The online lead generation industry is shifting its focus from how to get real estate agents online to how to capture leads for them. Realtor.com's new XLerator blind referral program promises to deliver hot leads to Realtors who are customers of its I-LEAD Web page product. Will the strategy work?

According to Jonathan Greenblatt, director of product management for Realtor.com, it will, because the company considered every angle: the changing Internet climate, how to leverage its traffic into leads, customer behavior and privacy issues, Realtor expectations, commission protection, and competitors to name only a few. "We try to empower consumers to make a decision," says Greenblatt. "The system is anonymous to respect their privacy, there are multiple checkpoints where they can share their information."

Realtor.com doesn't collect the visitors' e-mail addresses, insists Greenblatt. So how do Realtors get the leads? Visitors are invited at various site locations to share their search information anonymously with local Realtors who submit profiles of themselves and offers of service. When the visitors return to Realtor.com, they can view Realtors' offers through cookie technology. "We don't e-mail them. We don't ask them to register, so they never get spam. They only see offers when they come back to Realtor.com," he says.

XLerator is a by-permission lead generator, a value-add-on for I-LEAD agents who have purchased Web page lead generation subscriptions (about $300 to $700.) An I-LEAD Web page assures listing agents that when a customer visits their listings that they will be prominently featured as the contact. Otherwise, the brokers' contact information is featured.

How does it work? I-LEAD Realtors who have opted into the XLerator system, can view the anonymous buyer and seller searches and use them to offer their services. First, agents opt into the system through their Realtor.com i-marketing page. Passwords and MLS ID's enable the agents to fill out online profiles and prepare offers which can include invitations to view other listings. Offers can be tracked for response, to see if the prospect has viewed them.

While the agent profiles are done in an easy-to-use format so that low-tech agents can use the system, they offer plenty of opportunity for the agent to steer the visitor to their personal marketing solutions such as Web sites and online newsletters so that they can get up-to-the-minute local market information. That means that offers are made on the strength of the agent's marketing and professional skills, and not on commissions, a key competitive point for XLerator, points out Greenblatt.

"We are in business of supporting the Realtor community, so with that said," says Greenblatt, "if you look at the way others compare agents, this is better. One site has a table where the agent has to provide their commissions and the consumer evaluates agents on who charges the lowest price. XLerator allows agents to compete on service."

The new tool also allows buyers' agents to compete.

A major criticism of Realtor.com's advertising strategies in the past has been that the site is too listings-centric. If an agent has few or no listings, or only represents buyers, the only opportunity to be found on the site is in the Find a Realtor directory. "Many consumers don't realize how much a Realtor can add, particularly a buyer's agent,"says Greenblatt. "We did market research and knew that buyers' agents weren't buying I-LEAD pages. Now they say they have a reason to buy an I-Lead package."

Realtor.com has also learned another lesson - give Realtors flexibility. "The agents can compose their own messages, and we allow them to display their professional designations," explains Greenblatt. "They can also access template messages and edit them, and save them to reuse again and again.

While will XLerator work? The agent has nothing to lose and everything to gain if s/he is already an I-LEAD customer. XLerator is a free upgrade to the lead generation package. Also, the real estate industry is built on farming, and some agents spend thousands a year farming certain geographic areas. Instead of sending thousands of direct mail pieces to a large majority of households, with XLerator, agents are sending offers to prospects who have qualified themselves through their search activities.

"From the Realtor's point of view, it's simple and saves time," says Greenblatt. "They can see that a person has searched a certain community for homes in a certain price range, and we attach a unique numeric identifiers to every consumer. You are sending a customized offer tailored to their unique needs."

Published: May 29, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.