Author Archives: Dave Clements

Real Life CRM Success Example

A real life example, from earlier this month, of results achieved from combining a great selling strategy and an effective CRM system – 22 units sold on the inaugural weekend of a new project launch, which represents 60% of the phase.

Here is what the developer did to make it happen:

Contracted a design agency to create an attractive website.
Used their Lasso CRM corporate database (aggregated names from past projects and opted-in leads/prospects) to announce the upcoming launch to these prospects, plus a select group of realtors.
Used targeted, consistent email campaigns leading up to their events that included RSVP links so those interested could confirm their attendance (and the sales team could follow up in advance to confirm appointments).
Monitored open rates and easily resent unread emails, increasing their read rates.
Confirmed 18 pre-grand opening appointments.
Sold 22 homes on the inaugural weekend (60% of the total phase).
Created ongoing urgency, immediately after the weekend, by distributing an email campaign announcing the success of the Grand Opening.
Continue to follow up with leads returning to their website, creating further urgency that is timely and personal.

The website was their primary marketing investment – the names of potential prospects and realtors were already in their database. Getting these super sales results did not require a lot of expensive advertising, marketing programs, or collateral materials.

Want to learn more? We can show you how to do this too.

Do We Hide Behind Email?

April 8, 2011 in CRM Software, Email Marketing, Lead Management by Dave Clements | No Comments

Originally published on Homebuilders.com

We talk often about the importance of follow up and ‘the process’ of effective lead nurturing in real estate sales and marketing. Advances in email technology allow us to distribute and share information to a targeted segment or the entire prospect database in a matter of minutes. The cost of sending mass email to a list of registrants equates to pennies per mail versus a cost of thousands of dollars for a direct mail piece.

The cost, tracking capability, and the fact that you can send an email from practically anywhere makes email marketing a no-brainer to communicate with both prospects and homebuyers. But is there a downside? How often do we choose email because it’s the easiest option for us?

Do we really consider what kind of communication our prospective homebuyers may prefer or do we tend to hide behind email? And It’s a lot easier to send a follow-up email to a new homebuyer prospect who registers online than to pick up the phone. That’s not to say an email shouldn’t be sent but how many of us include a follow-up phone call within a few hours of sign-up as part of the basic sales follow-up process? Results from a 2010 survey by Builder Target of 452 new home communities indicated 86% of new online leads did not receive a phone call! Yow! The phone call does so much more than an email can do – it helps create a personal relationship and build rapport. The phone call is also going to help you when you do send out email . . . the likelihood of a prospect opening an email from someone they’ve spoken to is much higher than if their only previous communication has been email!

Email has many benefits – it leaves a digital trail, perfect for communicating specific details about a project, a home type, etc. But please don’t dismiss the power of the phone call and reaching out and speaking to your prospects personally! No question, it’s more work to pick up the phone . . . but the first call can be as simple as to offer assistance, information and inquire how you can help. Challenge your entire sales team to make calls. This is where your CRM also comes into play. Set some realistic goals for calls, even have some fun with a contest, but do track the results and make follow-up calling a part of the sales culture. The information that reps will start to record in your CRM prospect database will be remarkable… and the interactions and the information learned will accelerate relationship building and improve sales velocity.

Give phone follow-up a try. Happy calling!

CRM Fundamental 3: Track Your Lead Sources

December 17, 2010 in Lasso Tips, Lead Management by Dave Clements | No Comments

The following post was originally published on Homebuilders.com

Recent posts discussed two core CRM fundamentals; use CRM software to capture all leads, and standardize on a sales ratings system. Let’s now delve into the importance of identifying where your leads are coming from and how having the knowledge of which marketing initiatives deliver the best results can drive more sales, reduce costs and improve profits.

How many leads did you get last month?
Where do your leads come from?
What percentage of leads comes from past homebuyers, referrals, brokers, signage, online marketing or traditional print media?

These seem like simple questions, but in many cases builders and their marketing professionals aren’t always able to pinpoint these. It is difficult to know where to invest your marketing dollars if you aren’t sure what is bringing you the best return on investment. It may seem safe to continue to do what you’ve always done, but is there a better way, a fact-based way?

A CRM system will help you accurately determine your best lead sources by first identifying how a lead found you. In addition to the obvious question on a registration page of “How did you hear about us?” there are other ways to accurately determine which specific online sources your leads are coming from:

Unique registration pages or landing pages for pay-per-click or listing services automatically identifies which registration page a lead used to sign up and records the source in your CRM system.
Website analytics can track specifically which online source, or search engine the lead used to find your community: organic search, facebook, Google Adwords, Trulia or Craigslist, or maybe it was direct entry so the lead already knew of your site.
Geographic tracking – Literally, where do your prospects and purchasers currently live? Granted, you may not know their address at the beginning of their buying cycle but during the process being able to determine which geographic area your prospects and purchasers are coming from will assist you in future direct mail or print media marketing initiatives.

