Everyone once in a while I sit back and watch my Agents hard at work. They are always calling their leads, showing property, writing contracts and I see tons of happy satisified customers that come through our door all thankful that they found us on the net and were treated so well.
It's easy to forget that sometimes, even though we spend most if not all, of our ad budget on Internet marketing, that our customers are still customers and need to be held close during the transaction. I see many Agents forget that at the other end of that Internet lead is a customer. A person that really needs help and by becoming a lead is asking for help. It's important to understand that no matter how good you are at capturing leads and converting them to showings, that they are relying on you to guide them and help them. If you are like our company and have 80% of your buyers coming from out of state, then you really need to understand this.
Over the years we have had hundreds of satisfied and happy customers. I'm so glad that I decided to insist on great customer service and Agents that aren't afraid to pick up the phone and talk to their customer. Just remember that, just like the guy who called on a sign call, the Internet lead needs the hand holding and stroking involved to convert a lead into a customer for life. Don't be a one hit wonder, but their Realtor for life!
Mitch, I agree with your assement that the Real Estate industry, it is all about people. We consider all of our marketing efforts as a giant funnel to get people into our CMS systems. My favorite quote is by Jeffrey Gittomer "With all things being equal people will still do business with people they like" So its important for us to find a connection with our Internet Marketing Leads.
James Cox
Seven Design Studios
Internet Marketing & Website Design
Very good point, Mitch.
A few years ago, I found that our eAgents were only closing 2% of their leads because they were only emailing, not calling the consumer or (heaven forbid) inviting them to the office to meet in person. Many agents (mistakenly) believed that, because the consumer came to us "electronically," they preferred electronic communication too. While that may be true at first, we found that many of our leads were ultimately buying our listings through agents from other companies! The lesson: people do not develop loyalty to a web site or an email address.