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LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVEDLEAD MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICESFOR RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERSCONVERT MORE OF YOUR ONLINE LEADSPOWERED BYLANTRAX.COM

LEAD MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICESFOR RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERSOver the past eight years LanTrax has worked with Residential Real Estate Brokers providing leadmanagement software to help collect, qualify, track, assign, and convert leads from online sources.Through the course of working with these Real Estate Brokers, we’ve had the unique experience ofobserving and helping to configure and implement best practices that have resulted in higherconversion percentages.This white paper will focus on the common best practices that companies have implementedwhich have resulted in higher conversions of leads received online. We will be looking at it fromtwo perspectives:1. Company culture and expectations: The importance for a Real Estate Broker to clearly define theguidelines and expectations of how internet leads should be handled by staff and sales associates.2. Using technology: How using a software program helps maintain the best practices forsuccessful lead management.LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate BrokersCOMPANY CULTURE AND EXPECTATIONSON HOW LEADS ARE HANDLEDA website that lists properties for sale and allows consumers to gather information about what listingsare currently on the market is standard practice for Real Estate Brokers. However, there are certainpractices that separate those who are successfully generating, capturing and converting web visitorsinto customers from their websites. Web design, search capabilities and tools that promote lead captureare sciences in and of themselves. Our focus is what actions the Real Estate Broker takes after a leadinquires on a property to have a better chance at conversion. The number one question to ask yourselfif you are looking to do a better job in converting the web visitors that are taking the time to contact youis, “what’s my strategy?” If your strategy doesn’t include the exact details on how fast you should be following-up, who the lead is routed to after initial contact and the different touch points after initial contactthen you need to read on.Typically we run into two common scenarios that companies practice when they receive a lead online:1. Leads that inquire on an agent’s listing get routed directly to that listing agent.2. Leads that inquire on an outside broker’s listing get routed to a company email that is monitored byan individual and then distributed to sales associates. Many times sales associates who are on “floorLEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate Brokerstime” will receive these leads as they come in.In most cases, the lead management strategy for the company ends there. The lead is generated,routed to an agent, and any transparency around what happens next is non-existent.This is where companies that have made a conscious decision to implement a strategy that tracks allleads from acquisition to close can separate themselves from the competition and it all starts withcompany culture.THE CASE FOR AN INTERNET LEADS TEAMA broker’s website should be treated as a marketing and sales tool that drives business to that broker.Allowing consumers to easily search for the type of home they’re interested in or to use tools on the sitethat will notify them when a new property they’re interested in comes onto the market are great waysto keep potential buyers on your site. When that potential home buyer has a question or is interestedenough in a property to make an inquiry is really where you can turn those marketing efforts into actualsales. However, it’s what happens after that inquiry is made that sets apart those who are successful atconverting online inquiries. Ultimately, the lead is going to be routed to an agent whether it is upon initialsubmission or shortly afterwards. Either way, it is essential for the agent following up with the internetlead to be prepared to take that potential client through the steps to buying or selling a home.LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate BrokersIMPLEMENT AN INTERNET TEAM OF SALES ASSOCIATESWHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE WEB LEADSNot all sales associates are created equal when it comes to dealing with the Internet consumer and not all sales associates want tobother with the follow-up that is involved in trying to get the internet lead converted into a customer. Additionally, the ability to communicate with a consumer that wants to use email, text messages,instant messenger and social media to communicate is a skill setthat not all sales associates share. Companies that have identifiedsales associates who have the skills to stay in contact with a leadthat inquired online through the use of social media and electroniccommunication are generally more successful in conversion. Totake it a step further, companies that require training on how todeal with internet leads show an even higher success rate. Finally,companies that implement a strict set of guidelines to remain eligible to receive leads see even greater success when it comes tolead conversion percentages.LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVEDCompanies that requiretraining on how to deal withinternet leads show an evenhigher success rate.

