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Stop Paying Per Lead, Start Paying Per Sale

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Reply.com

Stop Paying Per Lead, Start Paying Per Sale

Pay Per SaleAfter an overwhelming number of requests, Reply! is now also offering our leads on a performance-based model where instead of paying for every lead, agents pay for leads that close.  Agents build their coverage area based on cities, counties, and zip codes, and they’ll receive an unlimited number of leads in real-time.  This is what many of you have been asking for and we’re excited about finally being able to make this offer available.

Reply! has been working with real estate agents for over eight years now.  Since 2001, we’ve traditionally provided agents with leads from consumers that have visited one of our consumer research sites and submitted a request to be contacted by a licensed agent about buying or selling a home.  We provide the agent with the consumer’s name, contact info, and relevant information on the property they’re interested in.  Up until this point, we’ve always charged agents $54.95 per lead, offering credits on leads with invalid info.

In today’s market, agents need a risk-free way of generating more business, and we couldn’t agree more.  While we still offer leads on a per lead basis, we’re revamping our RealtyNow program as follows: 

* You pay a $99.95 monthly membership fee to use the program
* You choose your coverage areas to determine where your leads come from
* Leads are no different than the leads we normally sell at retail price
* If you close a transaction with a property price of $150K or higher, you pay a flat $1000 advertising fee
* If the transaction is less than $150K, you don’t pay anything
* Extremely low-risk, cancel any time

RealtyNow eliminates many of the concerns that agents have about buying leads, since you’re only paying for closed transactions.  We give you the freedom to decide which leads are worth your time, and you don’t need to worry about sending leads back for credits or refunds.  This is truly a performance-based model, and you can cancel at anytime. 

To make things even easier, we rely on you to tell us when you close a sale.  We don’t accept payment through escrow, so we’re putting our trust in our members to let us know when a qualified transaction is closed. 

As always, Active Rain feedback is highly valuable to us and I look forward to your comments.  For more information, you can visit us at   www.realtynow.com, call us at 925-983-3400 ext.1011, or email  julie.ortiz@reply.com.

Sincerely,
Adam Carabetta
VP, Retail Operations

Comments(20)

Show All Comments Sort:
Frank Beckendorf
Beckendorf Realty Group - Abilene, TX

Still to expensive for "ifs".

Dec 28, 2009 09:38 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

7 billion people walking the planet, all requiring shelter as a fundamental human need, and I'm supposed to hire a dating service to introduce me?

Na-a-ahhh...

Dec 28, 2009 10:58 AM
Chris Olsen
Olsen Ziegler Realty - Cleveland, OH
Broker Owner Cleveland Ohio Real Estate

My one and only relationship with a lead generation company was Repy! and it was absolutely horrible, the CMA they generated chose 60K condos for a 500K single-family home that was the subject.  Their follow-up was non-existent and the list goes on.  I sure hope they concentrate on treating agents well and producing a good product versus hyping the latest "new and improved" program. 

Dec 29, 2009 01:53 AM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for your comments; I definitely find any and all feedback valuable. 

I think what's important here is to remember that this is simply another form of advertising.  Whether you're running ads in a local publication, putting your face on a shopping cart, sending flyers via direct mail, or purchasing internet leads direct from a lead generator, the end goal is always to generate leads.  No lead generation company can provide the silver bullet to replace all other advertising mediums; rather what they should be doing is helping an Agent supplement their other marketing efforts by providing additional business opportunities each month.

While the quality of a lead generated by someone calling you direct from your ad is almost always far superior to a consumer that fills out a form online, the cost is higher as well.   Any lead generation company could qualify their leads to the extent that each lead was ready to transact by the time it arrived in the Agent's inbox, but the cost of each lead would obviously be significantly higher. 

The other factor to consider is risk, which in my opinion goes hand-in-hand with quality - in most cases, the higher the risk is in a marketing program, the higher the potential return is.  Running an ad in a local directory is very risky; you're paying a lot of money up front with no guarantee that your ad will generate leads and while the leads you do generate will be great, not everyone can afford that risk.  Our new pay per sale model has a relatively low risk given the small upfront investment.  You'll of course spend more time vetting the leads to determine which leads are worth your time, but it only takes a few transactions to pay for the membership fee for an entire year.  Thereafter, everything is pure margin in most cases.

One last point I'd like to make is that a lot of Agents are basing their potential ROI off of a $150K transaction.  I'd encourage you to consider the ROI on a transaction under $150K where no advertising fee is due, as well as transactions higher than $150K.

