Reciprocity: The Key to Lead Capture
Writen by Kris Beldin
It might be said that the motto for the technology and information age is: The only thing constant is change. The main culprit for all this change is the computer, and subsequently, the Internet. As a real estate agent you’ve probably caught up with technology and realized what a great tool it can be. However, lest you be caught unaware, let me warn you that the Internet is as ruthless as it is charming.
One of the keys to your success with the Internet is to step out of your real estate agent shoes and into your potential clients’ shoes. You need to think like your clients do, and one of the first rules of human behavior is this: no one will do anything for you just because you want them to.
So what’s the answer? Simply this, give your visitors a reason to stay, give them something of value and they’ll be more likely to give you back something of value they’re business.
This is the reciprocity principle. Too often, agents have the principle of reciprocity backward. Because agents know their listings are of great value to home buyers, and that this is an easy way to capture a lead, agents will ask for personal information to access the listings. This is asking the potential client to scratch the agent’s back and then he or she will scratch the potential client’s back.
What agents may not realize is the effects of this practice are two fold. First, a majority of visitors will instantly leave the site (according to Statistical Research, Inc., typically, 67 percent of Web site visitors leave the Web site when personal info is asked for); and second, one fifth of Web site visitors falsify their personal information (SRI). Requiring personal information up front causes agents to lose a percentage of their potential clients.
Allowing visitors to peruse your listings is like a car dealer letting customers take a car for a test drive. Offering listings to visitors without strings attached is the foundation for a relationship of trust. Consumers tend to gravitate toward businesses and individuals they trust.
Someone put it simply by saying: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” The principle of reciprocity is the first and probably most important key to capturing quality leads.
Kris Beldin is a PR coordinator for 10x Media, a marketing solutions company.
Estatblished in 2003, 10x Media has expanded its online presence through consumer information networks Inside Real Estate, Inside Finances and Grab Real Estate which contain thousands of pages for city and state specific real estate information across the nation.