John was a naval officer and later an airline pilot prior to getting into real estate. When he entered the real estate business, he decided to focus on web-based lead generation, and now, 40% of his business comes from the internet. Birmingham’s population is l.4 million and his average sales price is $200,000.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY
Commitment - John stays committed to his vision and beliefs during the down times and doesn’t allow anything to get in the way of his focus.
ASSISTANTS/TEAM
John has one assistant and three buyer agents. Each of John’s buyer agents has signed a contract and understands their Plan Of Action and agrees to return calls in a certain period of time etc. Further, they are required to make a certain number of calls every day.
SYSTEMS
John has systems for every part of his business. Every component has a manual with scripts and a checklist. As an example, a buyer’s agent will take a prospective buyer through 15 specific, initial questions to pre-qualify them. There are two buyer agents in the office at any given time. John provides a monthly update on the market to his sellers.
Additionally, at the time that they take the listing, they are asked if they would prefer to be updated by phone or email and respond accordingly.
MARKETING
Web-based lead generation is the crux of John’s efforts. He started by focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click. John now has a dedicated team for this effort. John’s advice is to determine what market you want to focus on and then determine what phrases people are using in their real estate searches and then contact a company like www.netbiz.com for pricing related to your website. John spends less than $1,000 per month for the system that is generating 40% of his business.
John uses call-capture technology and has very clear systems in the office for their effective use. It begins with inquiries being responded to immediately by one of his buyer agents in the office. (John carries 30-40 listings at any given time). John creates websites for each of his listing addresses and has the 800 number there for call capture. He points out that they often continue to get lead calls after the property has sold. John uses radio advertising, and has found it to be tremendously effective.
KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS
Web Leads -His Web-based lead generation focus is based on reports that 3 out of 4 people find a home through the Internet and that 72% of those people do not have a Realtor.
Pricing - On his listings, John has built in price adjustments that kick in every 30 days at 3% each time.
