How to Convert Internet Leads

Kevin Ward’s 5 Point System for Converting Internet Leads

I like Kevin Ward’s educational videos.  He’s the real estate trainer, speaker and coach and CEO and owner of YesMasters, a service that helps Realtors sell more real estate and build a better life.  You’ll find his videos engaging, granular, informative and well explained. He targets many of the biggest problems facing modern Realtors today.

Even if you hand off all your online marketing strategy to someone such as me, it’s really important to understand the process and appreciate what’s being done on your behalf.

I mentioned one of his videos last spring on the topic of Realtor Differentiation.  Kevin’s well aware of branding and the unique value proposition for Realtors. He’s risen from the bottom up to the top and really likes to help Realtor’s achieve their dreams. Definitely check out his site: Yesmasters.com.

“If you’re selling a ton of houses, but your working 24/7 and never able to take a real vacation…or you’re missing all your kid’s soccer games…that sucks. That’s not real success for most people.” from Yesmasters.com

He begins this Youtube video below by saying the Internet isn’t everything in the world of real estate and real estate marketing. However he does say the Internet has changed real estate forever. And he considers online leads worthy enough to create an Internet lead conversion system.

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The Internet can make your lead generation and lead management a lot easier so you can have a life and see your kids soccer games.  He should probably have added that an Internet lead is as good as you make it. You can create junk leads, unmotivated leads, disappearing leads or converted sales. In fact, it’s up to you and your website content strategy. Don’t blame the Internet. Blame yourself. If you have no respect for content strategy right now, it won’t take long to see how your content strategy is what serves your visitors.

It’s not that Internet leads can’t be converted well. The real issue is the source you’re accessing (Google, Facebook, lead generators, Realtor.com, Sothebeys.com, Remax.com, Coldwellbanker.com, etc.) and whether you have the content and system to get them to call you.

Kevin talks about how building trust, communicating, and connecting are still key real estate agent skills. What he doesn’t mention is how your Internet marketing strategy creates the setting for the kind of relationship you want. Your content shapes everything and magnifices the intent the possess. Conversion transactions may happen offline, but prospects are online and they are reachable when they’re online. You can reach people, bring in traffic and get them to reach you with a solid high performance content, PPC, SEO and social media strategy.

As you’re watching the video consider how valuable good content is in creating visitors and turning them into prospects and a closing. If you had 70,000 visitors per month as I do, how many could you convert to a sale?  Big traffic and very persuasive content = a primed and juiced up visitor. Maybe you could make millions. Kevin is going to explain his funnel process below.

Kevin’s 5 Point Funnel Process for Converting Internet leads (and my 2 bits too):

1. Prequalifying and Distinguishing between Lead and Prospect – will they make their decision now or later? You can create content and get your visitors to indicate when they’re expecting to make a decision. The content they choose to read tells you what phase they’re in.

2. Get them on the Phone Fast. Yes, the goal is to get them to phone, to talk to you right away. It’s the most immediate and engaging medium and the prospect wants to speak with you now. Forget CRMs for now. This is where your phone skills save the day.

3. Speed and Urgency: Speak to them within 2 minutes. People are searching and don’t want to interrupt their search experience. If you don’t answer right away, you’ve ruined their experience. The velocity of that person’s online reading and engagement translates to their sense of urgency. They’ll be drilling down into your listing or content and that’s when the urge to speak with happens. You can stimulate or launch that urgency and get them to call you with your content. Kevin says it may take you 6 to 24 months to convert, but I have to argue that prospects don’t call an agent until they’re 80% of the way through the process so they’re more ready to get going on this than you think. It’s your online website content that does the hard work to generate that phone call.

4. Patience and Preparation. As Kevin says, it’s not a churn and burn process. They’re not going to buy or sell right away, so what do you do in the meantime? Your website content can also help you prime the visitor/prospect beforehand, so they stick with you. They want to know what’s going to happen ahead of time and they want to be in control. You can use the power of suggestion to prep them for nurturing.

5. Use A Nurturing System. Kevin recommends a good lead nurturing system (doesn’t call it a CRM) that takes them from their in limbo phase and keeps them moving toward their decision. He suggests talking to them once per month and never pressure them to do anything they’re not ready to do.

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So now your next step is to figure out what is the type of content that creates high Google rankings, gets shared socially, gets your value proposition across laser-clear, keeps visitors engaged and wanting to return to your site, and what urges them to make contact with you. If you get that phone call and they’re eager, then your EPIC content has done the job.