The Great Debate: Forced vs. Unforced Registration Websites

Matt / Brandon - thanks so much for the posts / data - I am really proud of you guys, you have stepped up - bigtime! (And others should thank you to because your research will provide invaluable insight into their own decision when it comes time for registration choice.

I have updated the posts at http://www.forcedregistration.com (where I will be following the research and results of Matt and many other folks who I am hoping will step up and put their data on the line for this test.) - Greg Smith from http://www.boulderhomesource.com has stepped up as well, and I have my feelers out to many more REW customers with high traffic sites / great rankings - the more sites and contributors we have, the better the results will be - anyone who wants to join in on the test (REW customer or independant) is welcome to join in and we will include you in the results posting at www.forcedregistration.com - it's a good way to get your site some additional peer / webmaster exposure and if you do a great job with your data reporting it should help you build some great quality editorial backlinks as well.

Feel free to post a comment over at Forcedregistration.com if you have questions - and more importantly share the info! Write your own posts interpretting the results (be sure to send Matt and Branding proper backlink sourcing their data - Let's put this debate to bed!

That's some good stuff your doing there.

I'd be interested in seeing how the average property values of the registrations on non-forced compare to forced.

Speculation is that higher end buyers click away when forced to register. I've forced registration since 2003 and wonder that myself.

My experience does tell me that lower price range buyers ask more questions.
 

I look forward to your updates.

Morgan,

First of all, thanks to you and the entire REW team for building us some sweet websites to test the data!  Second, thanks for rallying more agents to share their data!   

Sharing our results has been the best thing we have done for our business in a long time.   Plain and simple - this test is forcing us to take a good hard look at our business and how we can do things better!  

Tim,

That is a great question.  It may be tough to collect the data due to the price "ranges" that people search.  We will give it some thought though!

Our future updates will be made in our blog - http://www.barkerhedges.com/blog/real-estate-technology/

Hope you can join us at www.forcedregistration.com also!  Thanks!

Matt, many others believe in forced registration including Eric Blackwell and Eric Bramlett.  I personally have been conducting a test around the nation.  I have been purposely registering on forced registration sites only to find out that hardly anyone follows up at all.  I will post my data and results at bloodhoundrealty.com/bloodhoundblog

Great idea Robert! 

It will be interesting to see if you make an inquiry whether you get a response as well.  I would venture that you will find a surprising number that fail at that as well.  I find that I have had some on my own team neglect opportunity, they just "don't get it"!  Those agents productivity quickly tells the tale.

Hi Robert,  Eric Blackwell encouraged me to give forced registration a shot also!  Our initial data is showing a clear winner, but a valid test needs time so we will keep at it. 

Eric Bramlett had a great post on BB about forced registration and I look forward to reading yours!  Hope Greg Swann will let me comment this time!  My 3 comments got deleted along with 300+ others last time!

Cal,  We just got our second snowfall of the year.   3 inches of snow.   Want to trade 3 LEC's and a template website for your custom?  I will even trade houses with you and as a bonus pay for your moving expenses to Minnesota.

Better idea, come on down and keep your systems up and running.  I will work out a special split for you and you can draw beach traffic from your site to mine with special links and they all get auto-assigned to you.  You get reciprocal license here and work all the Minnesota buyers that get generated.  I hear it is going to be a long cold winter!

Robert - although swanny pants has some decent readership - he is a known comment editor / deleter - as soon as he doesn't like the way things are going he just busts out his mod hammer and deletes all your hard written participation / comments (and anyone else he doesn't want to have proving him wrong / making him look like an ass etc) - so I highly recommend NOT posting at Bloodhound (unless you are an aspiring Swann kissass - which I don't think you are) - he has already shown that he is not willing to support a valid (and open) debate on this topic - I recommed posting your opinions on the various blogs (like Matt's) that will support valid discussion, post your numbers etc on your own blog (get some link juice for your hard work) and post on www.forcedregistration.com and let us know where you have posted your numbers etc so others keeping score can follow along.

Robert, you'll probably find that 90% don't follow up.
Sometimes when you don't follow up quickly on registration, the visitor simply calls the agent. Depending on the amount of leads one may get, quick follow up may not be a reality, especially if you have a good business going and don't have time to call or follow up on every lead.  I think the lead follow up stats need to take into account the volume of business an agent does. If they are fine doing $15-$20M+ and don't need more business, so be it. Many agents get leads, but cherry pick. Not the right thing to do, but it is reality.

Swanny Pants!!!  Ha Ha.  Hi Morgan.  ok ok.  I wanted to post the forced registration follow up or non follow up findings to a popular site that will get feedback .  Is forcedregistration.com a newer site? 

Morgan, since "Swanny Pants" isn't a fan of forced restration, I would be happy to post on rew.  The main reason I have not posted any current findings is because rew clients seem to be the largest offenders of the non follow up rule.  To be fair to all rew clients, I need more time to conduct research on non rew sites that force registration.

