Follow Up: Nobody’s Doing It, What About You?
Send a message to your competitor and tell them, “I’m going to follow up with your leads.”
Thanks to the super expensive ($199) video equipment and a steady hand, I have a few clips to share from the International Builders’ Show. Might be a bit raw but the sound is good. Here we are behind the scenes at the International Builders’ Show talking to a crowd about follow up.
In today’s market it’s very important to find out what happens to your leads. In the following clip you’ll get a graphic view of what really goes on with lead management.
Don’t pull a Tommy Boy. There are many ways to nurture and grow that relationship. We do this by implementing a specific process.
Nicky Joy says it best, “Follow up is your first customer service test.” This is how people see what it’s like to do business with your company. Most people can’t make it past this first test. When we talk about follow up we need to be fast.
Check out the video and tell me what you think. What is one thing you’ve learned about follow up?
This is the first of a 4 part series of from IBS if you’d like to see the whole play list, here’s the link.
Or keep an eye out for my next post!
The 2010 International Builders’ Show
I am looking forward to another great International Builders’ Show in Vegas this year.
I am honored to be presenting in two "guaranteed to blow your mind" sessions. Are you attending? Be sure to drop a note in the comments section below.
90-Plus Ways To Capture Homebuyers Online and Then Close the Deal >>
Date: Thursday, January 21
Time: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Location: South 221
Description: There’s no question that most buyers turn to the Internet to search for a new home. Increasingly, consumers eliminate builders from consideration based on little more than the builder’s ranking in an initial Google search, the look of their website or the builder’s follow-up on Web-based leads. In short, many consumers are choosing their home builder based as much on the builders’ Internet savvy and presence as on their product. This session will give builders proven strategies for maximizing their online presence – and tools for winning online.
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn how radically the home buying process has changed
- Capitalize on new home buyer expectations and extend your online reach to capture more buyers
- Maximize your Internet follow-up and manage your leads for more sales
- Engage prospects with social media
- Write Web copy that makes a difference
- Unlock the secrets of being found online, including keywords
- Differentiate your online presence and follow-up from the competition
Speakers: Brian Flook, Mike Lyon, Andy Brown
Extreme eMarketing – Take Your Internet Program from Good to Great >>
Date: Thursday, January 21
Time: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Location: South 221
Description: So you have a Web site … now what? Join us for a high-energy, content-rich Internet marketing and sales master’s class. Fill in the missing pieces of your Web program with a comprehensive strategy. Learn how to use your Web site to drive traffic, manage social media to generate awareness and use eLead follow-up to close the sale. Warning: For serious remarketers only! Get your pens ready to write as we give away powerful secrets sure to sell more homes and add revenue to your bottom line!
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn the elements of a complete Web marketing strategy – and why you need one to remain competitive
- Pick up proven techniques for planning, budgeting and implementing your strategy
- Get insights into the role of social media in your Web strategy, as well as tips and techniques in eLead follow-up and conversion
- Acquire better ways to evaluate your strategy and make modifications on the fly
- Learn which elements you can do in-house and which you should outsource
Speakers: Carol Flammer, Mike Lyon, Meredith Oliver
Tweetdeck – Outlook for Your Social Messages (video)
This piggybacks off my last video post where we talked about Tweetdeck as a power tool and the new changes coming soon. It is quickly becoming an "Outlook" tool for social networks. If you are serious about your social media presence and want to save time and energy, this is a great tool for Mac and PC.
I just did the update and here are the major changes (from Tweetdeck)
• LinkedIn integration – Add a linkedIn column to see updates from your network, send status updates and comment on updates from your contacts
• Twitter List support – Create & manage Twitter Lists within TweetDeck. Follow & unfollow Lists, Create List columns and even get suggested members based on your List title
• Geo-location support – Show an inline map for tweets that contain location data using the new Twitter geo-location setting
• Twitter Retweet support – Flexibility to perform both traditional retweets with edits, or the new-style retweets, with both types shown in your columns
• New improved Add Column screen – Old toolbar icons and drop down menus replaced by slick new Add Column screen
• And many more smaller updates and fixes
Also, check ou the quick video on the release as well. Happy conversations!
