Is Lead Generation Dead?
In a Web 2.0 world, my guess is it’s getting there. You’ve got a younger, savvy generation getting into the market (see Meet the new real estate customer), a more cautious marketplace (burned by the bubble bursting), a wider array of free advertising-supported tools now available for people (Zillow, Trulia, Frontdoor, CyberHomes, etc.) and new ways for agents to connect with consumers directly (blogging, social media marketing). Besides, who wants to be captured and dripped on anyway… it sounds like something the CIA would do.
In any case, from the minds at 1000Watt Consulting, here’s a look at what some real estate consumers might be thinking on the subject.
(h/t Inman News Blog)
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Andrew | Jan 4, 2008 | Reply
Good blog title, it definitely stood out in my sea of RSS feeds. Lead generation is not dead. Customer expectations have changed, and having listing information on your website isn’t enough anymore. Customer’s want neighborhood data, crunched in new and different ways. GenX and Millennials like to do a lot of research. Blogging helps users interpret data, which raises the importance of agent blogs. As long as they dont blog about their pets, politics, etc… But tools will exist in the future that help users crunch data. For this, customers will register for access. Therefore lead generation is not dead for those who facilitate knowledge and data sharing.
John Clinebell | Jan 4, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think that people mind being “contacts” as long as:
1. What you are immediately offering them in return for their information is quite valuable.
2. The messages you send to them afterwards are high-quality and infrequent (no more than one blast per week).
The challenge has been, and will continue to be, offering unique content and services that people will naturally take interest in. That in turn will set you apart from the rest of the people who have you on a ‘drip schedule’.
Pensacola Real Estate News | Jan 4, 2008 | Reply
I am in agreement with Andrew. I just think the concept of lead generation is changing with technology. The old school agents are going to miss out because they are only showcasing themselves, and not really providing any information that has any value.
Sara B | Jan 4, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think lead generation is dead, real estate professionals will always need leads, whatever their form.
But I do think paying for leads is on its way out. Consumers are smart enough to know when their name has been sold and will react to that arrangement appropiately. They want to control the real estate process and decide who contacts them, how they are communicated with and when they ready to engaged with someone.
Mike | Jan 4, 2008 | Reply
Not that it would ever happen, but if people would stop paying for leads, they would disappear.
I did talk to an agent who paid for PFC about 3 years ago spending many of thousands but tripled his money. He hasn’t repeated that expensive feat as the internet has changed
Sol Sek | Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
I might add, “is third-party lead generation dead?”
That answer is YES.
Lead generation, blogs, AVMs, and non-proprietary products can be easily cloned by agents.
Lane Bailey | Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
I just read earlier this week over on Bloodhound (I think it was Greg?!?) that the video wasn’t actually consumers… And, it was actually an ad for 1000watt’s services…
But, I think it comes down to how we treat the people that are leads, contacts and prospects. If we treat them like they are only leads, contacts and prospects, then they will become someone else’s leads, contacts and prospects.
Daniel Bates | Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Sol Sek summed it up better, the public has caught on to the 1000’s of real estate sites that have been created to simply capture their information while providing no real service and then sell them to someone, who isn’t capable of capturing their information themselves.
Every agent and every market are different, so individual efforts to capture leads will have different results, but buying leads for people who never intended to be sold is a waste of money.
The video reiterated some very basic needs that todays consumer feel. Respond to those needs in a professional manner and you will be successful.
Marc Davison | Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
The video is not an ad for 1000Watt Consulting. It was however, produced by 1000Watt as an audio blog using real people (they are not actors) to reiterate a sensibility that prevails out there in the world. Of course they are consumers. Aren’t we all consumers? Most all of them own property and have had a first hand experience with real estate. Everything they said, they felt.
I defy anyone to stand up and say that being lead generated, funneled into a drip marketing campaign and incubated is the way they themselves would like to be treated. We all hang up on telemarketers, delete anything that remotely looks like spam from our email and are reluctant to provide private information about ourselves to others under most circumstances.
As consumers we are more demanding than ever. We seek superior everything, from product quality to customer service. This is a shift that has lead to a trading up phenomenon that continues to reward businesses who build great ladders of benefits for its customers.
The video is meant to be a gentle reminder that some of what real estate does and thinks about regarding customers could use a make over. It’s a nudge to real estate that it’s customers want something better from their experience. Therein lies the great value proposition often elusive in our industry.
Greg’s canine instinct to scratch and claw at anything he didn’t think of himself should not get in the way of what this message is about. Each statement offers real estate an opportunity to seek a new path to toward customer acquisition and relationship building.
Expectations are being set by other entities outside real estate who have found new ways to talk to and treat consumers. As a result, their business flourishes.
It would be a shame if all anyone gets out of this was that we created an advertisement for ourselves.
Hawaii Life | Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Lead generation is NOT dead…yet. But we’re working on it!!!
Dee Copeland | Jan 7, 2008 | Reply
Ok, I have a few things here. At first, I had to say that I say “Hurray! Sing it brother!”and wholeheartedly agreed.
Then, I thought about it. The fact is that, if email drip campaigns are so bad and consumers don’t want them, then why do they respond to them?
1. Gooder Group’s Rainmaker Central provides content that keeps buyers informed, updated, and on top of things. They sign up for the lists and receive it via opt in.
2. My email newsletter, TexasRealEstateUpdate.com, rarely has opt outs.
3. My Top Producer Market Snapshot has been implemented since October and hasn’t had one opt out.
I think the difference is in how targeted the communication is to the “lead/contact/person”. Brian Buffini’s coaching system teaches us to send “items of interest” to the lead to deepen our relationship.
I’d be out of business if I didn’t stay in contact with leads who only wanted pricing on a home. I try to send relevant, targeted, specific news that I think they’d want to have.
That’s the difference. You provide resources and tools that people want and that they ASK FOR. Then, you deepen trust and the relationship by staying on top of it. True lead generation is actually “lead cultivation”, like tilling a field to grow crops.
Dimma | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think Lead Generation is dead. How can we say that the Lead generation is dead as we are working on that. so never think like that.
Brett Wilson | Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
I think websites are more often used these days but I don’t think lead generation is dead.
Destin Real Estate | May 11, 2008 | Reply
Lead generation is not dead, but you had better give the “lead” or better stated, the consumer or customer, what they want or you are wasting your and the customers time.
Lead generation is just a means to connecting consumers with trained professions that are ready and able to assist them in finding the best values.
Let’s remember that Real Estate Agents do a lot more than match buyers to sellers. There is a lot in between that only real estate agents can provide.
If you treat your customers like leads you don’t deserve them!
Bob Martin | Jun 19, 2008 | Reply
I am agree with Daniel Bates because Fluctuations in prices are also driven by supply and demand, which in turn are determined to a large extent on investor psychology. Seeing a stock rise in price may cause investors to jump on the bandwagon and this rush to buy drives the price even faster. A falling price can have the same effect. These are short term fluctuations. prices tend to normalize after such runs. Hence, to predict possible upturns or downturns in the stock markets, it becomes imperative to track and analyze deal information.
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Adam | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
Traditional pay-per-lead generation is rapidly disappearing, especially within the real estate market. Lead-generation today is all about building an audience, creating compelling content, and placing actionable listings in front of your target customers. The web is too distributed today to have one or two web services that hold the majority of the leads.