I've seen too many people who enter our world that have a massive addiction to paid lead sources.
These lead sources are NOT out for your best interests. They're just there to make a buck and they get between you and your clients. You need to figure out a different way to do business if you're going to win the 'game' of marketing and real estate!
I'd heavily encourage everyone watching this to follow these tips to escape from the black hole that is online paid lead sources:
The first thing to do is to START tracking your business. You want to know where every dollar comes in from. In SOME markets, paid lead sources are still producing, so if you still continue to use them after reading this, begin to track that. Most markets, those lead sources just won't fit into the economic model if you're looking to scale.
Secondly, you have to have a clients for life program and be active on social media. It's okay to spend money on a lead source if you have a way to generate future business from that lead after you've captured it. For us, this means our Clients for Life program. It's an easy way to keep in touch with the people who have been in our world. Make sure to keep up to date with your clients on social media with intentional social media touch points.
Third, shift to client care. Not just any client care, I mean over the top, emotionally driven client care. You want to be able to "WOW" your clients, and this is where it gets fun. You can be creative with your service - the only requirement is to knock their socks off with your efforts. Without this exceptional service, you're likely to be marginalized, and skipped over.
After you've got tracking in place, after you've implemented a CFL (clients for life) program, and after you've elevated your client care, you can finally get to step 4 - which is to cut non-productive lead sources. Don't cut a lead source unless it's really doing nothing for you - if Zillow is putting bread on the table, that's okay - but if you're dumping money into the pit of another online lead source and seeing no returns, it's on the chopping block.
If you differentiate yourself from other Real Estate teams, you're putting yourself in a position of industry leadership. Your team will be the go-to team for services in your region, and the clients you service will shout your praises from the rooftops, inviting the people in their worlds to try you out for themselves.
Take these steps and differentiate yourself TODAY!