Mr. Olsen - I was unable to locate your account in any of our systems, so I don't know what happened, but I'd love the opportunity to make it right.  If you're interested, you can contact me direct at 925-983-3427 or rudd.lippincott@reply.com.

Please keep the comments/questions/concerns coming! 

 

Rudd Lippincott

Director, Retail Operations

 

Dec 29, 2009 04:04 AM
Monte Pratt
Jack Pratt Signs - Oklahoma City, OK
Expert in sign manufacturing & graphic design.

I have found that a lack of personal attention to your clients can be detrimental to any business.  I like the "Jerry McGuire" approach:  "Fewer clients - more personal attention".  In the end, people want to be inspired and will be more motivated to work with people who are sincerely passionate about building relationships rather than building clients.

Dec 29, 2009 04:56 AM
Jim O'Donnell
Raleigh Cary Realty - Fuquay Varina, NC

Your title is very misleading.  You are still asking for a rather steep monthy fee.  I still say NO WAY

Dec 29, 2009 05:10 AM
Billie Hillier
http://702IsHome.com - North Las Vegas, NV
Savvy Home Realty Solutions

In today's economy marketing dollars need to be spent effectively.

Now is the time for all agents to look at 2009 for where their leads came from and how many converted to a CLOSING. Based on this information, you should form your 2010 marketing plan and implement it.

Remember to carefully review each month and adjust your plan accordingly based on ROI. (lead $ vs. closing$ - you should take in consideration your "hourly rate" too when determining ROI)

No matter where your leads come from, they should be immediately followed up with and constant communication maintained until they convert or are considered dead.

If you need someone to review your marketing plan - let me know. (It's a free)

Create a POWERFUL 2010 year - there's business out there... go get it!

Dec 29, 2009 06:41 AM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

Jim and Elizabeth,

The main purpose of the membership fee is to prevent agents from signing up that do not intend to thoroughly follow up with leads, or work them at all.  While many agents might say to themselves "I wouldn't sign up if I didn't intend to work the leads," it's unrealistic.  Real Estate Agents are busy, not to mention they have lives outside of work.  If we didn't require some "skin in the game," there would really be no reason for an Agent to not sign up; and this could pose another problem.

On average, we send a lead to 1.5 agents nationwide, although we reserve the right to sell it to a max of 4.  If there were no membership fee required, major metro areas would be oversaturated and the number of times we would sell our leads would probably reach 4 in no time.  In time, Agents would probably be concerned after signing up that either A). too many other agents are calling the same leads or B). they're not receiving enough leads to make it worth $99 per month. 

I would be foolish to think that this new RealtyNow program would satisfy every agent's needs, so I certainly respect that many of you will still feel that this is not a program worth your money, and that's perfectly okay.  Rather, our intentions here are to inform you of a new way of getting access to incremental business opportunities with relatively no risk; we'll let you be the judge of whether or not it's a good match for your business.

Keep the comments coming folks!  Very helpful. 

Rudd Lippincott

Director, Retail Operations

Dec 29, 2009 07:57 AM
Wayne L. Brown
Franklin Advantage Inc. - Alpine, CA

Rudd

Interesting concept and different from current lead providers.

Dec 29, 2009 09:48 AM
Wanda Dills
Prudential Georgia Realty - Dahlonega, GA

I will pass on this.

Dec 29, 2009 12:00 PM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

Thor Funding - Thank you.  Please don't hesitate to reach out direct with any questions, or you can of course respond on this blog if questions come up that you feel might benefit the rest of the AR community.  rudd.lippincott@reply.com or 925-983-3427.

Dec 30, 2009 07:54 AM
Greg Nino
RE/MAX Compass - Houston, TX
Houston, Texas

28 leads in 5 days.. 1/2 with good numbers. 1/2 of those weren't with agents. Not too shabby.

Jan 03, 2010 04:42 AM
Ron Parise
LocateHomes.com - Cape Coral, FL

Sure there are 7 billion people out there that need housing, but how many are ready, willing and able to buy in Lee County Florida within a year or two. And how may of them are taking some action to identify themselves to me. And how do I find them before you do.

Thats what a marketing plan (and budget) is for. ie giving these folks a way to find me and me them

Reply.com has given me a place to spend  part of my advertising and marketing money.  And so far its working much better than I had hoped

3 days
13 names and numbers
4 no answers (still trying)
2 no interest
3 bad numbers
4 interviews, These folks are ready, willing and able to buy and are not working with another agent, They have agreed to receive my email (mls searches) and accept my calls

If we extrapolate to a full month I will have 120 leads and 40 interviews.  Thats 40 buyers in my pipeline that I expect to produce 4 sales over the next year

Im happy

Jan 03, 2010 11:11 AM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

Ron - thank you again for taking the time to share your results.  We really appreciate the honesty and the time spent reporting back.

