These Leads Are Bad

Are you guilty of uttering this phrase?  I spend a great deal of time teaching real estate professionals about Internet lead generation and I hear this comment all too often.  When I ask for further details, I usually hear something like “I called and left a message but no one called me back” or, “I sent an email but no reply”. 

The perception that internet leads are bad leads stems from the fact that 97% of internet leads are cold leads.  The consumer starts their home search approximately 15 months prior to purchase.  During this time they are in the research phase.  They are doing the legwork for you, looking at properties, taking virtual tours, figuring out what they will get for their money. 

Think about it what it took for that lead to be generated.  Let’s call our elusive lead “Mary”.  Mary logs onto the internet and performs a search like “Chicago Real Estate”, she chooses a website from at least 10 – 15 choices on the first page, clicks the property search button, puts in a location, beds, baths, price range, she gets a selection of properties, she chooses a property that looks promising, clicks on “more details or “show address” or “print flyer”, and at that point she may (or may not) give up her email address and/or phone number.  You respond quickly (hopefully) but Mary doesn’t respond so you give up.  I believe that with some extra effort, you will win Mary’s business.

Agents that have a successful stream of internet leads know that follow-up is what keeps the pipeline full.   These leads need to be managed through a structured drip marketing campaign so that the agent remains in front of consumer as they move towards a purchase.

Be sure you have systems in place to remain in front of these future buyers, build your database of email addresses to the point that the “hot leads” are keeping you busy closing deals.  I have found that once you get to 1,000 email addresses in your drip marketing database, you will be closing 2-3 deals a month.  Make it your goal to build your database and follow-up with each and every “lead” repeatedly and consistently and you will be successful with closing Internet leads.

Good Luck!