What is your lead intake process?

Question

Hey BP,

So I'm just wondering what your set up is for those of you that do a lot of marketing on this particular forum. I'm looking for the specifics, as much as anyone can provide.

Let me provide a quick example from today and try tell you what I'm talking about and the problem I'm having.

First, if you're not using a service, how much time do you spend with each lead? How aggressively do you filter them? When we send larger mailers what ends up happening, since I'm taking the calls, is that I only chase the ones that initially seem motivated, but more and more after a few years of doing this it is the follow up that really seems more important, and I feel like I'm not interfacing with leads well enough because they seem like junk at the time they call.

Today, for example, I touched based with a seller who my team had cold called. They had connected and sent me the summary sheet. Free and clear, vacant and slightly distressed duplex. I know the area, and know that I'd like to be at least 30k under what he currently wants for it based on his description of the property via phone, etc.

BUT, what do you do with one like this? I can't set up appointments for every unmotivated seller call I get, but you also don't know who will come round later. (On this particular one, there were other family tensions mentioned that makes me think it's worth putting in the follow up though).

So a few questions, to you marketing gurus one here:

1. Are you taking the calls any more?

2. What is your lead escalation process? For example, if someone else is taking the call, what needs to be satisfied in order for an appointment to be set?

3. Are you doing all the due diligence on the leads? For example, if someone else is answering and doing the initial interface, are you still pulling comps and doing the follow ups?

Thanks for any advice I get back here. We'll be figuring it out this year but as we start sending more mail it's a problem I'm already anticipating and don't want to get stuck in the problem like I did the last year or two.

Best,

JTM

Adrien C. · Answer

In the past (like up to a month ago), my acquisition guy and I took most of the incoming calls (30 or so a week). What we couldn’t get went to PatLive. We screened the appointments and went to who we thought had high motivation and the ability to sell from an equity perspective. After 3 years of 30 leads a week, we found we spent most of our time in the follow up game and our appointment time was lacking. We hired an in-house lead assistant to deal with all the incoming leads. The leads and follow up wilL stay in her lane until an appointment is set. We told her to set the appointment if they call and want to sell regardless of motivation level and asking price. If they are part of the sub 1% calling in, there’s something there but maybe they aren’t showing their cards. My acquisition guy is way better at finding the need in person so it makes sense to go on the appointments now especially since he has the time now. Even on stuff we don’t buy on the spot, we try to get a few regerrrals to people they know who may want to sell cash.

Chris Mason · Answer

I'm not a Realtor, so take this with a grain of salt. For one like this I probably would set an appointment, but I'm setting it in my office so that I'm not driving anywhere. Realtors like to drive all over town 5 hours a day, and that's cool for folks that are serious, but I think a LOT of you would be a lot more productive if you used something like this as a tool to weed out "not ready today, but maybe someday" from "ya I'm not doing squat, not even leaving my couch."

It's a little different for me as a lender, but I learned very VERY early on while driving all over the place from Timbuktu to East Oakland to Vallejo that someone who isn't motivated enough to either a) come to my office or b) upload a W2 and some paystubs and other paperwork, isn't a good use of my time - my conversion rate while I was the "mobile mortgage man" was incredibly low, and my hours worked was ridiculous. You as a Realtor don't have an equivalent of "upload a W2 and some paystubs," so it would just be your sense for their motivation level as someone who has been around a while. If you aren't feeling the motivation, then they are either driving to you, or you are moving on dot com. The 1 in 50 times where this simple litmus test gets it wrong isn't worth the time suck represented by the other 49 times.

Those that WILL drive to your office even though you previously didn't sense any motivation, it is probably worth your time to run a full CMA, offer them coffee, and start that relationship. That drive is itself evidence of previously undetected motivation.

Again, not a Realtor. Just my $0.02 as someone that wants to see my Realtor partners succeed.

Account Closed · Answer

I'm not a realtor but I have bought and sold my properties by myself for 25 years. No real estate agents involved. I tried using virtual assistants but found they didn't have the skill set I required. That is my fault, not theirs. You have to be able to turn in a "no" into a "yes" over the phone, not just take information.

I always "qualify" the lead by asking a few simple questions. I start off with asking for a general description of the property and if they have a value in mind. They are always wrong on the value but that's a different conversation. I let them speak for a couple of minutes. Then I ask them if the property is occupied or vacant. Then if occupied, I ask how much time they think they will need to move. I want them to start mentally preparing to make the move. Then I ask if they have a place in mind to move to. (I want to know if I have a property they may be interested in to buy.)

Then I ask what prompted them to want to sell. I ask if they are the only one on title or is there someone else. Then I ask the critical question of when they want to have the house sold by. I ask "if I brought you a buyer in two weeks would you be ready?" (The buyer would be me, but I don't tell them that. I just want to know their honest time frame.) Then "Can we get an agreement in writing today to get things started?" That tells me everything I need to know.

If they say "yes" I get there that day, before someone else can get the property. If they say, "no, we're just thinking about it" I ask what is keeping them from selling today. Then based on their answers, if ALL people on title are  ready I go out today or as soon as they are willing to meet and if not,  I put them in a "tickler file". I don't go out to a property unless I have a high probability of getting an agreement.

I just need to know "who" (ALL people on title), "what" (sell their house), "when" (critical information only they can tell me), "where" (the address) and "why" (motivation). This is the conversation on the phone before I set an appointment.

What is your lead intake process?

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