(Video) 90% of Home Buyers Use the Internet, Social Media Power Tools
I’m going to try a new format and hope that you enjoy it. One of my biggest hurdles in creating content and sharing info on the blog is the process of getting it from my head to the written word. It is a serious challenge – plus I have to make sure my grammar is correct (I know you have seen the typos)
With that in mind, I am going to be posting video blogs as a way to share concepts, ideas and tips. Let me know what you think. I also need your help developing a theme. Any brilliant ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated. Don’t be shy. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Links and Info
Here is the link to the article summary from the NAR – It states that 90 percent use the Internet and, although buyers also use other resources, they generally start the search process online and then contact an agent.
Also, when buyers were asked where they first learned about the home they purchased, 36 percent of buyers said a real estate agent; 36 percent the Internet and only 2 percent from a newspaper.
Tweetable News
How do you manage all your social networks? Here are the details on the recent development of Tweetdeck connecting with multiple sources. Details >>
Hootsuite, a site that allows you to delay postings and updates, is adding the ability to connect with Facebook and LinkedIn. Details >>
Shout Out
Finally, a great job to the NAHB on connecting to the industry. Nick Barron has his hands full but is doing a great job.
You can find all their sources to connect with here >>
Anything I missed, anything to add. Please leave a comment below. Thanks!
Why do we need email marketing if we have social media?
Many of you are squeezing social media so hard that you have forgotten about the “old-fashioned” email marketing campaign. Are you thinking, “With all of these status updates, tweets, article postings, video sharing, and more — we just don’t need the email campaigns like we used to.”?
Lately, I have received an increase in requests to speak to home builders about using social media to generate new home sales. It’s the topic du jour. In my presentations, I always start with this thought:
“Even though we are here to talk about social media and how you can leverage that network, the bottom line is, home buyers are not going out to search for a home on Facebook. You must have a solid foundation and a bullet-proof online sales program, before you invest all of your time and effort building a social media campaign.”
One of the key Internet marketing tools in your Online Sales Program is your email marketing. If you aren’t sending out monthly campaigns to potential customers, realtor, and past customers. you are missing valuable opportunities.
“But Mike, we have 1,000 followers on Twitter and 400 Facebook fans. They all see our stuff,” is the response I get. But does your post stick around? No, which is why email campaigns are so great.
Let’s look at some of the benefits of this traditional form of marketing (funny that email campaigns are now considered “traditional”).
- Email campaigns are targeted. Unlike a tweet. you can guarantee that email recipients almost always see the subject line. Your challenge is to make that subject line engaging enough for the recipient to want to open it.
- Email campaigns are more permanent. When the email is in someone’s inbox, they have to delete it to get rid of it. A Facebook status update or an article will disappear on its own. So, in this case, an email “lives” until the recipient takes action.
- Email campaigns have more real estate. Emails offer more space to talk about your message link to other information, and add enticing images, which is much more powerful than the 140 characters allowed by Twitter.
- You can track effectiveness with email campaigns. Tracking an email’s effectiveness is easier and less time-consuming than tracking the ROI of social media.
- You can take action with email campaigns. With a targeted email message, you can actually see who opens and clicks through to the specific link. When you drill down into that data, you can then pick up the phone, call the prospect or realtor and talk about the subject immediately. Very powerful stuff!
If you really want to go old school, look at direct mail. When done correctly, it can still be very effective. Like a diverse portfolio, you must always keep your marketing program well-rounded. Just because there is a great new technology or a new advertising medium, it doesn’t mean the old method is useless. You always have to look at the return on time and investment to determine its value for you or your company. What “old school” methods still work for you?
