If your real estate technology plan does not include using an 800 number response hotline with your listings, classifieds, open houses and direct mail, you are wasting money on your advertising... guaranteed. ***************************** Just in case you have never heard of a service like this, 800 number response hotlines (also called IVR Numbers or Interactive Voice Response Numbers) provide you with an easy way to get information to your prospects. You get an 800 number and tons of extensions to use with your different ads. For example, with your next listing you could setup a message at your 800 number at a specific extension. When your prospects call the number and enter the extension they will hear your message and you will capture their contact info. ***************************** Now the biggest benefit of adding a hotline like this to your real estate technology arsenal isn't that you will have a steady flow of prospects calling YOU for information about your listings... The biggest benefit isn't that you will be able to WOW your prospects by calling them immediately after they call you for information... And the biggest benefit isn't even that you will be able to blow away the competition at your next listing presentation by letting your future clients hear the Pre-Recorded message you have ALREADY recorded for them about their listing... No, the absolute biggest benefit of investing in 800 Number Response Lines is that you will be able to stop throwing your money away on unprofitable advertising by tracking every piece of marketing you put out there with a phone number on it. Everything will be trackable. Everything. When your prospects call your number and enter their special extension, you will know EXACTLY which ad they are responding to. That knowledge is priceless. It will be like having an invisible hand guiding your marketing decisions... because you won't spend any more time walking down the dead end path of unprofitable advertising. If you find your postcards aren't profitable, you can abandon them or fix them until they are. If you find that your open house classified ad is not pulling its weight, you can fiddle with the headline until the response improves. There are so many ways to use this technology... the list is only limited by your creativity. So if 800 Number Response Lines are so great, why aren't more real estate pros using this technology? Well let me ask you a question: Aren't you just a bit overwhelmed by the number of "systems" that are out there that are designed to "revolutionize" your business? I know I get overwhelmed just trying to keep abreast of all of the new ones that are coming out every month. And that's my business! You've got contact management systems, mailing systems, prospecting systems, referral systems... You name it, there is a system for it. Everywhere you look you are bombarded with real estate technology systems for this and systems for that. It is no wonder that eventually you get so tired of it all that you "shut down" and swear off systems altogether. Now take a hard look at the systems you use in your real estate business and ask yourself, "Does this system make my business more profitable or does it just make me busier having to babysit, monitor and tweak it all the time?" If it's the latter, throw out the system and start over. A system to track your advertising, however, is not optional for any smart business. Tracking your marketing will payoff huge dividends in the form of money saved and more money earned. 800 Number Response Hotlines have been around for a LONG time, but I am always surprised by the small number of real estate professionals that are actually using them... If you aren't using them, you NEED to look into it. Take the time to focus on setting up this invaluable marketing system. It could be one of the smartest marketing decisions you make this year. |
