the 4 steps to lead conversion and how agents are closing more deals with dotloop
John Mangas of RE/MAX Preferred, one of the most productive RE/MAX Brokerages in the country on a per agent production level shared with us how he’s changing the traditional means of thinking on the subject of lead generation and growing his business by flipping the sales funnel and focusing on conversion rates and referrals through dotloop. 14 months ago, John started reevaluating his business, to identifying how to take an uber successful brokerage to a whole new level of productivity.
What came through pretty clear is that operational excellence, experience and the supporting data mapped back to increasing conversion rates as the top priority to growing a business. It used to be enough to invest in the top of the sales funnel initiatives to fill the pipeline. More leads meant more customers, which meant more gross commission. John was happy, his agents were happy, everybody won.
But in a world where everyone is buying leads, it quickly becomes a “zero sum” game and the same leads that you’re buying are being sold several times over to your peers down the street – hence a decrease in conversion rates realized, and representing an industry average of less than 10% of agent business derived from online lead gen efforts.
The reality is that yes, we should still invest in online lead generation to maintain a steady position but in todays world, it’s the status quo and zero sum game. What we must be over investing in is conversions rates within our existing pool — to fill the middle and bottom of the funnel rather than just the top of the funnel.
The National Association of REALTORS report and history support — The majority of buyers/sellers use an agent that was recommended to them personally or that they’ve used in the past… it is not surprising. Referrals are the primary method for buyers/sellers to find a realtor (according to NAR as well as through my research). 39% percent of buyers/sellers who used a real estate agent found their agents through a referral by friends or family and 25 percent used the agent they worked with previously to buy or sell a home.
In parallel – Sixty-six percent of buyers only interviewed one real estate agent in their search thus highlighting the importance of converting quickly through a positive impression and service.
The takeaway — referrals are king and we must be highly focused on increasing conversions.
The 4 main learning’s through Johns research and experience since using dotloop are that you have the leads right in front of you – you just need to understand conversion success and have a process to execute against it. This is done through: Shorter sales cycles, happier customers, higher conversion rates, and more deals.
NOW Lets think about the sales funnel coupled with the supporting statistics: Traditional thinking around traditional lead generation supports filling the top of the funnel with the expectation that less than 10% will make it through. But what if we could flip the funnel applying the 4 principals to increase the middle of the funnel?
Shorter sales cycles – Time kills deals, especially in a hot market. So speed matters and beyond generating the lead, closing is what counts. (31% of users claim to close transactions 3X faster because of dotloop.)
Happier customers creates more leads – With dotloop, you’re easier to work with and more referable for past clients. From the client’s perspective, it’s no longer a hassle to buy a home (and 37% of users receive more leads because of dotloop.)
Higher conversion leads to more GCI – Higher conversion rates, shorter sales cycles, and happier customers results in better business. (55% of users generate at least 20% more income because of dotloop.)
Close more deals – Its easier to get deals done from anywhere and anytime with dotloop. (82% of users agree that dotloop has increased their productivity, enabling them to close more deals.)
Top agents have shifted their focus to ‘middle of the funnel’ activities and thinking, investing as much or more in lead conversion as they do in lead generation. The result is higher close rates, shorter sales cycles, and happier customers -, more referrals and repeat business.
Growth comes from, these 4 principals, servicing your customers and transaction excellence — focus on conversion, and you just might find that, to be the best form of lead generation because happy customers come back and tell their friends about it. And those leads convert at 3-6x rate, not 4%.
To drive the highest ROI and GCI for agents you must flip the funnel and focus on conversions – every penny that you spend or think about spending on lead generation and marketing efforts should equal to or greater than on dotloop. Every day that you wait to run a #peoplwork business, translates into missed opportunity.
