Top performing real estate agents are often referred to as “rain makers” because of their ability to generate a consistent flow of new business. However, with the Internet’s ability to general new leads 24/7, being a great rainmaker is not so important any more. The capability to manage and harvest this Amazon river of leads has now become one of the most valuable skills an agent can possess —here’s why.

It used to be an agent had to work hard to obtain good leads. It often required months of working a “farm”, door knocking, cold-calling, maintaining stay-in-touch programs with their sphere of influence or previous clients and such. And, if the general market slows down (like it has recently) these sources tend to slow down as well.

The Internet however, never slows down and never gets tired. It continues to deliver qualified leads 24/7 regardless of current market conditions. This makes it the most prolific and reliable source of new business in the industry —period! And, there are two primary sources of Internet leads, your own Website and from third parties. Generating leads from your own Website is a topic I have covered extensively in this column, so let’s focus a bit on the third party lead generation services.

There are several different categories of these kinds of services, as follows:

• Franchise-Based – RE/MAX’s LeadStreet, Coldwell Banker’s LeadRouter and Prudential’s affiliation with Yahoo are all examples of online lead sources provided by franchise organizations for the benefit of the affiliated agents.
• Fee-Based Third-Party Lead Generation Services – including HomeGain, Reply!, Housevalues, etc. These companies spend a great deal of money to capture online real estate consumers and then sell them back to you as leads.
• Free Lead Generation Services – this is a relatively new hybrid lead generation model where the lead generation company typically makes their money via advertising revenues yet provides resulting leads free to agents who want to take advantage of them. The most recent of these is Zillow Home Q&A™. This allows any agent to answer consumer questions about any property (even if another agent has it listed) and therefore become the area “expert”. This service costs nothing to either the consumer or participating agents.
• Online Advertising – any number of ways you can pay to advertise your services online.

Clearly, thanks to these kinds of services and/or a well-targeted Website, online lead generation is not a problem. A much bigger problem (some would say “headache”) is what to do with the leads once they have them.

Successful Harvesting Is All About Speaking The Language of the IEC

Most agents have never been trained to work with the Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC). To do so successfully means to have an understanding of human behavior within the online context. Here are some of the fundamental principles of that behavior:

• The IEC Is In Control – because of their anonymity, the online consumer is in control and likes it that way. The more you try to take control (as in a typical sales situation) the more you will push them away.
• The Value Their Privacy – take every opportunity to reassure them that their privacy will be absolutely protected by you and your staff.
• Only 5% Are Ready To Do Something Now – 19 out of 20 online leads are currently in the “information gathering stage” and are typically not ready to open up about who they are or explicitly declare their needs. These folks are easily converted to transactions, IF you know how to nurture them to the point at which they are ready to move.

How you first respond to an online inquiry (regardless of its source) can make or break your chances of ever converting them to new business. And frankly, this is where most agents typically blow it —big time! To alleviate this problem, I have created two very special e-mail “scripts” which I call “critical first response” e-mails. These have been carefully designed to be totally consistent with the wants, needs and behavior of the IEC. Agents who have used these have reported an almost miraculous shift in the attitudes of the online consumer. The result is that they find it is much easier to create a relationship with them and convert them to a transaction.

There are two versions of this script, one if no phone number is provided in the inquiry, the other if there was, as follows:

• No Phone Number Given – CLICK HERE to download the critical first response e-mail script to use if the inquiry provided no phone number;
• Phone Number Provided – CLICK HERE to download second version of the critical first response e-mail script to use if the online inquiry provided their phone number. NOTE: DO NOT call an online inquiry before sending this script —you risk alienating the online prospect if you do!

While these scripts have proven to work like magic, they really are just the first step. Remember, 95% of your online leads are not ready to do something now. Most are 3, 6, 12 or more months out before they are ready to take action. Here is how you can “own” them, when they are…

Your Own Privately Stocked Fish Pond

If you have ever done any fishing you know that unless the fish you caught is at least a certain minimum size, it must be thrown back into the water. Now think about your chances of ever catching that same fish again once it has grown to legal size. Not very good is it?

Yet, that is what the vast majority of agents do when they get an online lead that isn’t ready to move now. They simply “throw it back” or worse, ignore it. Now imagine instead you had your very own private fish pond. And every time you caught a fish that was not quite ready, instead of throwing it back, you put it in your special pond. And even better, you had someone there tending to the fish all the time, feeding and nurturing them until they were ready, at which time they just hand them to you. This means you are practically guaranteed to convert all the “fish” you catch into business, at some time or other.

The most effective way to accomplish this is to hire a Virtual Assistant who is adept at managing online leads. This means they will continue to “feed” your fish / leads with appropriate drip e-mail until they are ready to be taken over by you. This strategy allows you to focus on listing, selling and negotiating yet guarantees a high online lead conversion rate. In essence, you get to enjoy the best of both worlds, without being stuck in front of a computer.

It’s All About The Harvesting

Thanks to the Internet, rainmaking skills are going the way of the buggy whip. Online leads are a dime a dozen (unless you foolishly choose to pay more for them :o). Lead management and conversion skills are far more valuable (i.e. “harvesting”). Those agents that learn to be great online lead farmers will reap more business than they ever thought possible, no matter what is happening to the general market.

NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.

Mr. Internet is the alter ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He is dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. You will see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com

This article is reprinted in its entirety from the May 2007 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and IEC™ and Ask Mr. Internet! ™ are trademarks of RUSSER Communications.