The number one complaint against agents by buyers who seek to do business
over the Internet is lack of a reply from the agent. Keeping in mind that
buyers historically work with the first agent they contact over 50% of the
time, it is a good idea to monitor your e-mail at least three times a day.
One busy agent,Alice Held, always
answers her e-mail, but she is careful to qualify the responses to save her
time and allow her to give better service to the more serious queries.
Since launching her Internet site in 1995, Held has seen her business
virtually double. She targets buyers and uses the Internet to promote her
services as a relocation specialist, serving customers as far away as South
Africa and Malaysia.
Held's relocation buyer's site is entertaining and comprehensive and was
featured as an Agent News site of the day. It includes information on schools,
health, recreational activities (especially golf in Arizona), cultural
activities, fun facts, major employers, restaurants, cost of living, seniors,
and more. Of course, a favorite activity is searching for homes.
Because her award-winning site generates so much traffic, Held receives an
average of two to seven e-mail inquiries a day. To save herself time, she
classifies the replies into "serious" or "weak" replies.
A weak reply would be classified as someone who fails to provide a price
range for a home, or those who are seeking a lease. She returns a response
asking for a price range or whether the lease will be short or long term, and
then waits for a reply.
"This qualifies them," says Held. "Those responses go into a different
database until I receive more information. I would say about 30% of weak
replies turn out to be real buyers."
Serious buyers, according to Held, have more pressing issues. They are
transfering, have a house to sell, or are planning a move in the future. These
replies she adds to her electronic monthly newsletter list, and works harder to
establish a rapport with these buyers.
She finds out if the buyer is planning a trip to Arizona soon, and if they
are, she offers to help them plan a househunting expedition.
Over a three-year period, Held has closed over 100 sales that were generated
from her Web site, and averages about three to five closings a month.
Published: November 30, 1998
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