Is the Web a BIG waste of time.

The feeling that even though there is huge opportunity on the internet to capture leads, the effort it takes to convert those leads is almost not worth it.  Isn’t it just a BIG waste of time.  My answer is YES, absolutely!  Unless you have a systematic automated way of sorting those leads.  What information did you gather about the lead? What do you do after you have the lead?  What’s your expectation of the leads you gather? Yeah, I know more questions.

Let’s look back at the stats from 2005.

77% of Home buyers use the internet.
24% of Buyers learned of the Home they BOUGHT from the internet first, up from 15% in 2003.

Buyers who used the internet are MORE likely to use an agent (81% compared to 63%).  Agents provide context and support.

48% felt is was easier to buy and sell a home because of the internet.

60% of all Realtors have tried an internet lead generation program.

40% of all Realtors who participated in lead generation programs on the internet stopped because it was ineffective.

67% said they had no closed deals from purchased leads in 12 months.

The internet was sited as the third largest lead producer.

42% of agents get 10% or more of their leads from the internet. 5% to 10% turn into ends.

62% of agents spend less than $500.00 per year on their internet presence.

Internet searches start looking 6 month to 12 months before the buy.

What does this mean to you?  And how can we convert leads to sales? Or at least them to make things more streamline and productive.  Hmmm, more questions.

Well, let’s break down those stats for you.

10 Home buyers, 8 look on the internet, they are planning to buy in 6 months to a year.  So to start don’t expect to convert them today. 6 will use an agent and 4 will use the first agent they talked to.

So the first thing is you need to be fast to respond to this people, you should be capturing email, Name and Phone number.  You need all three.  When the lead comes in to your email box from your website you need to call them right away. No pushing here, just a quick thanks for contacting me through my website I have your information I just want a better idea of what you are looking for.  Next enter them into your Contact Manager.  Top Producer, Act, Marketing Leader, Eurekaware, Etc.  Then set them to receive an email each week with the information they are looking for with a follow up each month by phone.  You should also have an automated email system sending your enewsletter to them. It’s a set and forget system, Market Leader and Top Producer can both do this for you.

Follow those steps and you will convert your leads.  Contact them quick by phone, and then automate the rest, follow up each month by phone if possible.

Just another tip, since listings are the number one thing people are looking for on an agent site,  create a web form that collects name, email, phone and price range they are looking for on your home page and make it really clear and noticeable, you’ll be surprised how many people will fill it out.

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