The need to track results over a period of time is crucial to figure out cost per lead and cost per purchaser. This fact based information highlights best (and worst) sources so you can reallocate budget and perhaps reduce cost. More importantly, done well, effective allocation will drive more and better leads and more sales.

Can you measure lead quality and specific marketing campaigns? The answer is a resounding yes. Real estate-specific CRM systems will have a means to combine criteria such as the source and the rating of the prospect so you can determine the number of purchasers that came from a specific campaign. Not only will you be able to determine the cost per lead per source, but also the number of purchasers that resulted from that campaign. The ability to compare campaigns using multiple variables – cost, number of leads, number of purchasers, time frame, etc. is all part of the marketing strategy.

Analyzing marketing data and using the information that is available to you is very powerful. In today’s market being able to create more qualified prospects, increase sales velocity and manage costs by pinpointing the best sources of leads can play a big role in the financial success and sell out of every project and new home community. A CRM system will provide this information and much more.

All Leads Are Not Created Equal – Establish a Sales Rating System

December 10, 2010 in Lasso Tips, Lead Management by Dave Clements | No Comments

The following post was originally published on Homebuilders.com

A recent post spoke to the necessity to make certain that every lead, regardless of source, is captured into a central CRM system.

A next step is to establish some standards and rules that will be become a key part of your sales methodology (the methods or organizing principles underlying the art and science of selling). These should be unique to your particular company.

First, let’s talk Sales Qualification Ratings.

It is common to rate prospects by using designations such as A,B,C, or Hot, Warm, Cool. The key question to answer is what constitutes an A prospect, a B prospect and so on. Too often, ratings are not defined and are subjective by each sales agent:

The optimistic sales agent may rate someone that is planning to buy in 6 months and is not yet financially qualified an A prospect, while…
a more conservative agent may categorize a prospect that has confirmed a 90 day window to buy with cash in hand as a B prospect. Different strokes for different folks.

Why should ratings be consistent and not open to interpretation by individual sales agents or teams?

You can compare Apples to Apples - A common view of prospect qualifications offers deep insight into the quality of your sales ‘funnel’; hence the ability to forecast sales.
You can more accurately predict and potentially influence sales velocity.
You can better coach and implement more timely actions for success.
You can implement a unique sales process and communications tactics for sales-ready prospects and a different process for those leads that need longer term nurturing.

Following is a simple example of a sales rating system. In leading CRM systems, the terminology and the attributes can be refined to your own lingo:

Rating Terms A,B,C,D,Z	Buying Attributes based on attributes of ready, willing, able to buy.	Definitions
A	Has 3 of 3 buying attributes – ready, willing & able.	You would define your rules relative to each attribute for timelines, financial capability, status, etc:
B	Has 2 of 3 buying attributes.
C	Has 1 of 3 buying attributes.
D	Just shopping – No buying attributes established.
Z	No interest/no intention or, our products not a fit.

Capture Every LEAD – CRM Fundamentals

November 26, 2010 in CRM Software, Lasso Tips by Dave Clements | No Comments

The following post was originally published on Homebuilders.com

This may seem simple, but using CRM software as the central source for capturing all leads and prospects is fundamental to the business of successful marketing & sales for homebuilders. Not just new leads – all leads, all prospects and preferably, all purchasers.

A central CRM system for gathering leads from disparate sources (website registrations, online directories, walk in registration cards, Outlook contact lists, excel worksheets) is core to:
Leads-Database

Establishing a consistent sales methodology (standard ratings, history and activity types)
Establishing consistent sales follow up and nurturing processes
Creating deep prospect profiles that include buyer interests, preferences and contact history
Targeting email marketing campaigns that drive a ‘call to action’ and results
Analyzing which media sources deliver the best returns (cost per lead, cost per purchaser)

Cost per lead is worthwhile to look at in more detail. For example Hubspot, an inbound marketing company, reported in a survey conducted in 2010 that the average cost of an inbound lead was $134/lead and outbound marketing dominated was $332/lead. Let’s be conservative and say the average cost was $200/lead. Extrapolate that for 100 leads, cost = $20,000, for 500 leads, cost = $100,000. Pinpointing those lead sources that drive best results will help you manage your marketing budget and, even more importantly, will drive more sales. Now consider the greater opportunity for improved sales and profits that come from a company standard sales methodology and consistent nurturing communications with prospects. A CRM system, with all your potential homebuyers in one central database, will pay for itself quickly and many many times over!

