There’s nothing worse than spending the time and money generating leads, only to find yourself without enough time to cultivate them when you finally get the calls. Online leads are particularly tricky because many of them will not be ready to take action for three to twelve months from the time they contact you. This means they have to be "nurtured" by someone if we want to have any chance of turning them into a client.

The secret to successfully managing your online leads—or any leads for that matter--is to define a comprehensive process that is executed every time a lead comes in.

• Identify online lead sources - List all the sources you use for promotion, including your Website, any third-party sources such as lead generation sites, and even print sources such as direct mail. To help you recognize whether a lead comes from one of your Websites, use a unique e-mail address for each lead source so it’s easy to see what the source was.
• Determine the required initial responses - In general, you’ll find that many responses fall into one of several categories—information on a listing, a review of financing options, request for information about your services, an inquiry about the value of a prospect’s home, etc. One easy way to ensure that prospects get a rapid, yet personalized, response is to create standardized, e-mail templates that can be modified to address the unique factors of their requests.
• Determine the sequence of follow-up response - Such commonly requested packets of information about common topics can be personalized by inserting one or two paragraphs in the cover e-mail that refers specifically to the prospect. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can easily convert the packet to a PDF before sending it to a prospect. Acrobat retains all the fonts in your materials and helps produce a more professional look. A drip marketing program such as the one I described in my May 2004 REALTOR® Magazine column is an ideal way to painlessly stay in contact with prospects.
• Set up contact management system - Web-based contact management software programs such as Top Producer 71 are invaluable in helping you or your assistant follow the systematic program of repeat contacts that turn prospects into customers. Programs should include not only a database of prospects’ contact information, but should offer automated reminders that will “pop up” when it’s time to make another contact.
• Set up lead tracking system - This step is crucial. If you can't track your leads you have no idea where your prospects are coming from. Tracking leads doesn’t have to be complicated. It could be a simple Excel spreadsheet that shows the source of each lead, when it came in, and which prepared or custom responses were used to contact each prospect. It’s also critical to track which of the leads convert into clients so you can calculate the true cost of each lead per dollar of gross commission income earned.

This will give you a strategic view of which lead sources are the most profitable and which needs to be dropped. Obviously, setting up and running such a system takes time, effort, and sometimes computer skills beyond the capabilities of most busy real estate professionals. That’s why using an onsite marketing coordinator to calculate lead costs like Chris Cormack and her CCSells.com team at Keller Williams Realty, Ashburn, Va., is such a good investment.

Or if you don’t have the volume to support a full-time coordinator, follow the example of Amy Gerbe of MassHomeSales.com in Sudbury, Mass., and hire a virtual assistant from sources such as REVA Teams to keep your leads serviced. CLICK HERE to view a PDF of a flow chart that gives a quick overview of how Amy and her virtual team handles the leads she receives from her Website and from four third-party sources. Notice here that Amy is only notified by phone or pager about leads that require immediate attention.

Even though it can be time consuming (especially if you do it yourself), lead management is really not an optional part of your business. Without it you will lose the vast majority of online prospects simply through neglect. Fortunately Web-based and software-based contact-management and lead-management options now make it much easier for you or your team to flow that flood of leads into productive channels. Now, that's a great way to run a business!

This article is reprinted in its entirety from the December 2004 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and Ask Mr. Internet!™ is a trademark of RUSSER Communications.