Converting Online Leads Into Clients

Once your website begins to generate new leads for you, the tough part is over. However, you still need to effectively convert those new leads into clients. There are several key differences between the average prospect and one from the Internet. Understanding these differences will save you time and frustration and most importantly will keep you from making the mistake of neglecting these valuable new leads.

The Online Consumer
Online leads usually represent people in the early stages of research who are just collecting information for a potential purchase. It's often anywhere from 6 months to over a year before a new lead is ready to sell or purchase their home.

Prospective online clients are generally in an information-gathering mindset. They're accustomed to collecting information freely and anonymously and are often reluctant to provide valid contact information. Because of this, many agents become frustrated with their online prospects and consider them a waste of time. In fact, some surveys indicate that as much as 90% of all agents don't respond to their online inquiries.

This is a huge mistake as statistics show that online homebuyers are every bit as likely to use a Realtor in their purchase. The key is to utilize the right tools to efficiently follow up with them regularly during the months after the initial contact.

Client Management Tools
First, you'll need to get a feel for how close your leads are to buying or selling their home and sort them into different groups accordingly. It's not practical to constantly call, mail, and email every single lead you get. You want to focus more on your hot leads that are almost ready to buy, but still maintain contact with the others to see how they're progressing.

A monthly newsletter is another good way to maintain contact with previous clients and leads who are still in the early stages of their home search. There are several companies offering professionally written newsletters that can be branded with your contact information. RealEstateABC, Realty Times, and Inman News all offer reasonably priced monthly newsletters. Some website providers can offer these products at a discounted rate through their partnerships with the provider. You should check with your website provider before purchasing these products or services directly from the vendors.

Prompt and Personal Response
You should check your email several times a day and respond to inquiries promptly. Auto responders have their role (which we will get to shortly) but you shouldn't rely on them to handle your general email accounts.

When someone submits a contact form through your website or sends you an email, they expect it to reach a live person and to receive a personal response. You don't want to disappoint them with a canned response to their specific questions and requests. The Internet is an impersonal and anonymous medium, but the real estate business is not. It's important that you take this opportunity to begin establishing a relationship with your visitors.

Your initial contact can very well determine whether your relationship will flourish. Always keep your replies courteous, professional and grammatically correct. Keep your emails concise but make sure they include all of the requested information and address all of your visitor's questions. You're probably not the only one the prospective client has contacted but if you can give a personal response that provides relevant information, you'll be way ahead of the pack.

For local prospects, it's a good idea to follow up with a phone call soon after. These prospects have more resources available to them and it's likely that they'll quickly be contacted by other agents.

Auto Responders
Auto responders are special email addresses that automatically reply with a prewritten message. You should generally only use auto responders to handle specific inquiries such as requests for market reports or a homebuyer's checklist. In this case, a visitor to your website may request to have an article emailed to them through an online form, and it would be automatically sent to them without your interaction.

The only time you should be using an auto responder for your general email is when you won't be able to return emails for an extended period of time. For example, if you're going on a 10 day trip, you can have an auto responder set up to let your clients know that you won't have email access until a certain date and to provide an alternate way of contacting you for emergencies.

Final Tips
Always include a link to your website in all emails
Never use ALL CAPS as it makes it a pain to read and is often perceived as shouting
Never email your clients and prospects by adding their names to the CC (carbon copy) field. Your clients and prospects do not want their email addresses shared with everyone on the list. Use BCC (blind carbon copy) instead, so the email addresses are hidden.
Make sure everyone on your email list can easily unsubscribe. Either a link or instructions on how to opt out should be included with every email.