It seems as though many agents don’t value Internet leads because they see them as “tire kickers” not truly looking to buy or sell or do anything with a real estate agent. You’ve probably had leads that claim they are “just curious” and have no intentions of moving. Or maybe you’ve gotten a lead that was a bit put off at being contacted by you, because they didn’t want to talk to an agent. We understand this can be frustrating and make you want to scrap Internet lead generation all together, but that mentality, in turn, frustrates us.

And then we realized something: we UNDERSTAND the Internet lead’s mentality and what’s going through their heads, and we dropped the ball when we assumed that our clients did as well. If you understand the frame of mind the lead you receive is in, you’ll understand the value of the lead and how best to follow up with it.

The first thing you need to realize is that the mentality of leads generated online and those generated by normal prospecting is DIFFERENT. The fact is, Internet leads tend to be more of a long term prospect than immediate business. Most online consumers begin researching information on the Internet months or even years before they’re ready to make a move.

Which means they’re just not ready to commit to an agent at that point. And let’s face it, for one reason or another, people have begun distrusting real estate agents. Think about the feeling you get when you consider working with a lawyer, politician or used car salesman…doesn’t exactly give you the warm fuzzies, does it? Well, that’s how today’s consumers feel about real estate agents. We don’t know why or when it started, we just know it’s a fact and that agents need to acknowledge that fact and overcome it.

There are two big advantages to Internet leads:

1. Most of the people who fill out lead forms to get information may not want a real estate agent right away, but they DO want the information only an agent can provide – they just don’t always realize it. So these people may not contact an agent right away for the info, but WOULD feel comfortable going on a more neutral and anonymous site like GetMyHomesValue.com for their information. That way, the lead still comes to you! So by subscribing to a lead generation service you’re getting the opportunity to work leads that would never have come your way otherwise.
2. Since many of these Internet leads are long term prospects, you get them in the early stages of their decision, which means you are the first and only agent to contact them, giving you a leg up on any competition that may come along. You can begin a steady follow up campaign to send all kinds of information and little gift’s the lead’s way to become their trusted expert in the field of real estate. By dealing with the lead from stage one, there’s no outside influences from other agents, and if you do your follow up right, you’ll be the natural choice when they’re ready to contract with an agent, whether it’s 6 months, a year or two years from the date you first got the lead!

Yes, some leads can be ignorant. Yes, some leads may yell at you when you identify yourself as a real estate agent. But that is yet another advantage of being a member of our service! You don’t even have to TELL them right away that you’re an agent. Instead, approach them as a representative of GetMyHomesValue.com. Get into a comfortable conversation before letting them know you’re also a real estate agent. Will a couple of the leads still be upset? Maybe. But then you send them a little gift in the mail, apologize for any inconvenience and start sending them mailers anyway! The point is being unforgettable to these leads!

Still don’t understand Internet lead mentality and the usefulness of a lead generation service? How about an analogy then?

If you have a used car that you’re JUST thinking about selling within the next year or so and you wanted to get it’s value, would you take it to a car dealership straight away? Probably not, because you’re not quite ready to trade it in! But you WOULD probably go to Kelley Blue Book to get an estimate – because you want to remain anonymous until you’re ready to sell, right?

What if once you did that you received a card thanking you for using the site and a $10 gift card to a gas station from someone at a local dealership? And then at least once a month you received a little holiday card or a birthday card or just useful information about automobiles from that same dealership?

When it came time to sell your car, don’t you think you’d wind up going with the dealership that has been actively providing you with little gifts and useful information? Probably! (And if you answered no, we wouldn’t mind knowing why!)

Now put yourself on the other side of the equation. If you’re a car salesman, wouldn’t you like to know all the people in your area who are going on KelleyBlueBook.com to get a value? And if you did know, wouldn’t you find it a good idea to introduce yourself to them somehow and start following up with them, sending them useful information, etc? If you want your business to be as successful as possible you would!

It just makes sense, right? Right!