Debbie-you sound like me and I recently, just this week, have been motivated by coach Lonn Dugan to do things a little differently. We have a great asset in Point 2, but we don't use it right sometimes.

I was not wanting to be pushy. But he mentioned to me if you walk into a shop you at least want a "touch". In other words, you at least want to be acknowledged right? I agreed, I would hate to be ignored.

So, what I am doing now, especially if the prospect has left a phone number, is reach out and "touch" them. Not overbearing, just acknowledge them and let them know you are here to help.

I would share more, but I paid for the coaching so I am keeping the bulk of it to myself. :) Besides I am not a coach. Hope that is enough of a nugget to get you going in the right direction.

I have gotten a couple good leads and I immediatly sent them an email, then if they didn't respond again in 2 days, I called them.  I too, don't like to be pushy.  I think this is a fine line-enough attention  but not so much they run away.

I haven't used the drip mails as I didn't think they fit my needs, and I'm not sure yet if or how to personalize them more.

Anyway, don't worry, as someone else said on another blog-you have to go through many frogs before you get the prince (or something to that effect).

I kissed a frog once hoping to find a princess. I got a wart on my lip instead! So now I only kiss princesses and I haven't seen any of them turn into a frog and they really don't mind that wart on my lip. LOL

I have been playing with the drip e-mails. I (like Kathy) wasn't feeling like the pre-written campaigns fit my needs, or those of my visitors. About a month and a half ago I wrote a custom campaign based on some internet leads I was being sent by an out-of-area realtor. These are folks who have signed up for a "relocation package". I had tried calling and e-mailing, was not getting much in the way of responses, so I set up a series of drips with fairly general info about our area.

This got some of them at least opening their mail (love that we can track that through P2a), but not a lot of click throughs.

I decided I needed more of a 'call to action' type message, so I wrote a few that are like mini website user tutorials. This is fairly recent, but I am not only getting more of them to open them, but some of them are now clicking through and searching properties.

I guess one thing I would say is: we should not assume that our visitors all know how to find and use the tools we make available.

Or that even if they do know how that they will unless encouraged to (reminded?).

There are some folks who are opening only those that have to do with property (shall we call them potential buyers)?

There are some that are only opening the general info messages (shall we call them dreamers)?

In any case, it is an interesting experiment. Bottom line, I see it as being about trying to figure out who your target audience (or available audience?) is, and what they are looking for.

I always try to reach by phone when I first get the propsect.  Then I set up different propsect groups based on my contact with the people:  Not reached by phone, reached by phone and not ready, or signed up for notifier, etc.  Then I customized a campaign for each group.  I also changed the number of days between messages in each campaign based on the prospects.  I have found that people often respond after the 3rd or 4th message.  I believe this is because of the branding ... it begins to look familiar.  And people need to see a message several times before it makes an impression.

Also, I always send an email after someone signs up for a notifier. I tell them they will be notified of all new listings in my website database. I also offer to do a more specific search for them in our local MLS and email those as well.  Almost always get a response to this.

Hope this helps.

Beth, I like your idea a lot.  How did you change the drip mails to fit your needs?  Where do I go to do this?  I  have prospects from Europe, as well as for my Colorado River properties and vacant land so no one size will fit all drip mail.

Thanks,

Kathy

Kathy - You can edit any of your email campaigns or you can create a new email campaign that is "triggered" whenever someone does a specific action, i.e. emails an agent, fills out a form, does an IDX search, etc.  Just follow the "help" section in the users manual and you'll get it!

Debbie - Because of my past experience in online marketing I have found that calling someone adds a personal touch that people crave now days.

If a prospect leaves a phone number I call them ASAP and just "introduce myself and let you know that I'm real person... and how can I help them further?"  If I can call them within an hour, they say, "Boy! That was fast!"  People aren't used to customer service like that anymore.  You'd be surprised at the positive reaction.  How surprised are YOU now days when you make a call and a REAL person answers the phone?

I have a draft email that I send to prospects who don't leave a phone number.  It basically says, "I understand that you don't want agents calling you because you may just be looking.  I don't blame you... however I can better serve you if we talk!   Here's my direct number and here's my toll free number (I use http://www.kall8.com) so if you want assistance just give me a call..." yadda yadda  

It's important to communicate the BENEFITS to the prospect of getting them to call you.  Free to buyers, more accurate searches, etc.

By all means, give them a call!  IMO...