I've received 1 telephone call out of over two dozen registrations. 

You think thats bad?

My other findings are mind boggling.

Robert have you filled out a form on my sites?

Hi Mike,

I am going to create an alias since word is getting out, as to what I am doing.  Yes, you are on the list )  and NO I have not registered on your site yet.

Something to consider Robert - if you look like a fake lead, then chances are you were ignored on purpose.

Guys let's not loose focus btw - this is not a discussion on how follow up should be done once you have captured a lead - it's a discussion on the best way to capture the lead in the first place. (Although the former is a GREAT forum topic and something worth testing after this ) 

Robert -  Feel free to post your opinions about our data or your data anytime on this blog, www.forcedregistration.com or on www.barkerhedges.com     You are welcome anytime.

Morgan - 

1.  I agree......The "next" Next Great Debate - Lead Follow Up.

2.  With the exception of our site - www.saint-paul-real-estate.com , has anyone stepped to the plate to test unforced?  I will check BB now for the remaining comments left over from Bramletts forced registration post.  Pretty much those remaining did seem to agree with Greg.  Very interesting.

"Your Name Here" -

For those considering stepping up to test forced vs unforced - Brandon and I would like to up the ante.  Not only will we add you to our joyous holiday card list, but you will also receive a coveted " Homes of Minnesota Team " magnet.   Act now this is a limited offering - while supplies last.    

As far as forced verses unforced goes, I really don't understand why this is debated.  It's a no-brainer to me, intuitively and practically.  No matter what your data says, I won't change.  Why?  Because forced registration has put me in the top 2% of buyers agents in Destin for the past 8 years.

One of my IDX providers is IDXpro.  They were my first and I keep them around because there is still a ton of leads in the system.  When I first signed up in '02, they encourgaged me to not require registration.  Their standard registration required passwords and I fought with them several months before they gave me an option of using email only log-ins.  People don't remember passwords and its stupid to have a username and password signin on a real estate website. 

Once I got what I wanted, we didn't have any more discussions for several years.  Finally, in 2007, when the Florida RE market was tanking and Realtors were dropping like flies, IDXpro blasted out an email to all of their clients.

The email simply stated that they had changed the default on all websites to forced registration. Why did they do this?  Because the realtors that didn't force registration were going out of business and IDXpro was losing money. They said that their data showed better conversion with forced registration.

In my opinion, this was the ultimate test.  They weren't measuring sign-ups, calls, or leads.  They were indirectly making a statement about conversion.  Realtors who convert can continue to pay for their services.

I would assume that REW should be able to make similar statements about their data.  Do realtors with forced registration drop out at a lower rate than unforced?

Robert, if you sign up on my site, and expect a call, make sure you are looking at $1M and above properties.  I've shown properties 12 consecutive days and am not calling anyone right now unless they look really serious.  In fact, your odds will increase if you ask me a question about a specific property.

My business model is based on excess.  I generate more leads that I can handle on purpose.  It allows me to cherry pick the high end and generates more phone calls (to me) from buyers.  When things are really going well, I call noone because they call me.  I only call if things are slowing down.  I've did it this way successfully for the past 6 years and don't plan on changing now.  Most realtors fail with internet marketing because they are afraid to feed the monkey.  Pay the $$, generate the leads, and the business will come.

@Robert - measuring the call backs from an REW site is not a measure of REW, or the site propriietor, or the team it feeds, but of the individual agent the lead was assigned to. 

However, like Tim states, you do not know what the assigned agent is doing or how busy he is.  If they are doing all they can do in a day and producing, and there was no specific inquiry or call, then it makes sense that some calls don't get made to registrants. 

As you will note from my post on the Barker / Hedges blog about registrations you will see that the forced registration can generate numbers significant enough that if the assigned agent made all the calls we would like them to, then he would have no time to show property, write contracts, or go to closings. On the flip side, the agents on the team that are not producing by golly better be making those calls!

The whole point about registration is to discover opportunity and seize it.  Some are excellent at seizing opportuinity and do not have time to call everyone (these are not clients, they are prospects), Tim would fit in that category.  Some are not quite to the point of excellence in converting  but make calls consistantly and will master it at some point.  Some just don't get it and refuse to follow the plan, these will be discovered as time goes by and will drop out or see the light.

So staying on topic, the registration is opportunity discovery and many opportunities do get squandered from not following up, but again like Tim, if you have opportunity to follow up with 2 prospects (not clients) and one is in the millions and one is in the rehab business looking for 25K houses with the walls knocked out, where would you focus the portion of your 24 hour day that you dedicate to real estate?

Agents need to be held accountable.  If they can't handle the leads, give them to someone who will.  If Morgan Carey and his sales staff did not follow up on leads, I'm sure Morgan would hire an additional sales person to handle the volume or plumb up his current sales staff.  I've sold cars, rv's, and now real estate.  In my humble opinion, even if an agent does not own the company, he morally should be passing on his leads he can not work or does not have time to work to another agent; after all I'm sure the CUSTOMER would appreciate the SERVICE. 

