Lead Consolidation: Two Forgotten Words in Online Real Estate Marketing

If you are anything like me, you are tired of hearing about the latest and greatest app you have to learn how to use, or the next best service to buy. My mind is going through "technology overload," making it difficult to stay current — and many times a good idea or service may go unnoticed.

Let me start off by saying I am frugal when it comes to spending money on tools to grow my business. It might not always be a positive trait to have, but on the plus side, if I buy into something it has to be good — so listen up.

Last month I was at a technology summit where a real estate panelist mentioned a new service called "FiveStreet," which was revolutionizing his business by consolidating his online prospects. I have been on the quest for something like this for more than three years, so hearing that this product is available got me a bit excited.

If your business is anything like ours, we get 15-25 inbound leads a day. It has been a constant struggle to manually input all the data, respond to all online inquiries in a timely manner, properly track them to see where they all come from, all while being able to route them to the proper team of agents. We've tried our hand at various CRM tools, and we boast about being equipped with tools to serve our business.

But one thing I have noticed over the years is that many of the CRM software providers don't fully communicate with the real estate syndication websites. There is always a missing piece to the puzzle. This FiveStreet service seems to be the missing piece of the puzzle that can tie it all together.

FiveStreet screens your Gmail account for online prospect notifications, and consolidates them into one database, regardless of their source. It then pulls their phone number and e-mail address and sends them an automated e-mail/text within minutes of their request, it also researches social networks for their accounts, and easily allows you to collaborate and route the leads to other team members. Best of all, it communicates with other major e-mail providers, as well as Mailchimp, BombBomb, Contactually, and Top Producer.

This has to be one of the most useful real estate services to come across my desk in over a year. We have been using this tool for about a month and we've seen great success consolidating online prospects, improving response rates, and getting insight into ROI tracking for premium paid advertising on the real estate syndication websites.

As an advocate for new innovative ideas, I urge you to look closely at this service if you are having a hard time consolidating online prospects and quickly and effectively responding to them.

Adam Ailion is a managing member of the Ailion Team at RE/MAX Greater Atlanta.

To view the original article, visit the YPN Lounge blog.