What is a lead?
By Jessica Swesey, Friday, January 4, 2008.Bookmarking Sites
The folks at 1000Watt Consulting debuted this video of people -- consumers we presume -- speaking frankly about their real estate needs. The jist is that people are people, not leads.
Marc Davison, a partner with 1000Watt and Inman News columnist, has addressed the topic of lead generation in past columns. (See "Lead generation is dead.") Davison's tongue-in-cheek satire of the death of lead generation appears to be a cry for a return to conversation and value, rather than numbers, clicks and drip e-mail.
From Davison's column: "Lead Generation is survived by Customer Engagement, its decidedly more social, open and confident offspring. Some industry observers familiar with Customer Engagement note that it also shows the influence of its grandparents, Conversation and Value."
The video raises some interesting questions about the future of automated lead generation, which seems to work wonders for some in the industry while leaving others frustrated and hostile. Which business model will work for brokers, consumers and agents?
See also, "Real estate, the Web and the great divide," by Steve Kropper.
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Submitted by Anonymous on January 4, 2008 - 12:55pm.
If another person "affiliated with Y*hoo" calls to tell me about their automated lead generation, I'm throwing my phone away forever - even my family will have to email me.
Submitted by Anonymous on January 4, 2008 - 12:56pm.
If another person "affiliated with Y*hoo" calls to tell me about their automated lead generation, I'm throwing my phone away forever - even my family will have to email me.
Submitted by Anonymous on January 5, 2008 - 8:36am.
I found the clip funny. I agree that 1 technique alone is not as effective as using a multiple of "touch" types. What I mean is a drip campaign should include phone calls or "pop bys" in order to be more effective. I think the gist of what the guys at 1000 Watt are getting at is that today's consumer wants to work with someone who will build a relationship with them vs. simply being a number. I love the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) point at the end. For far too long we've all been spouting how great we are, what we do to sell homes, etc... vs. pulling it into the context of what that means to the customer or client.
I liked their approach.
Submitted by Anonymous on January 7, 2008 - 10:21am.
Couldn't agree more with the sentiment of the video, but it is delivered in a really uninviting manner. It is similar to Halstead's http://www.halstead.com/ad_campaign.aspx?ad=3 recent ad campaign where "consumers" complained "I am not a pre-war six" referring to NYC broker lingo and the same kind of self involved, clueless, broker stereotype. That campaign was met with mixed reviews like "why are these people yelling at me?".
I'd rather hear a straight talking business consultant tell me about ways I can generate better customer engagement, in a straight forward, conversational manner (isn't that what they are promoting) rather than filtering it through scripted consumer conversations. But maybe that's just all about me.
Submitted by Anonymous on January 8, 2008 - 7:27pm.
I get the point of the video, but I think it's important that agents and brokers remember that blogging, to a small degree, is about the agent and broker too. Personally, upon reading my blog, I want someone to learn a little about me, begin to trust me, and then contact me to assist them with a real estate transaction. I don't know if the people in the video were referring only to ego-driven marketing when they made their statements about the agent's dog and credentials and such, but I think that even they would have more trust in an agent who blogged in a manner that put himself in a positive light. Even these people wouldn't want to work with an agent that they know nothing about.
Submitted by Anonymous on January 11, 2008 - 11:44pm.
Nice to know about Leads. Really its good info.