Aug
4
Why are Web Leads so hard to close??
Filed Under Uncategorized |
One of my newest broker/clients called me the other day and asked me why his salespeople didn’t care whether or not they got “their share” of the leads from his newly performing website… “We never got Internet leads before, now we are getting them almost every day… but my salespeople tell me that they are not that enthused about working them…”
I asked, “Are you just giving any correspondence ( I hesitate to call them leads..” that comes in from the website to your Realtors, to work?”
He responded, “Yes, I am not going to work them myself!” and here we unmasked the problem…
Emails that come to you via your website are USUALLY not leads…
Should I say it again?… I am not saying you will NEVER get a lead from your website, but unless it is a request for a showing, or a request for a car ride (attended the 4RealzED seminar? … you should) it is probably not worth investing your precious “closing time” on…
Emails that come to you via your website are requests for COMMUNITY..
Typically emails that come to your website are from searchers that are engaging your community. They saw a post about a neighborhood they are interested it, they saw a property they would like more information about. They read something that they need clarification on. They are interested in staying informed via your community market analysis. (You do have community market analysis, right?
These are individuals that have taken the first QUANTUM leap towards becoming a prospect/client. They have decided to trust you. So how do you repay them for their freshly discovered loyalty? You turn them over to a super busy hard charging Real estate agent who is going to qualify them from sentence three and blow them off around sentence four… not good.
You have GOT to have a community option for readers who are willing to self identify. They are crying out to become your desciples, your evangelists, your groupies? (Okay, I am reaching….) Let them. A newletter, a blog, a forum, a VALUABLE monthly email blast… (read: market conditions with valuable, personal, ORIGINAL, well thought out market observations) You have got to welcome Internet correpondence as you would welcome a valuable stranger into your home… tred lighly, offer your freindship, dont ask for anything in return. GIVE THEM WHAT THEY CAME FOR….
and from this community? You will grow leads… and leads… and leads….
Aug
2
ME: “If you had a website”, (or more commonly) “If I write you a new site” (or most recently…a lot) If I completely redesigned your crappy Advanced Access (insert ANY template website company name here…) site, what would you do with it.. WHY DO YOU WANT A NEW WEBSITE..
Realtor: “Because EVERYONE has a website…” or
Realtor: “Because my clients (I expect this means “prospects) expect me too… Number three? or
Realtor: “To get Leads..”
Believe it or not, this is a legitimate question I ask Realtors all the time.
However I rarely get the real answer. The real answer is squirreled away and has to be carefully coaxed out… the REAL ANSWER is often “So I can bury myself in front of my computer and wait for leads to rush in, so I dont have to do all the HARD stuff that really creates business, like Up-desk, OR DOOR KNOCKING!! or cold calling, or going to community meetings and approaching strangers or DOING SALES!!
As an Internet Marketing Constultant , the strangest look I get is still when I tell Realtors “You know, you dont really need a website.” Why would I say this? Because you would be shocked how often I get this question…
“I don’t do anything with my website, and I am really busy, and I make plenty of money…really. But I think I need a website… DO I?? ”
NO, you need a vacation. If you ARENT really busy, if you DON’T make plenty of money, and if you have time to grow an Internet presence…carefully and methodically, you need a website.
If you are doing ALL the aforementioned stuff, and would like incremental business from a slightly different (cooler?) demographic, you need a website. If you have the time and energy to educate yourself just enough to understand how the web works and your place within it, you need a website. And if you are TRULY INTERESTED in Real Estate and want to touch more people in a day, then you currently do in a year… yes, you need a website…
Feb
20
Do Realtors Know…What they dont know?
Filed Under Marketing, Conversion, Search Engine Optimization, Uncategorized |
As I travel to seminars and speak to Realtors , I am running into a problem that I never actually considered. The REASON, I thought, that Realtors (in general) werent effective in realizing income on the Internet was that that they didn’t understand how. Understandable. Realtors should be good at selling houses. Internet marketing is a whole cottage industry away from Real Estate. Perhaps they were trying, but just missing the mark. The actual problem, I now see, is more systemic than that.
Most Realtors dont know what they dont know.
The Idea that a Website is should be built to create REVENUE and not a brand? I didn’t know that.
The concept that I can create a website that APPEALS to my searchers and creates a DESIRE to self-identify? Really, I didnt know.
The theory that I can actually track my visitors progress through my site and see which parts they enjoy and which they dont? and that I should actually build the site THEY WANT? I didn’t know that I didn’t know that, either.
So, lets take the next couple of weeks and set a plan in action to learn what we need to know… and then we will learn that…
Make sense? Who knows…. stayed tuned.
Jan
10
The Seattle Real Estate Podcast (sample)
Filed Under Podcasting, Uncategorized |
Jim Reppond and the Reppond Team, Coldwell Banker’s number one team in Seattle, host this informative blog on Seattle Real Estate. Whether your a seasoned investor or a first time home buyer, Jim’s vast knowledge of the Seattle Real Estate Market will captivate and educate…
Read The Transcript
Jim Marks: Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Seattle Real Estate Podcast. I am your host, Jim Marks of Virtual Results, and my guest for this episode is the founder and namesake of the Reppond team, the number one producing Coldwell Banker Bain team in all of Seattle, Jim Reppond. Jim, welcome.
Jim Reppond: Hi, thanks Jim.
Jim Marks: I’d like to open this inaugural podcast by telling our listeners a little bit about yourself, your team and your experience in the Seattle real estate market.
Jim Reppond: Well, I got started in real estate way back in 1976. It started with me when I first got out of college of purchasing 55 acres down in Eugene, Oregon, to open a organic winery. I was young and rather naïve and didn’t really know what I was doing and realized pretty quick into it that I was a little in over my head a bit, and it was probably a good idea to sell the property. At that stage, I was thinking that probably the best would be to sub-divide it and I again didn’t really know what I was doing, so that’s when I went and got my real estate license. From there, I did sub-divide it and fortunately did make a little money and moved on into more real estate sales work. Read more
