How do generate leads?
It’s a question Shirley, a new real estate agent, keeps asking. With most of her week devoted to carting clients around to homes, Shirley has little time left for networking functions. In the past, these events have amounted to eat-and-greet sessions, but little else. Her website, she hoped, would be the ticket to a stable of new leads. She assumed a contact page would be enough. All the leads attributed to the website so far have amounted to nothing more than window shoppers, which is even worse than the regular Sunday open house crowd.
While a contact page is necessary for any website, Shirley found out it is not a strategic and targeted way to generate leads. A more focused approach increases the interactivity of your website to boost leads.
Put your website to work!
Understand the mindset of web visitors. If a visitor is in a hurry they will likely go to the home page and that’s it, while other visitors with more time on their hands will look around to see what else is on the site. Make it easy for both kinds of visitors to get more information about your products and services by building a sign-in sheet directly into your home page and at strategic locales throughout your website. Be sure and ask targeted questions on the sign-in form to better understand your visitors and determine if they’re your ideal kind of prospect.
What are common web mechanisms to generate leads?
Contests, discounts, free giveaways and refer-a-friend programs are great ways to generate leads. The key is to offer a viable incentive for the prospect so they are more than willing to provide their personal information. Be sure and keep these promotional efforts focused on the regions you cover.
Don’t forget about your existing contacts list.
While this might sound obvious, it’s a premise lost on Shirley. She quickly dismissed people she met at eat-and-greet events and Sunday open houses. A contact is a contact and always will be a contact! Yes, the repetition is on purpose. The point is any contact can be mined on your website and in email campaigns to determine if there is further opportunity for business.
Consider these methods to drive contacts to your website:
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Add a special mailing to describe a new feature on your website or a free online newsletter. Once they get to your website ask some very specific questions to pre-qualify the contact.
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Market your email and website address on business cards, ads, flyers, promotional giveaways, etc.
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Include your website and email addresses on your voicemail message.
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When you meet a new prospect be sure and ask them for their email address.
Build a referral system
Happiness breeds more happiness. When a client is pleased with your product or service ask for a referral. Do this enough and it becomes a habit. Take this seriously. It’s not just a passing favor you ask a client at the end of a meeting. Be deliberate and set up a time just for referrals. Keep track of the names provided and your efforts to turn prospects into clients.
Remember, clients are not the only sources for referrals. Consider forming strategic alliances. See who in your circle of contacts has a business that is complimentary to yours. Establish a mutually beneficial plan to share leads with one another. To further qualify these leads drive them to your web site.
How to qualify prospects with a web based approach?
Offer to deliver value based content. The incentive only applies if the visitor answers your pre-qualifying questions. If you are a realtor like Shirley for instance, you could ask key questions to determine the amount a homeowner is qualified on a loan, the kind of home they want to buy, number of bedrooms, style preferences, and location. Basically, you ask the questions you need to determine if the prospect is your kind of customer.