Jan 05, 2010 09:29 AM
Brandon Curtiss
Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group - Boise, ID

I have had a very negative results with Reply! and would like to share with other agents looking to spend thier hard earned money. They contacted me and pitched thier program on me so I thought that i would give it a try since they gave me a 15 day money back guarantee with no monthly fees or membership fees and i only had to pay per lead. Well as it turns out I was having the same problem as everyone else is, invalid leads, when i returned them to get credit they would not credit my Reply! account, after no response to several emails from the customer service I sent in a written email cancelling my account with them just after 4 days. They then got back to me finally and tried everything possible to keep me on board, however, I knew better and went through with cancelling my account.

Today, almost a month later, I got a call from them asking me why I wanted to cancel my account, so i explained to the gentleman that I had already terminated my services with them and had a confirmation email stating so, I also advised him that I had also at the same time emailed them written notice as required by law to no longer have authorization to access my credit card. He assured me this wouldnt be a problem and they would not deduct any money.

Well, I checked my bank account today and guess what, they took $460 out of it almost a month after cancelling my services. I am actually beyond upset that Activerain would allow this type of scam on thier Website since this a website for Real Estate Professionals and there is nothing Professional about Reply!. Tomorrow morning i am filing a report with the BBB, State Attorney General Office, Rip Off report, as well as the Federal Trade and Commerce Department. This company needs to be shut down and stop ripping off hard working Realtors.

Jan 06, 2010 04:57 AM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

Mr. Curtiss,

First are foremost, we have never offered a 15 day money back guarantee.  Secondly, your account is scheduled to be shut off on 1/8/10, 30 days from the date you requested to cancel, per the 30 day cancellation policy that you agreed to.  For everyone's benefit, I would like to provide clarity on what has transpired since you signed up with us.  Afterwards, I will be personally calling you.  We are reasonable people and ultimately like you to be successful, as we would with any other agent. 

**Details removed at client's request.

Nowhere in our notes do I see a lapse in response outside of the stated 48 - 72 hour response times, but there may have been further exchanges of communication that for some reason were not entere in to your account. 

In the event I am unable to reach you (I will be calling you right now), you can reach me at 925-983-3427 or rudd.lippincott@reply.com

 

Rudd Lippincott

Director, Retail Operations

Jan 06, 2010 06:30 AM
Reply.com Marketing
Reply.com - San Ramon, CA

John Halken - you bring up a good point that I overlooked.  Mr. Curtiss felt the same way.  Thank you.  We'll post the results of our discussion shortly. 

Jan 06, 2010 07:08 AM
Brandon Curtiss
Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group - Boise, ID

Thank you John for pointing that out and i would agree 100% and brough that up to them right away, posting someones person details and email conversations is not right, and I can not even confirm that all of the emails were there as I was receiving emails from 3 different people from Reply!

However, After my post Reply! contacted me today and we are in the process of getting the situation taken care of. I will be speaking with them tomorrow and I will post on here to keep everyone posted as to the outcome.

Jan 06, 2010 10:31 AM
Brandon Curtiss
Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group - Boise, ID

I was very frustrated with Reply! and I was able to discuss my concerns with them after they had called me on Wednesday to dicuss my concerns. Although it was a communication problem with the customer service person when I signed up, Reply! was very intent on resolving my concerns upon speaking with them this week. They made sure to follow up with me and stay on top of things. Taking this kind of approach with responsive customer care and service allowed me to feel better about my frustrations and we were able to come up with a resolutution together and move forward.

I think that if you are going to use a company such as this one, there is many benefits, however, be very careful in understanding the program and policies. This was not explained to me in complete detail and it seemed confusing for most agents that have posted on here about Reply!. It seems that their new business model may work much better and I am happy to see that they are listening to the agents that are posting and making some adjustments. I am more than please with how Reply! stepped up and took the time to address my concerns and come up with a viable resolution. Thank you Reply!.

Jan 07, 2010 10:35 PM
Israel Gonzalez
Beale Properties - Hollister, CA
CDPE

Hi Rudd

Please call me ASAP regarding my account. 831-636-8858

Thank You

Israel Gonzalez

 

Jun 28, 2010 09:09 AM