RealTown's RealTalk

I attended a seminar recently on SEO and other issues.  One of the topics that came up (of course) was visits to google and individual websites.   I don't remember the exact statistical breakdown, but I'm pretty sure that almost 70% of the visitors already have an agent.    

The one statistic that I do remember is that only 7% of the visitors actually selected a realtor as a result of their  internet search.  I have no way of verifying this information, but it sounds like it could be an accurate figure.  The remaining 20-25% choose their realtor as a result of referrals from family or friends, or as a result of knowing an agent who is in the business. 

Ed Barrett
www.EdBarrettHomefinder.com
e-PRO, M.A.

My son in law is from Oregon, and his parents live in Oregon. His parents have a friend from their college days who sells real estate in San Diego, and so the referral to a personal acquaintance won out over finding an agent on the Internet. Earlier this year, Brad Inman wrote a piece on finding a listing agent for his dad's property…and it was not on the Internet, but through the recommendation of his dad. In real estate, personal relationships still matter it seems.

Saul

Reply: Saul my area is a second home and retirement area. I do a lot of direct referral business, but I also do a lot of buyer referrals from the Internet (not to good right now). They say the searched the the county, waterfront, the state, homes for sale, etc and found my site in numerous areas of the Internet. I have a very plain simple site, we do change it often and update it. I also think having and using designations helps in getting referrals from other agents, for both buyers and sellers.

However, I totally agree the direct referral normally is the best.
Glory Bee

Without doubt, referrals are the defintiely the best way to go. However, I would not discount the 7% who select realtors on the internet as, in some areas,  it can easily be 6-figures of income/year.  It is not that difficult to do.

My experience is that many relo buyer select a local agent based on the value they find using a local website and whether or not the agent returns emails and phone calls.

Final e-pro assignment. This is a great reminder to pay attention to random contacts from agents in other areas of the country instead of ignoring/deleting them. You never know when they have someone in their sphere of influence coming your way.

Steve Jones

RE\MAX Action Real Estate

Richmond, VA

People buy from people they like. That is a universal sales axiom. An easy and a very soft way to let people know you are a REALTOR is to use Mobile Manager for both your professional and personal contact number. Then get involved! Coach sports, join the Chamber of Commerce, a bridge club, etc.

Mobile Manager is a single local number for both voice and for fax. We recommend that you put a greeting on your MM when forwarding it to whichever phone you want to answer calls (home, Mobile, Office, cottage etc). So when the parents of the kids you coach for soccer call you they may hear a greeting that says: "Hi this is MaryLou Jones from Hillside Realty, if you would like to speak with me please touch 0 now, if you would like to leave a message, stay on the line." Your callers reaction: "Oh I didn't know you were a REALTOR!". Bingo, your Sphere of Influence just grew by one!

Garrie O'Neill

http:onecall.realtown.com

The commits on this blog are a constant reminder that we never know where our sphere of influence is going to lead us. I recently joined the business development team for relocation at my brokerage firm. I amazed myself by making a list of the number of people I knew around the world from my days as an executive in the insurance brokerage field. I was only concentrating on my local community. Lessons are learned everyday.

I read with interest your comments about Mobile One. Is there a fee for this service. I am currently having my faxes sent to the office and they scan them and e-mail them to me. For phone calls I use only my cell phone for all of my calls.

Robert Douglas 302-737-1144
Re/max Associates
RealtoRRDouglas@aol.com
RobertDouglasHomes.com