From Sphere Of Influence To Online Lead Generation

So you’ve finally done it?

You’ve built a steady real estate practice solely through word of mouth and referral business.

Congratulations! 

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They told you it would take a long time and a lot of hard work so what did you do?

You worked really hard for a really long time. Brilliant!

But that’s not enough, right? I mean sure your business is steady but every year you go to the big conventions and hear about agents who’ve grown a massive team and you want in. 

So what did they do? It seems like it’s always digital lead generation these days right?

So, it’s settled you’re going to transition your main source of business from Sphere Of Influence to online lead gen…

How? 

It’s simple actually, buying leads is the easy part, it’s the follow up that will make or break you. Of course, while you’re building this arm of your business you can’t lose the main source of income. And while we’re figuring things out, where are you buying leads from?

Okay, maybe it isn’t so simple. Let’s explore.

Figure Out Follow Up First

At Smart Alto, we’re kind of a big deal when it comes to follow up. Our founder used to be an ISA (set 10,000 appointments while he was) and we’ve built a company from the ground up to do exactly that for real estate agents.

Here are a few of the best practices we employ, they’re the ones that we think you can’t overlook or you’ll lose money in online lead gen.‍

Speed To Lead‍

A ubiquitous refrain in online lead conversion: Speed To Lead is a strategy that requires you to respond to your leads almost immediately.

In fact many independent studies have shown that lead response rates drop by a factor of 10 in just 5 minutes after the lead registers online. 

So if you respond to your leads just 30 minutes after a buyer registers online you are 10 times less likely to reach them.

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Text Over Phone Calls‍

I used to dial for dollars as an ISA but with the rise of robocalls and spam call centers the only thing ISAs dial for these days is to place a pizza order.

I don’t know a single person (besides salespeople of course “you never know, it could be a lead”) who still answer unknown numbers. Heck many people have features on their phones that block unknown numbers altogether.

Because of this texting has emerged as the crowned champion of online lead conversion over the past few years.‍

6 Attempts Minimum‍

Lastly, you’re going to need to be consistent.

We’ve found (and so have a few studies) that reaching out to a lead 6 times or more maximizes your chances of getting a response. You can’t stop too early or you’ll be leaving money on the table.

(Read more about the fundamental mistakes to avoid in online lead generation in our article 4 Reasons Your Calls, Text Messages and Emails Aren’t Getting You In Touch With Your Real Estate Leads). 

Don’t Lose What You Already Have

Very briefly, I just want to remind you how hard it was to build your business to where it is today.

Please don’t squander that.

Online lead generation can take months to become fruitful and if all you do is focus on building this new source of business you can quickly find that the thriving referral network you’ve built has run dry.

Make online lead generation an addition to your business, not a replacement for the tried and true.

Keep talking to your sphere, keep posting on social media, keep doing what works.

If following up with online leads gets too time-consuming, consider hiring Smart Alto to help you leverage this new undertaking while you focus on the most established parts of your business.

Commit To A Lead Source

One thing that can become a time-consuming rabbit hole if you let it is optimizing your online lead generation to find the “best” source of leads.

But as we explored in our article Are Cheap Real Estate Leads Costing You 6 Figures In GCI, the answer isn’t in the leads. It’s in the follow-up.

This is the secret that all of those Mega Agents that sit on stage at the big conventions play close to their chest.

See they have no problem sharing with you the dozens of lead sources they use because they know that any agent in that audience can go out and buy those leads today and still never close a deal.

That’s why we recommend you figure out follow up first, then once you get a strong follow-up system in place you can commit to 1 lead source.

Why just 1 lead source?

Specialization.

When you build your process around a central lead source, you can refine your purchasing strategy and create hyper-specific knowledge about the platform the leads are coming from.

That way when you get on a 15 Minute Phone appointment with your leads you can show that you are an expert and start building trust immediately.

(Steal our screenshots, examples and templates from our blog post 2 Things You Need To Get A 90% Appointment Show Up Rate With Real Estate Leads).

Smart Alto Is People, Processes and Systems In A Box

Hassan Riggs (our founder, the one who’s set over 10,000 real estate appointments) teaches a simple framework for helping agents build a massive fortune through online leads.

In short, using the X-Axis (number of leads you generate) and Y-Axis (number of closings you get from online leads. If you’re just getting started you may find yourself in the lower quadrant of the framework.

But Smart Alto was designed as a solution for P.P.S. or People, Processes and Systems, so when you find yourself in the quadrant of “Many Leads/ No Conversions” just know we have the solution for you.

People, Process and Systems‍

We always hire the best real human ISAs.

All of our ISAs are fluent english speakers in either the UK or the US. People.‍

Hassan made the BANTAR process, a script that we use to convert online leads into appointments.

And we've systematized an entire follow up program that our ISA’s use to make sure we convert as many of your leads as possible into 15 Minute phone appointments.

We put these appointments directly in your calendar.

Smart Alto is the authority in Real Estate lead conversion and that’s not an accident.

Download the entire Fortune Framework today and identify exactly where you are in the 4 Quadrants (spoiler alert: Many people find themselves in D-Cubed but have no idea what to do about it).

The entire download will show you exactly what to focus on regardless of what quadrant you find yourself in.

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