Lead generation initiatives aren’t always about delivering leads ready for business that day. In fact a number of the more successful programs are focused on establishing contact with potential customers as they are just starting to think about selling their home.
The advantage of this, is that you have an opportunity to develop a relationship with a potential customer before they are even exposed to your competitors and, if successful, when they are ready to sell, you are the natural choice and you have utilised the time to condition them.
One of the differences in Internet users over those prospects utilising more traditional sources of property advertising, is the fact that they tend to do a great deal more research before contacting an estate agent.
Whether buying or selling, they are going to have a fairly good idea of what or who they want before contacting an estate agent.
Those Internet users who directly contact your agency via telephone or walk in to your office as opposed to general enquiry by email are quite often hot prospects so it is vital that you qualify the source of enquiry at that point.
And remember, as an online user, they will be judging you as a prospective agent to sell their property, based on the way you dealt them as a potential buyer lead and what you have to offer them in the way of online promotion.
From the point of view of obtaining instructions, it is important that you position yourself as an authority in the area and become an integral part of that research early on in the process.
Internet users are looking for good solid impartial information to assist them make sound decisions and help them reduce the stress of selling their home.
The internet offers one fantastic advantage to potential customers initially – anonymity, particularly initially in the research phase.
So what can you do to assist them, build your credibility and position yourself as a service leader in your area? How can you give them a reason to make contact with you early in the process before any of your competitors?
Once contact is made, you can then work hard to gain their trust and build a relationship to the point they feel comfortable offering their direct contact details.
The way you present yourself on property portals, your own web presence and the way you go about handling leads is a vital part of winning instructions or at the least obtaining the opportunity to present yourself over your competitors.
Part 2 of this article looks at a specific example of how you can practically go about this.
[Image: Flickr/John-Morgan]
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