Yet another survey has been performed that proves what many of us already
know: Commercial Web sites often generate leads, only to have those leads
ignored by the company's salespeople.
Jupiter Communications, of New York, tested some of the top rated sites on
the web and found that 42% of them either took longer than 5 days to
respond to e-mail inquiries, or offered no e-mail support at all.
Sadly, past experience indicates that similar results would occur within
the real estate community's web presence.
Thousands of real estate agents and companies are now marketing on the
Internet with their own web sites, and through advertisements placed on
marketing sites such as www.realtor.com but results for most are less than
they should be.
As simple as the lead generation process is off-line (the phone rings, and
someone answers) many agents just don't understand the importance of prompt
follow-up to leads generated by e-mail.
Whether or not you personally rely on e-mail on a daily basis, you must
realize that many of the consumers who are using the web regularly consider
it indispensable. To these technologically savvy consumers, it is simply
incomprehensible that their genuine interest, expressed through e-mail,
would be ignored.
A few tips to keep potential commissions from slipping through your fingers:
Either check your e-mail every morning and each night, or have someone
else do it for you. You simply cannot afford to ignore potential leads in
any sales industry; at least not if you expect to stay in business.
If you have your own web site, contact your host or developer about
setting up an "auto-responder" that will immediately send a confirmation
of the consumer's request. Most consumers are willing to be reasonably
patient, as long as they know that their request is being addressed.
Whether you have your own site, or simply advertise on someone else's,
use an e-mail client like Eudora Pro to set up auto-response messages, too.
Again, there's no reason to keep the consumer in the dark, and with a
little thought and planning you can often answer the consumer's inquiry
with the appropriate information before you even read their e-mail yourself!
Whatever you do, realize that while technology may change the way we
communicate, certain aspects of the sales process remain the same. Namely,
the first person to respond to a consumer's inquiry will often be the one
to earn the sale and the resulting commission!
Check out these related topics:
How Virtual Agents Use E-mail
How To Qualify An On-Line Buyer
Seven Annoying E-mail No-No's
Ten Commandments of Effective Email Responding
Published: May 28, 1999
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Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Realty Times Staff only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.
