals were sent my way and, when I would call them, my thoughts were, "This is a joke". One client couldn't afford to buy clothing, much less a house. One had a recent foreclosure. But, as they came across my desk, I would keep calling and asking questions to make sure that they were indeed a valid buyer that could get qualified for a home loan. Those that were obviously bogus I would return for replacement - something that Real Estate Client Referrals was more than willing to do.
I called on one referral for a young lady wanting to buy a home. When I called, her father answered the phone and chewed me out. "My daughter is NOT buying a house! She is going to college to be an attorney! Don't you EVER call back!"
Once the screaming subsided, "Yes sir!" I replied and I politely asked him to have her call me back when she had time to explain as to why she would say she was looking to buy a home on a website when it wasn't the truth. I figured it was worth a shot just in case. He agreed to pass along my number.
About a week went by before Alisha called me back to apologize for her father's attitude and explained the ‘misunderstanding'. It turns out her boss was the one looking for the home. She just put in her information as a contact. I asked if she would mind if I contact him directly. She had no problem with this and gave me his phone number and I proceeded to start contact with him.
It took me roughly a week or more to get hold of Alisha's boss. But, once I was able to establish contact, Alisha's boss explained that he was indeed looking for a list of property for a "relative" of his and wasn't sure he would need an agent...just a list of available property. He runs a local general contracting and construction company and wasn't certain if he would be doing this sooner versus later...the usual ‘blow off'. I agreed I would provide him with one with the agreement that, should he require the services of an agent, he contact me first.
The next day, I was reading the local newspaper and there was an article about Alisha's boss being involved in a rehabilitation project with the city and he had a $3million grant to rehab homes that would be sold to HUD qualified buyers directly by the city.
I immediately contacted him again and said I saw the article, congratulated him on his success, and again offered my services to help him find a house. During this call, I thought it was important for me to let him know that I had a suspicion that he wasn't looking to buy for a relative, but was interested in property for his rehab project. He complimented me for my tenacity and we set up an appointment with him at his office an hour away from mine. I said I'd be interested in working with him to find these homes for his rehab project and he agreed we would be talking about that at the appointment.
The next day, I met with him at his office to discuss this opportunity. At that meeting was the Mayor of the city he was doing this project in - And I walked out of this meeting with an exclusive buyer agency agreement with him and the city for 25 developed properties and 10 vacant lots!!! I will be getting a commission on the purchase of these properties from the city!!! And, when the properties are rehabbed, I will be the exclusive agent for listing and selling these properties!!
I want to thank you all for listening when I would call complaining about one thing or another. I appreciate your professionalism in dealing with me. And, now I want to thank you for another reason!! This situation has literally changed my life! I never would have discovered this amazing opportunity were it not for that "bogus" referral from Real Estate Client Referrals!! Thank you so much!!
To Barbara, I would like to say, "Congratulations!" Thanks to your ability to delve a little deeper into this matter, you are being rewarded! (Referrals are not often what is written down on the piece of paper handed to you or the email delivered to your inbox. Sometimes, the real meat of the issue has to be discovered with just a little perseverance and some good old fashioned hard work.) It is your willingness to go the extra mile with this initial contact that has set yourself up for such a successful endeavor. Nice work! You earned it!
To those that are reading this post, I would like to say: How many of you would have given up after that first phone call? How easy would it have been to hang up the phone angry over the situation, blaming the lead source for delivering such a bogus lead - perhaps even blogging about "how bad lead generation companies really are" - and admit defeat because you received a ‘NO' from a potential lead?? How simple it would be to just delete that email, throw away the contact info, and completely walk away from the situation without further investigation?
And, if you had done just that...how big of a mistake would that have been???
Every referral - every lead - deserves to be worked. Work your leads! Great things happen when you do!
If I can help you with any questions you might have about receiving internet leads from Real Estate Client Referrals, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at 800-977-7058, or follow me on Twitter.
Photos courtesy of www.istockphoto.com
That truly is a testament to working the lead. If I'm being honest, I have to admit that the screaming father would have stopped me, and stopped me cold.
