Real Clues

[RealClues] #270: Lead Generation Shootout

LuxuryClues.com: The hiatus from our blog is over--We're back! Are you ready for the most expensive computer in the world? What is the most valuable asset that a luxury buyer or seller needs from you other than trust and confidentiality? Blogging stories wanted for our new book! If you haven't been to see us--now's the time to start visiting us again at http://www.LuxuryClues.com

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: The Lead Generation Shootout
2. Welcome Notes: Back in the Saddle Again
3. Reprise: Strategies to Sell Properties that Don't Sell (Part 3 of 4)
4. Create a Better Life: Want to Attract More Business--Take a Vacation
5. Going Where Tip of the Week: Avoid the #1 Business Mistake
6. Featured Products: The One Tech Product Agents Really ADORE
7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
8. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: The Lead Generation Shootout (Part 1 of 2)
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Real estate is being transformed by changes so profound that it may literally rip the industry apart. If you're still hanging on to 20th Century prospecting and by referral techniques as the only tools in your lead generation toolbox, you may be washed out of the business if you are unwilling to address the waves of change.

The rate of change in our industry is staggering, yet it doesn't begin to approach what is coming. The riptide of change threatens to put you out of business if you are unprepared. This will be especially true for agents who still struggle to answer email, who have never sent a text message, or who have never played an on-line game.

The Lead Generation Shootout
If you're wondering why your phone is not ringing, why your print advertising seems to have a decreasing rate of return, or why your referrals have dried up, the explanation is simple. Many of your lead resources have moved on-line. It seems that a battle is shaping up among the titans in the industry. When Prudential kicked Zillow and Trulia out of their conference, one has to wonder whether the folks at Yahoo! did some arm twisting.

Not only are the major search engines vying with each other, however, companies such as HomeGain, HouseValues, and Zillow are competing with major real estate companies in a battle to capture more web visitors. The primary goal is to either generate referral fees and/or advertising revenues.

At the recent Really Awesome Women in Real Estate Conference, Andrew Coleman of LeadQual.com and Brendan King of Point2Agent.com had a spirited discussion about how lead generation will occur in the future. Coleman argued that if you're not spending at least $2000 per month in pay-per-click advertising, either as a broker or an agent, you will be better off buying leads from companies such as HomeGain that have the wherewithal to generate top search engine placement and deliver leads in real time.

In contrast, King argued that consumers prefer to deal directly with the listing agent rather than being referred to an intermediary. King's position was that sites such as Point2 that syndicate their member's listing advertisements to multiple sites is a much more viable model since their model sends the consumer back to the listing agent.

This seems to fit with Google's business model as well. I recently spoke with Justin McCarthy of Google. He told me that their goal was to put people who use their search engine in touch with the best source of information for a given search. When Google fails to do this, their users gripe at Google--not those receiving the leads. From an industry perspective, the best person to handle this lead is the listing agent--not those who paying to receive leads from other agents' listings.

The On-line Price Evaluation War
A different battle is also emerging on the on-line property evaluation front. Zillow has forced industry sources to provide comparable sales information. Shame on Zillow, however, for not doing a better job on their algorithms. Any novice real estate broker knows that you do not comp a 3500 square foot property with a 1500 square foot property in a zip code five miles away from the subject property. Even after repeatedly entering updated information on my own house on Zillow, the results continue to be off by almost 20 percent from where I just sold my property. The changes I made to the bedroom-bath count on repeated occasions, never showed up on the Zillow site. The same problem occurred with my property in California. The challenge is that they are not pulling comparable sale information from my subdivision nor are they using comparable sales that even remotely resemble either of my properties.

Coldwell Banker has implemented their own on-line evaluation tool in response to Zillow. Their site could not divulge sales prices because Texas is a non-disclosure state. Their comparable sales data was accurate for my California property, even though they gave me a $600,000 range in terms of the price. At least Coldwell Banker is in the game and doing a better job in providing accurate comparable sales as compared to non-brokerage competitors such as Zillow.

Realtor.com had accurate comparable sales, but their sales data was over six months old. It's puzzling that Realtor.com can make disclosures that Coldwell Banker is prohibited from doing so in Texas.