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate BrokersTHE MAIN COMPONENTS OF SUCCESSFULLYIMPLEMENTING AN INTERNET LEADS TEAM1. Internet Lead Coordinator(s): An Internet Lead Coordinator is an individual or team whose sole responsibility is to track leads generated online, sales associates assigned to leads and agent follow-upsto those leads. They also may have the responsibility of monitoring data and trends and make decisionson how to continuously improve lead conversion percentages. This person or team can also play therole of “lead scrubber” as well. Many companies have had success when they first scrub a lead beforeit’s assigned to an agent, which can help to better qualify leads that are interested in working with anagent versus just asking a general question.2. Make it a privilege to receive internet leads: As mentioned before, not all sales associates in yourcompany will have the same success rate in closing internet leads. Identifying sales associates whoagree to abide by company “lead follow-up guidelines” when a lead is assigned to them is the first step.Setting criteria to continue to receive leads is also an important part. Some examples: Sales associates must attend training sessions held by the Internet Lead Coordinator(s). Sales associates must have a certain amount of closings to continue to receive leads.LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate Brokers Sales associates must follow-up with leads in a certain amount of time. Sales associates must use a smart phone and be able to receive emails/text messagesand access a mobile web browser on their phone.3. Set follow-up guidelines: Timely follow-up is an essential component to converting leads. The fasteryou can have a human contact the lead upon receiving their request the greater chance you will haveconverting that lead. Many companies have implemented an initial follow-up rule that requires an agentto respond to a lead request within fifteen minutes. The Lead Coordinator acting as “lead scrubber” canalso help with initial contact. Once a lead has been assigned to an agent and the agent has agreed toaccept that lead, setting time frames on when the agent is required to check back in with updates isvery important. First off, you’re letting your sales associates know that their follow-up attempts are being measured. Secondly, this will help sales associates stay accountable to the leads being assigned tothem. If sales associates know that they need to abide by the company’s Internet Team Guidelines thereis a less of a chance leads are ignored.4. Charge Referral Fees: Investing in a web site, Internet Lead Coordinator position or positions, anda system to help track leads, assignments and follow-ups cost money. A way to recoup these costsand turn your Internet Lead Team into a Profit Center is by charging a referral fee on leads that are assigned out to sales associates when they close. Broker’s should easily be able to justify this referral feeLEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate Brokersbecause they’re spending the money to drive traffic to their corporate web site, investing in employeeswhose job it is to help scrub and better qualify leads for sales associates, and investing in a system tohelp manage the entire process.LEAD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARESo far, we have reviewed what Real Estate Brokers who have had success in converting web leadshave implemented in regards to how they expect leads to be handled by staff and sales associates.Now, the challenge becomes finding a solution that can automatically collect all of your leads into onecentral database, track which sales associates have been assigned leads, track how long it is takingthem to accept those leads and how long it is taking them to follow-up with those leads. Additionally, asolution should allow you to look at the data you’re collecting from a high level to determine areasfor improvement.Fortunately, there are software options that can help you keep track of your leads, assignments,follow-ups and more.LEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVED

Lead Management Best Practices for Residential Real Estate BrokersWHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SOFTWARE SOLUTION1. The ability to automatically receive leads from all your sources into your lead management software: If you’re generating alarge quantity of leads, you don’t want to spend all day manuallyentering those leads into a database. A lead managementsolution that has the ability to automatically accept any leadfrom any source is a huge time saver and helps to automatethe lead assignment process.2. Different lead assignment options: The software you chooseshould be flexible enough so you can test different assignmentmethods. The most successful companies are constantly tryingnew processes to see if they can improve their results. Experimenting with different assignment rules is an example of how testing different processes may lead to better results. For example, you maywant to pick a specific lead source that is auto-assigned directly tosales associates on your Internet Leads Team versus another sourcethat you have your Lead Coordinator scrub and manually assign.The software should also be able to put a time limit on how longan agent has to accept a lead. After a certain amount of time, if theLEAD MANAGEMENT EVOLVEDYou don’t want to spend allday manually entering leadsinto a database.