Alan -- Yes, it truly is! And, I can appreciate your honesty. If Im honest, I would be right there with you. But, how big of an opportunity would we have missed?
Someone once told me that there are times when we have to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Your post brought that home. My guess is that we have all lost business- but more than that, an opportunity to help- because of discomfort.
I think the timing that you point out is very crucial too. Respond as soon as you can! If you don't, do you think your potential client won't find someone who is more willing to be of service?
Valuable post. Barbara's story can help each and every one of us.
Wow, great post it is so true, I have been Training Salespeople for over 20 Years and follow-up is one of their biggest down falls. I Guess the other would be documenting their follow-up. I once ran a booth at a Petro Trade show we had 6 Salespeople there, thye were all excited about all of the business cards they collected ad all the potential sales these cards would turn into. At our next meeting (1 week later) None of the sales people had even sent a follow thank you let alone a phone call to any of the cards they had picked up at the show. After reading them the riot act, only one of them had followed up with their contacts by the next weeks meeting. That individual landed a 2 million dollar contract form the follow-up within 3 months. My Praises go to Barbara Ripple, a lead is what you make of it and the prize goes to those who get off their butts and work those leads.
Bill
PS: Sorry for rambling On
Diane -- I love your point about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Thanks for adding that to your comment! :-)
Bill -- Thank you so much! Im certainly glad you liked the post....and Im glad you rambled on a bit. You bring up a valid point. A potential sale is only a potential sale if you ask for it! Following up is your avenue to use to ask for that sale. Thanks!
Yup, Clint... it'd be a big opportunity that we'd missed. Fortunately, for our addled-brains, we would never have realized the huge opportunity we'd missed, and would go along in our lives sniffing petunias, and scattering rose petals.
Alan -- LOL @ sniffing petunias. True.
Clint - Wow, now that's a story! I had a moment yesterday of "missed opportunity." I was working and although I wasn't on phone duty, was asked if I wanted to take a call for a rental. I was pretty busy and try not to do too many rentals as they often take more time than they should and I didn't get in this business to be a glorified apartment locator. So I said no, but joked that Reggie could take it. Reggie used to refer all calls about his rentals (he's one of property managers) to me, so I was joking when I said it. Reggie took the call. The girl on the phone was looking for a rental. She was looking to buy one. They wanted to buy a duplex. D'oh! Oh well. Reggie hasn't left me along about it yet.
Matt -- I know, right? I nearly flipped out when she called me to tell me what had happened with this referral.
OUCH! Sorry to hear about that missed call/opportunity. Bit of a D'OH! right there, huh? :-)
Although I like the fact that things worked out GREAT... sounds a little lucky. :-) However, I do agree with your point that you have to WORK your leads. I'd even say you have to call the prospect in less than 12 hours. Your leads may be a little different, just because you verify them ahead of time. I've worked leads before, right from the company, without being verified... and those you certainly have to call right away. it helps the percentage.
Personally, not sure I would have been lucky enough to read about the boss in the paper and still know its the same person. Its awesome that it worked out that way though.
Very interesting, time really is "of the essence" with those internet leads. I read somewhere else that an internet lead often works with the first agent who responds.
John -- "Luck" is merely a point where opportunity and preparation meet. She saw an opportunity...and was prepared to take it. Is that luck? Or is that intelligence in action?
Yes, the faster you followup with a client, the better your chances of being able to work with that client become. So, Im with you on that.
Kevin -- 80% of all internet leads will work with the very first agent that responds to them, according to the CAR Internet Buyers Report. :-)
Clint,
I have mixed feelings about Internet leads. Many of them are bogus, they take a lot of time to follow up. However, I have sold homes to clients who came from that source. As you illustrated in this post, there are gems here once in a while. In the end, it's all part of the business.
Clint - I've enjoyed reading back through your blogs this morning. You are really good sir! AND I'm off now to start making my 108 lead calls sitting in my to do TP list! Thanks for the motivation.
Lee & Pamela -- Im glad you like what you have read. :-) And, Im happy that I have inspired you to get that done!
Wonderful post! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!
Alice and Jim -- Thank you very much!