My point is simple, we are ALL only as good as our last sale.  We've all left money on the table...  Shame on us. 

I will not be commenting anymore on this issue until the final numbers are in.  YES, I will be registering on YOUR site as a make believe customer.  I will NOT call out any company, unless they want to know they're own personal results in a private one on one email.

Again, I am NOT registering for junk homes that waste agents time.

Let the forced registration campaign begin!  You might next...Is your business leaving money on the table?

That's why it great to have your own business. You can run it anyway you want to. Passing on leads to other agents usually does not work, unless they work for you. How does not working leads that my site generates equate to being a moral issue?  Register on our site and you'll probably not get any response as phone calls take priority for us, just as they do for Tim. That may be the reason that we have been the #1 transaction team in our office for 5 years running. We focus on real opportunities, not worrying about following up on every lead.  And, I don't want any more agents working on our team.  Our business is about making money, not some ficticious moral issue of whether or not we follow up on every lead. You are to be congratulated on not being overwhelmed with the at least 20-30 leads you must get daily and being able to follow up on all your leads effectively.

@ Tim

Hi Tim,  I and many others feel the forced - unforced debate is still a hot topic.  I have yet to see any hard data on the subject and that's what we are trying to compile with this test.  While, I think "most" would agree that forced registration does produce more leads "many" feel they aren't as good as an unforced lead.   Essentially, will the showing requests and inquiries be replaced with just idx registrations? 

I have to admit, the numbers from our own website are a bit suprising to us.  Up until this point we were not tracking things to this degree.  I know, I know...shame on us.   We were busy building 3 LEC's this year though so I hope we will be given a pass. 

I hope many will participate at www.forcedregistration.com   

Would you mind participating?  You have a long standing website and would be an asset to the test.  Either way, thanks for stopping by! 

@ Robert -

Hi Robert, 5 years ago I used to be 100% in your court.  My business partner and I would get a lead off the web and work it until they bought or died.  If the lead had a pulse we would follow up with it forever. 

As time went on, our leads increased to the point where if they weren't ready, willing and able to buy in the next two weeks they were put aside.  Many people on this blog and forum are at or well beyond that point.

We quickly realized that discarding leads wasn't the best business move for the long term and looked for a way to capitalize on those we didn't work.  Over the last 2 years we have been added 6 buyers agents to our team.  Some days we don't have enough agents and some days it seems like we have to many.  Every business has this ebb and flow.  I have to admit we are not quick to hire when lead flow is unmanageable and quick to fire when there is not enough.  Our agents rely on us to deliver a minimum amount of leads each month and we aim to deliver.  When lead flow has been overwhelming we have looked to agents outside our team, but have found few of them deliver results. 

Our team is constantly trying to find ways to improve our customer service and bottom line.  This is probably not the post to start a "lead management" conversation but I am open to ideas on how we can improve. Maybe you could start a new post?

Hi, I have forced registration on my site and try to follow up with everyone who registers. Sometimes it's difficult depending on the volume of business I'm doing and sometimes I do disregard folks looking in too low a price range. I also delete people who supply fake email addresses. I would never go back to unforced registration simply because I get so much joy out of calling people and hearing the sheer delight in their voices that they are getting a call from the owner of the company. That may sound unbelieveable but I've seriously only had a couple of people react otherwise and it was only because they said they were not really looking and were sorry I wasted my time. I get a steady flow of calls off the site as well as property inquiries and showing requests. Overall I am very happy with the results of my forced registration. I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea but the way I look at it if I don't have the ability to follow up with someone, I can't provide the level of service they're looking for if they're really serious about buying and selling real estate. Anyway, thanks for raising this important issue. I'll be watching the results of this study closely - it's going to be fascinating!

I swear by forced registration because it gives me the opportunity to contact those I choose to follow up with to see if we want to work with each other. I have been very pleased with the response of the site visitors I've called (most are absolutely delighted to hear from the owner of the company) and even though I do get some bad data I would rather give people the opportunity to provide me with their contact details than to sit back helplessly waiting for them to call me. Giving people the opportunity to register shows me who's open to hearing from me and allows me to be as proactive as I have time for. I agree with Drew Hartonov that it's not an ethical decision but a business choice. I routinely do not call people who are, for example, looking for land up to $25K hundreds of miles from Madison WI. It's unlikely I'll ever go back to unforced registration. More data, even if flawed, is better than none and I don't believe the statistics will ever totally prove that people prefer unforced registration than forced. Most people tell me my site is hands-down the best real estate website they've ever been on in my area so it seems that those who are sincerely interested in doing something are more than willing to share their details in exchange for using a well thought out site with all the bells and whistles they've always wanted. Just my two cents worth.