How to Decipher Internet leads

No matter what your source of Internet leads, trying to figure out if one is “good” or not can be frustrating. To help you make the best use of every type lead try looking at these 6 levels of information and response to see if the lead has potential.

Before looking at the leads themselves it’s important to understand the nature of Internet consumers. Since nearly 80% of consumers start their moving process by going online, it’s vital to understand the average Internet consumers buying/selling process. Independent research shows:

A.) Today’s buyers and sellers can take anywhere from one year to over five years to actually make their move.
B.) Over 75% of buyers and sellers will use a real estate agent, but will only spend one to three days interviewing and selecting that agent.

With this research we can see why it is important to have automated systems in place to maintain contact with these leads over extensive periods of time. Keeping our name and additional helpful information in front of your Internet leads greatly improves the possibility of being the agent of choice when that one to three day window comes along.

Any level of contact with the prospect means it has potential. Here’s a look at those 6 levels.

1. Email only- the foundation piece to building huge e-farms of prospects. Use drip email campaigns and periodic 'special' emails to build name/brand awareness.

2. Plus phone- Use to establish service rapport. "I'm your information resource". Important
to leave messages- these are your personal advertisements. Think of a voice mail as a highly personal advertising impression.

3. Plus address- Expands contact opportunities to meet person to person and do direct mailings.

4. Prospect responds to email- Any acknowledgement is good, even if the prospect says I was just curious. Respond back with "I'm your information resource, would you like to have (whatever info you have like buyers/ sellers guides), personalize it for them in some little way.

5. Prospect responds to phone- May be an indication of readiness but not always.

6. Meet person-to-person (drop-by)- The best for getting 'the rest of the story'- what their intentions are in terms of moving.

Your ultimate goal for every Internet lead should be to bridge the gap between the impersonal (Internet) and the personal (you). This step will help establish the trust so necessary for your clients to act on the most expensive transaction most people make.