Time is of the Essence: Contacting Leads From Web Submissions

I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to instruct our salespeople that immediate contact is critical to web leads.  We have tried automatic email replies, personalized responses, and phone calls within 24 hours. But, I continue to believe that getting that warm lead on the phone within one hour is critical. RIS media put this out:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted research into the effectiveness of online marketing and found that leads contacted within one hour of submission were 10 times more likely to result in successful contact than those not contacted within one hour. An auto-responder is better than nothing, but a personal phone call is even better: not only are you likely to find the submitter still at their computer and available to talk, you will absolutely blow the submitter away with your superior service.

I will say, however, that quality of the conversation is just as important to the speed of the contact. For some of our leads that are generated over the weekend, we usually catch those leads on Monday. The telephone marketer that I employ is incredible with outbound call times that average 36 minutes.

How are you following up with your leads?

Twitter Updates for 2008-10-01

• Burping up the remains of this rotten day. #
• Saving some time with this firefox plugin http://tinyurl.com/yvzo88 #
• Number of people in security line at McGhee Tyson Airport: 0. Arrival time should be 5-8 minutes before departure, sweet. Off to W. Palm. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-29

• Packing up for the new office move. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-28

• Comparing Joomla w/ EE. Surely like the price on Joomla better. #
• Dangerous with Excel…in a bad way. creating a budget for a new business. they didn’t teach excel in philosophy class. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-27

• Debate time. Jim Lehrer allegedly suspended the moderator, we’ll see. #
• trying to be a smart ass in real time in a time shifted world. forget about it let’s take a #mccainshot #
• bad free market, go to your room. #
• If Lehrer keeps asking for direct communication, I am afraid McCain is going to string Obama up by his ears and go vietnam on his ass. #
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• #debate08 let’s get one thing straight: no matter how we slice this up, Obama raises taxes, McCain doesn’t…95% or not. #
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• Debate reflections: America is the best place in the world to release ideas into the market for reward. Go USA. Both suck on taxes. #
• Drafting a budget for a new internet product.silly numbers. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-25

• I love how complex economic turmoil creates so many experts with simplistic explanations. #
• eating my fifth consecutive fast food meal. not a sign of the economy. evidence of my laziness and soon to be, if not already, fat assness. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-24

• My 65W Apple power adapter has died again, but this time it is tough luck for me. Boo, bad power adapters Apple. #
• screaming at PAGES. how can you build an application without an autosave? Is this 2008 or 1956? #

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Is Real Estate Going Mobile?

In theory yes. In practice, no (or at least not yet).

I have personally blogged about the no-brainer of text message flyers for over a year now. Joel Burlsem has been talking about mobile marketing for at least two years. So, when I stumbled upon this post this morning about mobile marketing in real estate, I remembered the excitement that I once had for mobile marketing, but at the same time I wonder if we have passed over this window into another.

We tried using text fliers at 3 different properties, and we had 0 uses.  Of course, geography and demographics play into the limited use–as these properties were in East Tennessee and most of the end users would be 45-50 age group. In this series of posts, the presumption is that the Agents use technology, so it should not be hard to adapt. The problem is that the 55% of txt messaging users is in the wrong demographic. Some people can’t turn a cell phone on.  The largest growing demographic of cell users is pre-teens / teens, which seems to account for the 55% number to me, and this group isn’t buying houses. On the other hand, they are texting their parents, so I would have assumed that the parents would be texting for more information. I haven’t seen it happen yet.

I do, however, agree that the mobile internet (location based information) is going to change the market. The iPhone, whether buyers are currently using or not, is changing the world. It is not longer geeky to carry what some used to call my ham radio on my belt (Old Kyocera Smartphone c. 2002). Now, it is trendy and sheek to have a smartphone. Applications are easier to install and more versatile than ever. FOREM keeps a very good rundown of all of the iPhone apps available. The marketers are poised; now, if the market would adopt.

To me, agents need to put their information into as many streams as possible. The goal is allow the market to raise their hand in the way that works best for them. One couple may want an 800 number (maybe a vanity number). Another buyer may want to text for information on a listing, and another would like an email address.  Maybe they want to read a blog or follow the agent on twitter. The point is the agent has to master the technology to meet their market to meet their diverse market by reading great real estate blogs and following market changes.  And, the agent doesn’t need to get irritated with the market when they don’t use all of the tools.

* stepping off soapbox *

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-23

• creating some helpful SEO spreadsheets to speed up new client setup. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-22

• the wife wants to go see Body of Lies. every commercial i am reminded. #

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