Brokers really are shooting themselves in the foot if they think they can, or should, control Internet leads in this brave, new world of listing data sharing. Certainly, they'll need to search their souls for a solution. But the question of who gets the leads -- and more significantly, how do the leads get collected -- is being answered every day by agents (and even some brokers) who have discovered the real secrets of online success. Yes, these Realtors have Web sites with framed links to their MLS, to Realtor.com, to their company sites, to virtually any listings site where buyers can search for homes. But they also have a handful of fill-in-the-MLS-number spaces on their sites, so that buyers can "search all homes," then email the agent the MLS numbers (or addresses) of the homes they want the agent to show them. Not only do these leads come directly to the agent who owns the framed-link site -- rather than to a broker or another agent, but the sites come complete with a built-in lead management tool that enables the agent to automatically capture the name and email address of every buyer, to organize those buyers into groups, and to send listings and messages to those buyers. Who are these agents, you ask? They are Realtors who have seen the future and already are reaping the rewards of doing serious business without their broker's help. They are getting more than their fair share of leads, simply because they are allowing consumers to search for every home on the entire Internet -- without ever leaving their site -- and then they are putting those leads into a basket that they can manage and respond to. Want to see a good example of this kind of Web site? Okay. Go to: http://www.BannerTeam.com . Touch "Find Homes" on the dropdown menu, then click on "Search All Local Listings." After that, go back to the menu, touch "Find Homes" again and click on "Search National Listings Databases" -- they're all there, so click on any of the big databases to see how easy it is for buyers to search all day and send the MLS numbers of their favorites to the agent who own the site. Once you've seen how a site like this works, you tell me who's going to capture those leads -- the agent who owns the site or some broker who thinks s/he can still maintain any control over Internet leads?

Back to Previous Post Printer Friendly Version | E-mail This Article to a Friend