If there's a phone number I call ASAP. I figure if they left a phone number, they want to be called. I also think that the internet is a lead source and an incubation tool, that hopefully leads to the opportunity to make a personal connection. I see that telephone number as a little nugget of gold that we need to use to get the full value of the lead.

If you look at it another way the drip emails are all meant to get the prospect to the point that they will contact you, or give you their telephone number so you can call them. When they leave their telephone number, sure there you are, fast tracked to the ultimate goal of a drip campaign.  

I don't usually call either, but you guys have a point there.  If they left their number, they likely do want to be called.

I am going to rethink that one.

Carol

I think calling is important too but I live and work in Mexico so it isn't the best option.....I offer a book about living in Mexico to those who show interest in my website. If they want it for free, I send it to them and I know they're sincerely interested. It's a wonderful hook & it bonds me with the buyers who are truly interested....

The drip campaign was sending "seller drips" to buyer inquiries for a while and I couldn't get it fixed so I finally figured out how to dismantle it. I lost some clients through that one!Then I added a custom drip campaign. Anyone who asks for an article I personally wrote gets my customized drip campaign.....I like to be more personalized but I get busy---this works well for me & it services the customers who are truly interested.

I have started customizing my drip email campaigns as well.  I haven't seen much of a response but I just started working on that last week.  I am patient.  We'll see what happens.  

I have now been enlightened, too, about making calls.  I worry about being overbearing, but obviously if the client is leaving their phone number, I think they are probably a more serious prospect and they don't object to getting a phone call.  I am going to start calling them as well.  

I may even go back through the most recent prospects and give them all a courtesy call to make sure they are getting the information they requested, see if they need any further assistance, let them know I am a real person, etc.!  

Great thread!!

Marcia

Speaking of Drip Campaigns - what happens when the drip is over, gone through the 15 weeks - now what?  Does P2 have a new series that we can plug in, or is that the time to start writing your own?  Sounds quite time consuming, what are some of you doing?  Thanks

I always call within the hour, never wait.  Statistics show that most go with the first Realtor they talk to (you don't want them to go to someone else).  I introduce myself and establish a comfort level first.

Asking specific questions, like how long have they been thinking about buying/or selling. Ask them where they live now, how they like it...they usually start talking about family, work or something that lets me know they have established a level of trust. I have a short checklist I go by to ask specific questions.

Then try to get them to the office or meet with them for coffee to discuss further for a few minutes. (Key terms for questions are the "How" (long), "What" (are you looking for), "Where" (what area), "When" (time frame you want to buy or sell).

The "call" or "not call" option is more of a personal one.  I know that my business would increase if I did, but I still do it only when they say "call me."

However, the drip email is critical.  As 100% of my business comes from the web site, I am careful about drip and long term contact via email.  I have 1100 on my list currently, and rarely have an opt out.  I only have two drip email campaigns, one seller oriented and one buyers.  They are triggered by P2 based on their site activity, thus requiring no action on my part.

As for what to do after the first drip, I only send four over a two month period.  After that, I send out quarterly sold statistic reports to the entire list.  Buyers and sellers like stats.   It takes about an hour every three months and it's over.  This also gets my list updated quarterly.  A typical 1000+ mail garners 60 - 80 dead addresses and two or three opt outs, usually with an explanation from them.

I have written some other material on this at http://realestate.about.com in the marketing section.

I think you can add your own custom drips to the end of the existing template drip campaigns or you can create your own longer drip campaign from the beginning.

I like the calling idea if they leave their phone number BUT how do teams do it? I have a Buyer Agent help me with my buyer leads, so she would need to cal them asap and just let them know she' s there when and if they need her. How do other teams work?

http://RealEstateTorrington.com

Search 20,000 CT properties

Thank you everyone.  I learned a lot through this thread.  I will customize the drip mails now, and not wait 2 days to call them. I spend so much time on the Internet, upgrading, changing, adding listings to 3 sites and 2 MLS's that anything to make my life simplier is great.

Thanks,

Kathy

Guess the only ones that receive prospects are either professional or premium members.

Funny, the only time I got any prospects was when I first joined.

Hello all. Kathy here is the link to the custom drip tutorial, if you haven't already found it:

http://p2a.point2.com/help/Default_Left.htm#StartTopic=Online%20Office/Prospects/DripEmail/DripEmail.htm|SkinName=Default

I'm writing short messages with one central idea or link in each.

I'd love to hear what type of information others are using.