Different Vantages Yield Vastly Different Views -- An Online Marketing Issue

A post on RealTalk last night about a change in HomeGain's Agent Evaluator product caught my eye.  As a former Director of Sales for HomeGain, I know a little bit about the company's products and how they work most efficiently.  The RealTalker was essentially calling out how things in the 'lead aggregator world' have changed so drastically that HomeGain is forced to eliminate their 'free' subscription to AE and now charge $29.95 a month for participation with the product.  The implication seemed to be that the push for revenue in a down market extended deep-- and that vantage is probably true, but not for the reasons I suspect the RTer thought.

The AE product relies on agents building a profile that makes them attractive to online consumers and then responding to consumer requests for information so a 'connection' can be made that might develop into a transaction as the consumer transaction cycle moves forward.  If there are too few agents to respond in a specific community, online leads are wasted.  If there are too many agents in an area, the consumer has tremendous choice but individual agents often fail to see sufficient activity to maintain an overall sense of value with the product.  What's especially bad for both agent and consumer [and consequently for HomeGain], though, is if there are many agents to choose from but few who actively participate by responding promptly to the consumer requests.  Too many 'hangers-on' getting in the way of doing the actual 'work' to respond, develop, and incubate an online relationship will almost certainly assure a roadblock and a bad experience for everybody.

Years ago, in an effort to create effective coverage by agents in more towns, a 'free' subscription was implemented.  The good news:  plenty of agents accepted the product.  The value proposition:  no out-of-pocket expenses and a payment of a referral only if a transaction closed!  Terrific-- a risk-free lead system!  The bad news:  agents cherry-picked what they perceived to be 'hot' leads and failed to respond to or incubate leads that required nurturing before developing into 'hot' leads.  They became those very 'hangers-on' that got in the way of real consumers making solid connections with real agents willing to develop and nurture them until a closed transaction!

I suspect HomeGain's move toward eliminating the 'free' subscription is nothing more than an attempt to 'root out the drainpipes' and clear the roadblocked pathways for real transactions to flow more smoothly.  That will mean clearing out some agent debris that might be 'clogging the pipes' with inactivity-- but ultimately it will mean a better consumer experience as more agents respond and engage them, a better agent experience as more consumers find willing and attentive agents, and a better value proposition overall for all sides, including HomeGain, in the online lead game. 

I've said many times that I no longer have a stake in HomeGain's success but in this case I think they're doing the online lead generation industry a service by cleaning house and creating a better consumer experience.  Whether you agree with the lead generators' place in the real estate market or not, they're here for now and having good ones that enable transactions to occur more often is likely good for everyone-- as consumers continue to embrace the online connections made, successful interactions will instill their overall confidence and have a tendency to deliver more online business your way! 

Chris Hendricks