A Broker’s Biggest Listing Data Challenge

Generating and Capturing Seller Leads

 Listings are the name of the game for brokers. Some 89 percent of brokers surveyed said they had one to five different systems where they stored data on buyers, sellers, consumer search behavior and more. The biggest challenge was leveraging that data – specifically in generating new listing business.

One Sotheby’s International Realty, South Florida

14 offices

“Our biggest challenge is cutting through the noise. How do agents make their messaging stand out?,” says Karina Lopez, vice president of marketing and operation for One Sotheby’s International Realty in Miami. “Everyone wants to know how their property is doing from a valuation standpoint. We needed good information and a way to translate it and make it appealing to buyers and sellers,” says Lopez.

Integration is Key

Lopez turned to Buyside data because of its ability to capture seller leads and run seamlessly with the brokerage’s other technology. “Integration is important. Adding another username and password to our agents’ workload is not an option,” she says. Her lead generation tools include an app that replaces the sign-in sheet at an open house. The information is then automatically integrated with the company’s CRM and its Resora email system. “When someone registers, the systems will send a “thank you for visiting our open house” note. It’s an immediate follow-up and very few people are doing that,” says Lopez.

The information is also incorporated into Buyside. “Those visitors also feed into Buyside data. The system creates a buyer profile around the specs of the home they visited. So, when we get a listing, we have a database of confirmed buyers to market that listing to,” she says.

Leads Through Home Valuations

All Buyside agents have a home valuation landing page. It’s a standalone page, personalized and simply says, “Do you want to know what your home is worth?” Potential sellers will enter their home information and Buyside data will pull valuations from three different sources, including Zillow, while also displaying the number of buyers who are in the market for their home. “That information is combined with other sources to give consumers accurate information about their property and it’s one more way we receive seller leads. We will give them information on their property and deliver it in a way that doesn’t require them to give any personal information other than their address.”

The brokerage had over 9,324 valuation inquiries from Buyside, resulting in several hundred verified seller leads and over 150 signed listings.

The best part, she says, is that “Buyside data consolidates so much information from other websites and translates that information so we can become the ultimate resource.” However, it still needs the expertise of a real estate professional to update valuation information based on improvements made to the home and how popular the area is with homebuyers. “If you’re in a non-active area, you can’t be as aggressive with price,” says Lopez.

Relationship Building

For every valuation, says Lopez, “we have a log of that information, and we’re working on implementing Contactually CRM where we’ll pull all of that information into the CRM and automate the workflows.”

The truth, says Lopez, is that “Buyside has allowed our agents to create contacts that they didn’t have before and it gives them an excuse to reach out to them.”

“As a company, we know we have to do something different to help our agents stand out. We aligned with this tech because we strongly believe that things that worked in the past are changing and evolving. Buyside data allows us to generate buyer and seller leads and evolve as well.”