The Internet Buyer/Seller's Clock is Different From Yours

One of the most frequent complaints that I hear from my clients is that the leads from their website never pan out into anything. People fill out their lead capture form, but when they try to call or email them to follow up, they are met with disinterest or silence.

But internet leads are fundimentally different from traditional real estate leads, and unless you start developing a long-term follow-up strategy to handle them, you will lose out on this very important and valuable source of business.

One of the more popular recent statistics claims that only 3% of Internet leads turn into closed deals.

Does this mean that only 3 percent of Internet seller leads sell their house?

Of course not. It's more like 30 or 40 percent…but only if you follow through with your follow-up.

According to realtytimes.com, of more than 1 million leads captured online:

7.3% sold within 3 months
22% sold within 12 months
40% sold within 28 months

Rory Wilfong and Dave Conklin, founders of GetMyHomesValue.com, have this advice:

"Agents just have to remember there's a door to every house and if it's not knocked on, they have no idea if it's a good or bad lead," cautions Wilfong, "You have to shake that person's hand, then be the judge."

"If Rory & I were to become active agents again, we would subscribe to a lead generation service," adds Conklin, "but we wouldn't expect to make any money for six months. The problem is most agents expect to make money next month with the people they meet today. It rarely happens that way. The Internet has made it easier for buyers and sellers to find agents very early in the game, whereas a person used to just come to the real estate office when they were ready to act."

What does this mean for you, as a real estate agent? Persistance is key in making internet leads pay off for you. Internet leads will close, but not necessarily in the timeframe that you are expecting. In order to incubate the lead until they are ready, it is imperative that you have good lead follow-up systems in place.

Drip email campaigns are a MUST!