Your Real Estate Website Must be an Effective Incubator

In order for your real estate website to produce revenue, it needs to be an effective incubator.  You know what incubate means, right?  According to the dictionary, incubate is defined as:  To sit upon (eggs) for the purpose of hatching.  OK, that’s not the definition we’re looking for.  Here’s another one:

To maintain favorable conditions promoting development

That’s more like it.  Your website needs to maintain favorable conditions to promote the development of relationships with your site visitors so that they end up becoming clients.

These are some of the things you can do to create “favorable conditions” that will make your real estate website an effective incubator:

• Set up processes to quickly get in touch with site visitors who provide contact information
• Set up drip e-mail campaigns offering useful information related to the visitor’s area(s) of interest
• Offer unique and useful content on your site so that your visitors will want to return to the site often

What (or Who) Should Your Website Incubate?
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Think of your website like a clothing store.  Sound silly?  Not really.  Picture yourself in these scenarios:

Scenario 1

You enter the clothing store.  A sales clerk spots you and welcomes you to the store.  As you start to browse through clothing racks, the clerk tags along behind you.  You stop to look at a sweater and the clerk says “Oh, I think you’d look great in that.  You just have to try it on.  The clerk grabs the sweater in one hand, your elbow in the other, and starts rushing toward a dressing room.

After extracting your elbow from the clerk’s grasp, you make a quick dash for the door.

Scenario 2

You enter the clothing store.  No one accosts you.  You find a sweater you’d like to try on, but you can’t find your size.  You look around, but don’t see a sales clerk.  You walk over to the counter and it’s empty.  You call out – Hello!  All you hear is an echo.  You leave in disgust.

Scenario 3

You enter the clothing store.  A sales clerk spots you, welcomes you to the store, and says:  “If you don’t have any questions right now, take your time looking around.  I’ll be at the counter if you need any help.”  You purchase the sweater you needed plus a pair of pants and a belt.

We all know that buyers and sellers on the Internet are there to do their own research.  But, don’t be fooled into thinking they will be any more comfortable with a scenario like number 2 above than you are.

So, what is the best way to contact website leads?  You want to achieve these objectives:

1. Let your visitor know they are important to you by following up as quickly as possible.
2. Let your visitor know that you understand they may just be looking, but that you’re available to them if they have questions or need information.
3. Establish yourself as someone they’d like to work with when the timing is right.

Let’s say that a visitor has set up an account on your MLS search.  You call them as soon as you receive notification of their registration, which meets Objective #1.  Then, you place a call and achieve Objective #2 with your opening statement:

Hi – This is Joe Smith and I’m calling because you registered on my real estate website at JoeSmith.com.  I just wanted to touch base and let you know that I’m available if you have questions or need more specific information than you can find on the website. 

To achieve Objective #3, you need to get your visitor talking.  You want to ask non-threatening open-ended questions to start a conversation.  Non-threatening questions are those questions that indicate interest in the individual, and don’t sound like a sales pitch.  Open-ended questions are those that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no”. 

At this point, you just want to show you can support the visitor in making their research as effective as possible.  That means you don’t ask questions about when they plan to move, whether they have a home to sell before they buy, etc. etc.

Depending on the situation, you could ask the following types of questions immediately after your greeting to get a conversation going:

1. How easy was it to set up a property finder account on the site?
2. How helpful was the information you found on the MLS?
3. What type of neighborhood information will be helpful to you in evaluating the homes you found?
4. What are you looking for in your next home?

Once you have a conversation going, your visitor may start asking you questions, and that’s a great way to demonstrate your knowledge of the community and the homes currently on the market.  And, before you offer to show them six homes, you’ll certainly want to know when they are planning to move.

You should also be prepared for the following:

1. Bogus contact information – don’t let it stop you from calling.  The next number you dial could be that big commission!
2. Voice mail – if you reach voice mail, leave a message to let the visitor know you tried to reach them.  Make yourself a note to call back in the next day or so.
3. Individuals who don’t want to chat – That’s fine.  You made the effort and you made contact – simply offer your assistance when questions come up or if they’d like to schedule a showing or discuss listing their own home if they are a seller.

Even if you have a drip e-mail system in place, offer to send the visitor an email with your contact information.  It’s a great opportunity to confirm that you have a valid email address, thank them for the time they spent with you on the telephone, and reinforce your budding relationship.

If you’re not totally comfortable with contacting leads from your website, the best idea is to write down what you want to say and a list of potential conversation-starting questions.  After you’ve written something that matches your personality, try saying it out loud a few times to make sure it flows.

You don’t want to sound like you’re reading from a script, but thinking through your approach to the point where you can put it in writing will go a long way toward helping you make these types of calls with confidence.

We all spend a great deal of energy getting leads, whether they come from our real estate websites, open houses, or other marketing initiatives.  It seems, though, that many real estate professionals fall short when it comes to turning leads into clients.

Here are some things to consider when you think about handling leads:

• Call Your Leads! – If someone completes a form on your website and leaves a valid telephone number, that is your invitation to call them; as quickly after you receive the lead as you can!  Sure, you probably have drip e-mail campaigns to stay in touch with leads from your website.  But, an e-mail never closed a sale.  The best opportunity you have to establish a relationship with a lead you’ve never met is over the telephone.  Don’t be shy!
• Call Your Leads! – Yes, it’s true that you’ll probably try several phony telephone numbers before you reach a good one, but don’t stop.  Keep calling until you find a live number.  It’s also true that home buyers and sellers on the Internet don’t want to be bothered by a salesperson.  But, if they leave a telephone number, it isn’t really a bother if you use a reasonable “script” for a cold call to that number.
• Call Your Leads Until You Talk to Them! – If you reach voice mail on a good telephone number, go ahead and leave a message.  Then, schedule that person for a follow up telephone call in two days.  If you get voice mail again, schedule that person for a follow up telephone call once a week until you speak to them.  Many agents are pleasantly surprised to find that their leads appreciate the personal attention and persistence.

If you’re overwhelmed with leads (every real estate professional’s marketing dream), don’t feel like you need to follow up personally with all of them.  Pick the cream of the crop:  those leads that fit into your marketing niche or overall real estate marketing strategy.

And, keep in mind that following up with leads is a habit you’ll need to nuture.  Set aside time every day if you need to.  Schedule a block of time with yourself to do lead follow up.  Set up a system to keep track of your leads, when you’ve contacted them, and what you discussed.

You’ll find that your lead to client conversion rate will increase.  And, the more follow up you do, the more confident you’ll become.

Stay tuned for Part 2:  What is a “reasonable script” for calling a lead…