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Agents, Brokers & Teams, Mortgage

42 Percent: The Scariest Number in Real Estate

By Maria Patterson

Real Estate remains a very call-centric business, but millions of leads are being left at the curb-literally. Randall Standard, CEO of VoicePad, a 30-year mobile industry veteran, examines how this problem can be solved.

Maria Patterson: You have said, “42 percent is the scariest number in real estate.” What do you mean by this?

Randall Standard: What’s scary is that 42 percent of the hottest leads in real estate – property inquiries from yard signs – go directly to voice mail.

MP: Agents are cell phone-centric, so you would think that has allowed them to be more responsive to their clients, right?

RS: You might think that, but you would be dead wrong. With all the functionally that’s baked into a smartphone, agent responsiveness should be instantaneous, but it’s not, because, as humans, we can still only handle one live conversation at a time. It’s not the agent’s fault.

Still, these missed opportunities have a direct impact on an agent’s income, reputation and the reputation of the brokerage. A potential buyer may wonder, “What good are they if they don’t answer my call?”

MP: If an agent is busy with another client, is it a bad thing that a call from a new lead goes to voice mail?

RS: Yes, because it can be avoided. The dynamics of an incoming call from a buyer are very different than following up with a buyer. Our industry focuses on response times to leads: The sooner the agent responds, the better.

But this strategy misses the point: These calls need to be answered the moment they arrive, even when an agent is busy. That’s because potential buyers don’t care why the agent was unavailable; all they know is that they weren’t available when they needed them the most.

MP: Forty-two percent is a pretty precise number. How did you arrive at it?

RS: In addition to IDX-based text and GPS mobile site products, VoicePad processes (and counts) yard signage inquiries in over 300 U.S. markets. We’ve processed 6.2 million property inquiries by phone in the last three years, with 17 percent requesting a transfer to the listing agent. That’s approximately a million live call transfers from the curb. VoicePad employs “call supervision” on transferred calls: 42 percent of theses transferred calls terminated in a voicemail system.

MP: Can the 42 percent problem be solved?

RS: Absolutely, and that’s been our focus at VoicePad. We are a unique solutions provider that now employs the following four types of technologies to make sure a curb call is answered immediately, or that the information the buyer requested is delivered in an automated format (voice or text):

Identifiable buyer ringtone: Agents can set a unique ring tone to alert the agent to an incoming “money call”.
Simultaneous ring technology: Agents, Teams or brokerages can have multiple phone numbers all ring at the same time when a money call comes in.
MLS speech technology: VoicePad can deliver up-to-date audio information, in English and Spanish, about the listing extracted from the MLS while the buyer is on the call.
Auto-response: In the event that the call is not answered, VoicePad automatically text the buyer’s cellphone with the agent’s name and contact info including a tracking link to the property being requested.

These are proven technologies: VoicePad serves many of the most well-respected real estate brands in the U.S. and Canada. For many firms, the overhead savings are dramatic, as the alternative is to hire more administrative support and receptionists to handle call volume.

Click here for more information on VoicePad Solutions.

Agents, Brokers & Teams, Mortgage

Why Mobile is a Must

Recently Google announced for the first time that the number of mobile searches has exceeded desktop searches. Mobile hasn’t just arrived – it’s taking over.

Mobile in real estate is must because today’s homebuyers are on the go and they know what they want, and they want it in the palm of their hand.

Consumers crave the most current data available, and if you are not providing a real-time mobile solution to connect consumers and your agents, you’re going to lose a lot of leads.

The “mobile first” mission at VoicePad has delivered an integrated mobile technology that eliminates the need for multiple mobile vendors: From a tracking-enabled mobile website to offering simultaneous text and call lead capture, VoicePad equips agents with everything they need to land the lead.

For prospects, VoicePad puts consumers in control, as it allows the potential buyer to determine when and where they want to receive information, however they’d like.

At Comey & Shepherd REALTORS® in Cincinnati, Ohio, VoicePad has been a vital lead generation tool there for the last seven years.

As Tracy Wieland, USA director of marketing explains, “We onboarded the software system, starting with the signage and 24/7 rider. Consumers could drive by and receive an audio presentation if they wanted,” says Wieland.

