My Quest for a 5% Conversion Rate of Internet Leads to Closings

Personally, when I get bombarded with too many touches in a couple of days, I start turning off. Yes, respond quickly. Provide some value added information in addition to your introduction. But don't over do it.

You will have to keep us posted on how it goes.  A good game plan that is executed well can never be a bad thing.

Christopher,

When you're on the receiving end, how do you handle similar situations from other industries that inundate you with aggressive calls, emails, texts, etc.?  Don't mind them? Turned off by them?

Agree, we all need a follow up plan but such aggressive tactics remind me of the annoying political robo calls during local elections.  People do not like them.  

IMO, if you have not made contact with a prospect by the third or fourth attempt and they continue to ignore your efforts, they're likely not interested.

I do like and use the email drips of listings for prospects to keep me "top of mind" because it's less, "in your face", prospects can reach out to me when they're ready and it works.

Keep us posted on your success.

Cheers! 

I agree with Nina...I don't want to appear to be a stalker but impressed with your research.

Like you, Christopher, I started by developing lead generating websites for Real Estate Agents.  It was my hobby when I was an Engineer.  And like you, now I'm an Agent, but don't use the leads myself.  I still provide them to other Agents.  One of my communities is Casta del Sol, and all the leads go to an Agent that lives in Casta del Sol.  One reason for our success is because she's tech savy, and very responsive to leads.  Additionally, Open Houses aren't allowed in Casta del Sol, so Consumers must use an Agent to visit the homes for sale.  It's a good combination.

50% of Consumers contacting us via our websites convert into Customers.  The websites are community specific.  The URL contains the name of the community, and we use paid-per-click with google to achieve the first position.  Our target market are Seniors, in 55+ gated communities.  The Senior contacts us, we take them for a tour of the community, and show them some homes.  The tour takes approximately two hours, and the relationship is developed during that two hours.  And we never ask the initial questions I hear so many other Agents here at Activerain ask.  (ie:  have you been pre-approved, are you working with another Agent, etc.)  We don't have to, because they wouldn't be contacting us if they were working with another Agent in Casta del Sol, and most Seniors pay cash, or use a Reverse Mortgage, to purchase the property.

It's been more then 10 years since I've tried this strategy in a non-Senior community, but am preparing to launch a few of those websites too.  It'll be interesting to see how they do.

Wow, that is truly a lot of reaching out and touching someone!  I think it is a little too much, however, I have not tried it to that extent.

However, I have also seem some teams / agents converting leads at the 5% rate.. so I know it's possible.. I just need to find a formula that works and would yield those kinds of results..

Good evening Christopher,

Have you asked those teams how they hit 5%?

P.S.  I recommend the 15 Second Rule.  If you respond that quickly, your buyers will never forget you!

It seems to me that this thread should have a lot more comments!

I'm Subscribing to Comments now.

Things are different for me as a lender, but the conversion % range is similar so I'm guessing the approach is similar.  I wouldn't text immediately, because it seems invasive (at least to me, I get bombarded with WAY too many texts that are unsolicited).  Speed of initial response & number of touches are probably the most important factors - when I worked leads I had a conversion rate in the 5-8% range - but many of the conversions were months, and some even years, after the initial lead came through.  Standing out as different is important, too - find what others are doing and DON'T do that.  If there are 10 voicemails, and 9 are the same, the 10th one is going to be the attention grabber.

For me, the trick was learning to understand the source of the lead, and developing a script specific for 'what it came from'.  For example, I'd use a completely different script/approach for one lead source compared to another.

Good luck!  5% with consistency is a tough target to hit with most leads!  Helps if you've got a great CRM and can maintain the occasional contact for months after the lead initially comes in.

Christopher, yes, that's a great plan - and as you admitted, Day 1 is slightly more aggressive, however that is going to be defining the conversion, correct?

It takes a plan. Check.

It is work. Check.

You're working it. Check.

Do you use Zillow Premier or Trulia Pro? I might have a great resource for you... let me know!

No - a 3rd party software. Check it out and let me know if you're interested in a demo! http://zurple.com/how-it-works/the-zurple-process

Good morning, Christopher....wow.... Corinne Guest hit that nail squarely.... if I followed that list, I would have had to return to teaching!!!  there is no offline marketing there...in my area, and I think in most areas, there is too much emphasis on online marketing to find business....both need to be used...our listings originate from my postcards....period...on occasion, when a homeowner receives several postcards, they WILL go online to see who has the best presence....we win there too.... we focus on listings and in my very humble opinion, that's the name of this game.... listings....if I had to spend all of that time and energy to convert buyers, I'm back to the chemistry lab!!!

Hi Christopher....you have your plan in place and the results will be there.... good for you....best wishes from me with it...

Hi Christopher Lotte checking in to see how your 2015 went and your plans for 2016, and any lessons or best practices you've learned along the way.  

Our lead follow up department tells us that it will often take twenty touches to effectively land a lead.