How do YOU increase conversion?

[Micheal Pannell Realtor]

yes i agree, we have a form that are realtor are required to get filled out at closing, we want to here what the customers say. also we want to post them on the site.

[axemedia]

In order to give a fast response time you should have your website email form forward the mail to your Blackberry device, or any other sort of PDA. So even while out showing a property to a buyer, or holding an open house for a client, you are receiving your emails while not at your computer. Fire back a response at your earliest convenience. If they left a phone number in the form, call them.

A friend of mine is a car salesman and handles the internet leads for a dealership. When he first started this he would log into the emails once a day, from his computer, to respond to those that left an email within the last 24 hours. Later on he had the emails forwarded to his PDA and would respond within an hour. It turned into far more sales for him.

He also continually updated the vehicle listings on the site. And instead of just adding a picture or 2 he would take at least 10, and up to 20, photos from different angles, interior, closeups, etc. This brought even more leads from people who where interested in particular vehicles.

Eventually he stopped taking "Ups" off the lot. Then the other salesmen at the dealership took notice and wanted a piece of the internet leads. Even though they didn't do shit to deserve them. He stood his ground with management, even though he was a rookie salesman, and they decided to create a new "department" and made him the manager of it.

This can be applied to Realtor sites as well. IF your showing listings on your site, provide lots of info. This helps to pre-qualify your leads. By giving lots of info you then get leads from those who are truly interested.

Less info (content) may send you more leads, because their is not enough info on the site and they contact you for more. But your getting many more worthless leads.

When people send off an email they expect to not get a response till the next day or longer. If you get back to them quickly they are very impressed. And you catch them while the thought is still fresh in their mind. They are still motivated. If you wait till tomorrow, that potential client now has other concerns on their mind.

[Micheal Pannell Realtor]

i was at a realtor.com promotion the other day. One thing they said that made sense was on average listings with 6 or more pictures get alot more looks. On my new sites for all my new home listing which is all i do. i am taking 6 pictures of each house. i think it will help

[Jaduka]

Another way to increase conversion is to give your site visitors an easy and free way to call you. Jaduka offers a product called Click-and-Connect that allows you to place a call button next to listings or on your contact page that when clicked, will establish a phone call between the site visitor and you. All the potential lead has to do is enter their phone number and hit connect, then their phone rings and so does yours and the two calls are joined together. You can have the service forward to any phone you like, even your cell. Right now, you can sign up for a free trial account with 60 minutes so you can see how the tool works and to see if it is right for your business before you buy. Go to (Website removed because of self promotion) and click on the trial for Click-and-Connect.

Just so everyone knows, I work for Jaduka and thought this would be a great way for me to introduce our products and at the same time, alert realtors about a great way to increase conversion. If there is a better place within this forum for me to post, please let me know.
Thanks for reading my reply,
Brent Heatherington

[webmaster]

Hey Jakuta, spam much?

[vtalerico]

Morgan,

Congradulations on the anticipated arrival of your new baby! So this person was banned for that post...could you please let me know if I ever cross any lines before you ban me from realestatewebmasters? Thanks Morgan!

[Sam Dodd]

Quick responce time is the #1 way to convert your leads to sales.
What is the number #1 way to convert your Visits to leads?

[utahpropertyfinder.com]

I have struggled with this for years. Do I ask for contact info from visitors to view listings or give them access to the listings without collecting their info? Many visitors are what I like to call "soft leads" and do not want to be contacted in any way...they just want to browse the properties. I didn't want to turn away these visitors by requiring them to enter contact info because many of them become "warm leads" at some time. Plus, I don't want them using another site to access the listings. They didn't want to enter their bogus info and I didn't want it in my email inbox either. Therefore, the only method I used for along time was collecting info from visitors was if they clicked "email for info" when searching through the properties. It just wasn't working very well.

Recently, I tried a new way (for me) to collect leads. I give the "soft leads" access without collecting their contact info with my "basic search". However, I do want to collect contact info from the visitors that are more serious. Thus I created the "Advanced search" for the "warm leads". I use the following text on my site to qualify the visitors:

"Have you ever noticed that the “good” listings rarely last very long on the market? How many times have you inquired about that “perfect” property only to find out it is already Under Contract? Are you tired of searching endlessly through properties without addresses?

This is where our free Advanced Search Option comes in handy. This powerful tool will check for any new or reduced properties that fit your criteria and will email them directly to you the day they hit the market. This will ensure that you will only be sent properties that are a good match for YOU. Also, all the listings will include a full address and more information compared to the Basic Search Option. You will finally get a jump on the hot listings while they are still available. Lastly, your information will always be kept confidential and you will have the ability to easily unsubscribe at any time."

I require the visitor’s name, email, phone and search criteria for the advanced option. Since the site has changed I have noticed that the leads have increased significantly AND it has reduced the bogus leads too. Also, the leads are much better quality (REAL phone #'s, etc.) and have been more receptive when contacted. Many of you may already be doing this, but it was huge for me.

[axemedia]

Good one Utah! Sounds very effective.