The Biggest Setback Plaguing Real Estate Teams

Real estate leads can be fickle–while there are many ways to generate leads. Which are the most financially viable and advantageous for an agent to follow?
Technology today allows you to generate leads from a variety of credible sources (Trulia and Realtor.com top that list). As an agent, you are just a mere click from being exposed to thousands of leads. Yet, you still aren’t closing at a rate that is consistent with your standards–let alone the standards of the industry. How can this be?
What if just merely generating leads wasn’t enough? What if there was another reason responsible for you and your team’s lackluster lead response strategy?
Let’s take a look…The most important facet in regards to leads in the real estate industry is the quality of the leads.
How are you scrubbing the leads you are getting in? What measures are you taking in following up with the leads?
To illustrate how lead generation is accessible to all yet wrought with its pitfalls, let’s take a look at Terry Dyer, an agent from San Diego, CA. Terry notes that,

“I’ve been paying for Realtor.com leads for over a year. Am hoping to build a team so I’ve been investing a LOT of money…more than $5000 per month. After months of asking my account rep Mary Padilla sent me a spreadsheet of my leads. I deleted the duplicate e-mail addresses and found over 500 duplicates. […] I’ve been billed $25,000 for the same information..the same buyers…..over and over…..Realtor.com says they consider one person can be multiple leads.”

What are the richness of those leads, however? We can obviously see the overspending being conducted by him and his team. On the flip side, we have Keith Dunham from HomeCity Real Estate, who grew his real estate business from $4 million in 2014 to $50 million in 2015. Much of his success, he claims, has to do with the vetting and scrubbing of his leads over just the initial investment of generating the leads,

“If you are going to run your own business, you’ve got to go all in […] When you realize how expensive leads are, if you want to stay in this game you have to follow up and stay in touch with them.”

Keith has a deliberate approach in qualifying and scrubbing his leads. He uses this strategy to help grow his business and this strategy was an integral facet of his astronomical growth.

“It’s about leveraging technology to convert more business […] At the end of the day, it’s about transactions. It’s working with people who are ready to transact with us. We put a system in that allows agents to focus on the low hanging fruit, while we focus on the back end and follow up […] Most brokers expect agents to follow up with a thousand leads. Get the lead, sell the lead, then service lead. We would rather put real opportunities in their hand.”

The dust is beginning to settle on the importance of scrubbing your leads that drive a higher closing rate. A big question remains, however…
What if I don’t have a customer service team that can handle this expedited process? Luckily there is technology at your disposal to help vet the thousands of leads you will generate in a given year.
Many agents have used our lead qualifying technology and have seen their businesses grow as a result. Bobby Martins of Bobby Martins Realty Group puts it simply,

“What I love about it is someone is reaching out right away. And the best part is that is ties into my CRM. Now it’s allowing me to focus on the top 10% of people doing business, and I can give my agents and my team more leads that are actually qualified…to me that’s invaluable…it comes down to ‘work smart'”.

The industry standard for converting leads is floating at a mere 1% success rate. However, there are agents and realty teams out in the field that are converting at three times that rate. These agents have taken their lead strategy from merely generating leads and have put a larger emphasis on vetting, qualifying, and scrubbing those leads.
If you have been experiencing higher costs associated with your lead generation and haven’t considered assistance with lead scrubbing–you should. Your team will thank you for the assistance and your business with thank you for the assistance