Surprisingly, Moveup.com continues to be the most accurate in terms of the properties that I have checked over the last 18 months. Although they could not provide sales data for Texas, they did hit my California property value exactly where the comparable sales data suggested.

The challenge for agents is how to cope if a client relies on an inaccurate on-line home evaluation. Zillow continues to generate more eyeballs than any brokerage site with the exception of Realtor.com and is now beginning to even surpass them according the Alexa.com traffic analysis. Whether the evaluations are too low or too high, they create an unrealistic expectation for both buyers and the sellers. Properties priced too low, create negotiation barriers for sellers who are accurately priced, but whose potential buyers are looking at an on-line evaluation amount that says the property is worth substantially less. When the on-line property value is too high, sellers run the risk of over-pricing their property that can cost them dearly in terms of market time and having to lower their price.

All of these companies are competing for YOUR clients. What can you as an individual agent or broker due to compete? Look for next week's article to learn more.

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

I am so happy to be back at my computer and writing again with both hands. In the last 10 days, I threw out my back and came down with a nasty cold, all the midst of moving our house and our business. Three days of bed rest did the trick. I'm so thankful to be healthy again. Our house closed this week, were in temporary quarters until our new house is completed, and we're ready to launch a whole range of very exciting programs that will help you maneuver through today's tough market.

RealEstateCoach.com is going to be making changes that will revolutionize the real estate coaching and training industry. Look for new programs in a wide variety of areas in a number of different formats. Get your training and coaching when and how you need it. Stay tuned. The implementation starts now!

Have a great week!

Warmly, Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: Strategies to Sell Properties that Don't Sell (Part 3 of 4)
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Staging sells properties, but if you want to take it to the next level, consider using Feng Shui. In fact, over 20 percent of the properties for sale in Beverly Hills have used a Feng Shui master to help their owners create abundance and sell quickly. To learn more about this powerful tool, click on the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20040913.html

In case you missed Parts 1 and 2:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20040830.html
http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20040907.html

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4. Create a Better Life: Want to Attract More Business--Take a Vacation
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Taking a vacation may sound like a crazy way to increase your business, but surprisingly, it works!

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20031027.html

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5. Going Where Tip of the Week: How to
Avoid the Most Costly Business Mistake
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My new book Going Where: Ancient Wisdom for People Today outlines the steps in making better decisions. The most costly business mistake that you can make is called "think-do." This means that you have a plan and then you take action on it. Our entire American business model is based upon this costly approach. We have a great idea and we take action on it, without regard to consequences. In fact, EVERY bad decision in my life has been the result of "think-do."

Thinking only involves one part of your brain (the prefrontal lobes) and doing involves the cerebellum and the muscles and bones. If you want to make better decisions, add two other pieces.

The first piece to add is the spiritual (which uses your temporal lobes). This means look at your choices and see how they relate to your higher purpose in life. The spiritual also examines what effects your actions will have on others. Thus, a good idea is to ask, "how is this action in alignment with my higher purpose in life and how will it affect the other people in my life?"

The second piece to add is the emotional (which uses your limbic system.) This is a matter of trusting your gut and/or your intuition. When that little voice inside that says, "Don't do this," listen to it!

Using your entire brain and body when making decisions will yield much better results rather than just thinking and doing. Try it out this week for yourself and see how it works.

Like this tip? Look for our Going Where Blog coming soon and order my new book Going Where now!

http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3474878

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6. Featured Products: The One Tech Product Agents Really ADORE
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I recently did a training workshop where we looked at a wide variety of technology innovations. The one tool that the agents absolutely adored was RealPing

http://www.realestatecoach.com/marketing/realping.html

Al Clark, the founder of RealPing, didn't know I would be calling him using his push-to-talk technology. I was using another person's computer and we were on a satellite connection. When Al received my phone call, he was able to show us a power point (on the computer we were using) featuring his website. Then he brought up the listings he wanted to see and he did all of this from his cell phone. If you prefer the phone to email or text messaging, this is THE technology for you! The agents who saw this went crazy over this tool. Don't wait--order today!

http://www.realestatecoach.com/marketing/realping.html

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7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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8. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2007, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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