Finding new business is a challenge in every industry. The good news is that technology has made acquiring new buyers and sellers a bit easier for real estate professionals. This technology goes about generating leads a variety of different ways and can vary a great deal in effectiveness. That's why it's especially important to do your research, and know the questions to ask technology vendors.

To help you learn more about lead generation tools, we recommend reading the following articles. They're a good place to get started:

• 21 Tips for Capturing and Converting Leads
• Does It Pay to Buy Online Leads?
• Real Estate Lead Generation for Brokers: Data-Driven Lead Conversion
• Stop Throwing Leads in the Garbage
• The Top 8 Factors For Increasing Real Estate Leads and Conversions

Choosing the Right Tool

If you're in the market for a lead generation solution, there are questions you can ask to evaluate which option is right for you, like:

• Will the leads I'm given be exclusive to me?
• Where are these leads coming from?
• How "hot" are these leads?
• Are they buyer or seller leads?
• What information will I be given? Phone number? Address? Email address? Property search details?
• If I use a product for lead management and routing, is this lead generation technology compatible?
• How many leads should I expect?
• What is the average cost per lead?
• How long is the term of agreement?
• Do I get any special pricing because of my franchise, network, or MLS participation?

Find more questions to ask in our 2014 Technology Guide. It's a free resource for real estate pros who want to learn more about the technology products available to them.

Here is one lead generation tool highlighted in the Tech Guide:

• BuyerMLS: This tool allows listing agents to search for missed opportunities and enables buyers to view homes that are not listed on the MLS.

For more information on the option above, download the full guide. For a full list of Lead Generation solutions, visit our Product Directory.

More in this Series

This is the latest in a series of articles that explores the spectrum of technology products available to real estate professionals. Each post covers what a specific type of technology does, how to evaluate solutions in that category, and available options. Here's what we've covered so far:

• CMAs
• Back office solutions
• Electronic Signatures
• Real Estate Websites
• Document and Transaction Management
• Virtual Office Websites
• Lead Generation
• Lifestyle Search
• Lockboxes
• Mobile Apps
• Website Analytics
• Market Analytics
• Online Reputation Management
• IDX Websites
• Online Marketing

Stay tuned for more!