Brokers everywhere have slashed expenses over the past few years - many to the point where they believe significant further savings are futile - incremental at best. As they contemplate survival strategies in the "new normal", many are convinced that their future depends not in cutting expenses further, but in finding new and/or enhanced sources of revenue. And so we see brokers urgently investigating many new potential sources of revenue such as property management, title, mortgage, and specialty niches such as distressed, investor, and luxury markets. Yet, while brokers scrounge to pick up a trickle of pennies on the sidewalk through such strategies as increasing their legal defense fund overages and raising the prices of copies and soda, one rushing river of revenue continues to flow through their very fingers...
LEAD CONVERSION!
Yes...all those leads that we're working so hard to generate (and for the most part doing a good job) that NO ONE is bothering to respond to and/or follow up on, while we, as company Leaders continue to look the other way.
Lest you think me overgeneralizing, here are some of my own personal experiences:
- 3 months ago the transmission finally died on my car, the "Silver Streak". With 225K+ miles, it was time to put her down. After perusing the car lots (yes, on sunday - thank you "blue laws") I went online to Twin City BMW/Honda's "Appointment Scheduler" and sent them a message telling them a) that I would be buying a car that week, b) which car currently on their lot that I was interested in and c) when I'd be available to come in. Twin City BMW/Honda never responded to my inquiry. (Yup, I bought a car that week. Elsewhere.)
- Last month I was comparing notes with our Director of Regional Marketing, Sandy Sklareski on one of our favorite tasks: expense report preparation. Sandy told me about a program she was utilizing called "Neat Desk" which scanned and organized her receipts. As it often seems to work out, I actually saw a commercial on tv about their product, also called "Neat Receipts" in a more portable version that very evening. So, as the commercial suggested, I went to their website ("neat.com") and told them I'd like to purchase their product and wanted to know which of the two versions would work best for me. You guessed it...no response from the Neat people. Not even when I emailed them (through their own platform) a week later (the first two sentences in my communication were "You ARE in sales, aren't you? I'm a buyer."). No response, no sale.
- A few weeks back I had a pleasant stay at the Hotel Parq Central in Albuquerque (formerly the town's sanitarium), but like Einstein (who routinely couldn't remember his own address or phone number), I left behind some clothing in a drawer. I called the hotel the evening of my departure and after a pleasant exchange with the on-duty manager was told I'd receive a call back when they'd checked. They must not have had good news for me, because there was no call. Fortunately, they sent me a survey to complete about my stay a few days later, so I had the opportunity to tell the Hotel Parq Central how much I enjoyed their hotel, how frequently I traveled to Albuquerque for business, and how disappointed I was that I hadn't heard from them. You've likely already guessed that despite the feedback system, I received none from them, and this month I'll be staying at the Hotel Andaluz (and not using the drawers!).
If you think it's just me...then you're likely one of those brokers who would rather pretend that the leads coming into the company are being impeccably handled, or worse yet that they belong to the agents and whatever happens to them is their business. I'm convinced that neither our industry nor our salespeople are significantly different from other sales industries. Agents intend to respond, agents think they respond, but the reality is that agents as a group do a lousy job at responding to and following up with consumer inquiries . Despite overwhelming evidence offered in multiple studies that consumers are highly likely (in some studies, over 80%) to work with NOT the most competent agent, NOT the most productive agent, but the FIRST agent to respond to their inquiries, there is equally compelling evidence that the majority of leads get responded to days later, if at all. Any system that relies on the individual efforts of salespeople for successfull execution will ultimately have an average service level that is unacceptable.
Why is this happening? It boils down to:
- Agents are people. As such they are well-intentioned, but find much of their working hours spent reacting to other people and situations, leaving them unable to respond to inquiries in a timely fashion, if at all.
- Agents are independent contractors. As such, brokers seem to think that the IRS reporting status of their sales associates somehow precludes their ability as company owners to establish and communicate any expectations or standards.
- We view this as a turf war to be avoided. Management views the "ownership" of leads and subsequently responsiveness standards as a source of significant potential conflict with sales associates. Lacking fortitude or skill, a strategy of avoidance is adopted (see "Fear-based Leadership" from an earlier post).
- We're deceiving ourselves about the business being lost. We're not actually measuring, we don't really know, so we tend to minimize.
- We mistake the presence of a "tool" for the presence of a "system". Many companies now have a lead management software system, such as Lead Router. Very few companies (I've seen ONE this year) effectively utilize the tool or the management reporting capabilities that come with it.
So what do we do?...I'm not suggesting that you need to pick a fight with your sales associates, or walk around looking to shout "I got ya!" at each dropped lead. (Although, if you WERE looking for signs that leads were being dropped, simply listen for these two phrases around your shops: "Internet leads suck." and "They never called me back."). What I am suggesting is that you objectively evaluate your company's lead management and conversion activities. If you conclude that you too are doing a great job generating leads, but not such a great job converting them to actual sales, this isn't a harbinger that you need to declare war with your salespeople.
What IS called for is a decision to make "responsiveness" a core value of your company, and to enlist your salespeople in collectively living this value.
Like all learning, one of the best ways to enlist your sales associates into a culture of responsiveness is for them to experience what it's like themselves.
From you.
Creating a culture of responsiveness is the work of a Leader.
Lead.
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