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Cloning: Coming Soon To A Real Estate Office Near You

By Brandi Cummings  -  April 24, 2007

Time management is one of the greatest challenges busy real estate professionals share regardless of the size of their business, its location or the number of people employed in the office. There are so many things to be done in order to build a successful business, or to maintain success already achieved. Some days it seems that cloning yourself may be the only answer. Since science and technology have not yet made that an option, real estate agents have to work smarter. Lead generation and follow up are probably two of the most time-consuming parts of a real estate agent’s business. While science and technology have yet to give us the ability to clone an army of hard working selves to tackle these tasks, it has given us the ability to leverage our time. Here are two technologies available that will help you work smarter, not harder, and free up valuable time for you to focus on the things that matter most in your business, and life.

How do real estate agents go about finding new people to work with on a regular basis? Do they have Buyer X-ray Vision that allows them to pick out the young couple who are in the market for a new home? Do they have Real Estate Radar that directs them to the frustrated FSBOs at the grocery store? If only… In the real world, prospecting and lead generation is one of the most challenging and time consuming aspect of many real estate agents’ businesses. So this is an obvious place to start when you begin looking for places where you might work smarter. Putting your lead generation on auto pilot can make a world of difference in your business. One of the best technologies available for lead generation is an 800 call capture line. An 800 call capture system is basically a virtual phone system that allows you any number of extensions where you can place recordings of information that you want callers to be able to listen to. When the caller dials the toll free number to listen to the information you are offering them, you can capture their name, phone number and address. For example, you would place the toll free number and an extension on a sign rider in front of your property listing. When the interested buyers call the extension, they would hear about the great features of the home. They could also have options to receive a fax about the property, to connect to you directly, to listen to information about other homes in the same price range, etc. There are a number of ways you can direct your caller once they are in your 800 call capture system. The best part though, is that you have captured a quality lead. You know the caller is interested in buying a home, in what neighborhood they are looking and where they are living currently. Another way to use an 800 call capture system to generate leads is to become an information provider and to provide that information through your 800 call capture system. For example, you can place a classified ad offering a free report titled “5 Things Renters Should Know Before Buying a Home”. When the interested party calls into your 800 call capture system to get their free report, you have captured a quality lead. You know their name, address, that they are currently renting and looking to buy. You can also ask that the caller leave their email address in order to receive their report, which will come in handy when following up with them. There are a lot of ways that you can use an 800 call capture system to generate leads but most importantly, it puts that lead generation on auto pilot. Until cloning becomes a reality, this technology is a great substitute. While you are working with clients, going to listing presentations, spending time with family or even sleeping, your 800 call capture system is taking calls and capturing leads.

Along with lead generation itself, following up with those leads can also take up a big chunk of an agent’s time. However, it is a vital part of an agent’s business and therefore can’t be pushed aside, put off or just ignored completely. There are software programs available that will do most of your follow up for you. It is called an auto responder. An auto responder will send out emails to all of your prospects on a time schedule that you decide. This is a great way to nurture your relationships with your future clients. And that is how you have to think of them. The key is to keep yourself in front of them while building trust and establishing credibility. You can do this using your auto responders to educate them on various topics of interest to buyers or sellers and when it comes time for them to make their move, they are going to be more likely to come to you for help. You also want to keep your current and previous clients in the fold. Just because you have already done business with them, does not mean that you should not maintain contact with them. Repeat and referral business can be a large part of an agent’s business. It would be a mistake to neglect those people that already know what a great service you can provide for people looking to buy or sell a home. Just like the clones of the future, while you are closing sales, running an open house, grabbing a coffee or even laying on the beach, your auto responder is building rapport with your past and future clients.

If you could multiply time, stop it or get more than 24 hours in a day, you might be able to give every aspect of your business the energy and time it deserves. Since you can’t do any of those things, and cloning is still a ways off into the future, putting as many aspects of your business on auto-pilot as possible will free up a lot of your valuable time. Using an 800 call capture system as well as auto responders to generate and follow up with your leads means working smarter, not harder.

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