Today Comey & Shepard uses one easy phone number posted on signage, print advertising or all other marketing material, allowing consumers to receive information 24/7 by calling or texting for information on any home in the MLS, or by visiting their agent’s branded, mobile website.

VoicePad has perfected automatically creating and narrating Virtual Tours, featuring photos and property details, in both English and Spanish. Everything is directly pulled from MLS data or the broker’s data. The agents and brokers do not have to do a thing. Whenever vital information is changed, the tour is updated, automatically. Agents can even edit or enhance the presentation on their own.

For Comey & Shepherd a VoicePad Virtual Tour has become an essential tool, with an adoption rate exceeding 70 percent. Wieland also finds it has become a powerful recruiting tool as well, as it helps her team make an impressive impact in a market with strong legacy players.

The key to mobile success is to deliver to the consumer the immediate information they are seeking when they are standing at the curb. When buyers are standing in front of a listing and want information on a particular house, they can call and get the listing agent, or they can text and receive a link to information about that specific property they are interested in seeing, right to the smartphone in the palm of their hand!

As more people than ever search on mobile devices for everything, including homes, it’s no longer enough to have a mobile app or provide a mobile-friendly website. You must have a complete mobile solution or your leads are going to head over to a competitor that makes mobile search easy.

Mortgage

Mortgage firm says VoicePad is his business model

A mortgage company based in Chattanooga, Tennessee found themselves in the same predicament as many real estate agents across the country who purchase Internet leads. They were paying a lot of money and getting “only mediocre results,” says Kevin Blair, a mortgage broker with BrandMortgage.

Four years ago, Blair was paying top dollar for mortgage leads from sources like LendingTree® and LowerMyBills.com. In some cases, these leads were costing him a whopping $10-20 a piece. Then an associate in Florida told Blair about VoicePad and how real estate agents were using the search-by-phone and text mobile solution to generate more homebuyer leads. Blair immediately saw what VoicePad could do for his mortgage business.

“From that point to today,” said Blair, “I have used VoicePad exclusively for leads, and have built a great team that includes two REALTOR® partners in my area.”

Using the VoicePad service that is now designed specifically for mortgage professionals, Blair encourages his real estate agent partners to put a VoicePad sign rider on each of their property listings. The sign rider invites homebuyers to call a branded phone number to obtain automated property information by either audio presentation (in Spanish and English) or text message.

When a potential homebuyer accesses the VoicePad system, both Blair and the real estate agent get a text message and email containing the interested party’s name and phone number. If the potential buyer elects to speak with the agent while on the call, VoicePad rings the agent. If the prospect opts to speak to a mortgage professional after accessing the monthly payment calculator, VoicePad automatically calls Blair or any one of his associates, using simultaneous ring technology so he and his team never miss a call.

Blair discovered that the secret sauce VoicePad provides to mortgage lenders is found in the quality of the leads. He and his team follow up on all VoicePad leads, whether or not the buyer opted to speak with a mortgage professional or not. The result: They have been able to capture more high-quality leads than with any other lead source they have ever encountered. Blair says the VoicePad leads are particularly strong because of their immediate and local nature, and because they come from interested buyers who are purchase-ready.

Blair has also become a huge proponent of the technology behind VoicePad, calling it “Unmatched technology.” He says the implementation of VoicePad and its automation features is so easy and that the entire system work effortlessly and flawlessly. “All the agent has to do is put a rider on every listing and VoicePad takes it from there,” Blair said.

Within the first month of purchasing the system, BrandMortgage not only began receiving quality leads, but also closed several transactions. Blair gives VoicePad the highest praise, saying, “The VoicePad system is my business model,” revealing that VoicePad accounts for half of is closed loans every year.
But the real kicker is his ROI or return on investment.

“The cost for this service is so minimal, it is not even a factor in our business,” he said. Blair has reduced his cost per lead from $10-20 to an average of $0.88 per lead. With his Realtor® partners carrying between 75 and 100 listings, Blair now closes over 80 mortgage leads a year. “It is the best lead generation system I’ve ever used in my 15 years in this business,” said Blair.

Blair says that he’s become a VoicePad customer for life.

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