CRM – The Fundamentals

November 19, 2010 in CRM Software by Dave Clements | No Comments

The following post was originally published on Homebuilders.com

Over the next several posts we’ll delve into the benefits and value of CRM for tactical day-to-day operations and at a strategic business level. Plus, we’ll look at several challenges to managing change and some techniques for success.

First CRM defined. Simply put,Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy to acquire and retain profitable customer relationships. CRM is primarily a function of sales, marketing, and customer service. For homebuilders, today more than ever, CRM is powerful to the sale of residential real estate.Imagine each sales prospect at a new home community as a seed planted in a garden. Without properly capturing, tracking and nurturing those seeds can only grow into plants based on external influences and decisions that have nothing to do with the sales process, and everything to do with circumstance. Builders that employ Customer Relationship Management techniques become gardeners who can effectively nurture and grow each “seed” into a potential sale.

If you think of CRM in the context of a customer strategy that involves people, process and technology, then CRM software is a part of the infrastructure, or ecosystem if you will, that equips the people and processes by which truly successful and profitable customer relationships can take place.

The right CRM software offers innumerable operational benefits including:

Capture every lead (from disparate sources)
Nurture prospects through their buying cycle
Target prospects by interests and preferences
Communicate with prospects
Analyze habits and activities
Drive accountability for results

The resulting value to the homebuilder:

Sell out your projects and communities faster
Improve profits through focus on the most qualified and promising leads
Improve the allocation and use of your marketing investment
Save time and money by reducing administrative costs
Build loyal relationships with buyers that maximize long term sales potential
Improve decision-making for sales, for management and for executives

Next post we will explore CRM tactical benefit #1 – Capturing Every Lead.

The Ultimate Online Marketing and New Home Sales Resource Center

November 9, 2010 in New Home Sales, Online Sales & Marketing by Dave Clements | No Comments

Announcing the Launch of Homebuilders.com, the Ultimate Online Marketing & New Home Sales Resource Center dedicated to helping homebuilders and new home sales professionals succeed.

Homebuilders.com is a free, non-promotional educational resource concentrating on the challenges that face homebuilders and industry professionals in today’s challenging market.

Homebuilders.com is unique to the marketplace in that 100% of its content zeroes in on the three major challenges facing homebuilders and industry professionals today – generating enough traffic, converting that traffic to sales, and creating profitable sales. Going beyond a discussion group, Homebuilders.com offers insight, advice and actionable know-how into what’s working and who’s doing it along with examples, case studies and feature interviews with leading builders across North America.

The landscape for marketing & selling in the homebuilding industry has changed so dramatically that we wanted to bring together a collective think-tank that captures the core elements for successful selling today — powerful marketing programs, building a motivated and productive sales team, creating websites that work, driving customers to your business online, integrating online marketing with onsite sales, and the key role technology plays in connecting with potential and existing homebuyers.

Learn how to create powerful marketing campaigns, drive customers to your website, capture leads and build a motivated sales team. Understand the components that make up a comprehensive marketing strategy and get real-world tips from the industry’s leading experts. Homebuilders.com founders and editorial contributors include Myers Barnes of Myers Barnes & Associates,Mike Lyon, principal of Doyouconvert.com, Chip Johnson, CEO of Builder Designs, Jim Adams, founder & CEO of newhomesdirectory.com, Dave Clements, founder & CEO of Lasso Data Systems.

Don’t miss out on a single article – register for the newsletter, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or plug the RSS into your Feed Reader.

View the full press release here.

The Buy/Sell Mismatch

September 17, 2010 in Lead Management by Dave Clements | No Comments

We all have read or heard of the studies and reports that indicate that 50-75% of all leads are lost or are not followed up effectively. But Why? A big part of the problem is that historically there has been a fundamental mismatch between the buyer’s “buying process” and the seller’s “selling process”. The mismatch is not unique to the Home Building Industry but it is relevant, and may be even more pronounced, for builders and developers because of traditional approaches to marketing & selling.

Most of us would agree that homebuyers go through a BUYING PROCESS that involves learning, diligence and finally selection. Buyers today have increasingly gained control and more than ever before this learning and due diligence is being done online via the internet. Learning involves getting educated and gathering information and they will also do some of their own due diligence with financing approvals and such. Then, as leads become prospects and come closer to selection, they will visit model homes or presentation centers to determine the best community and best home option for them.

The Builder’s sales representative has a selling process too. But here is the mismatch, the prospective buyer is often in the early stages of their buying process, still gathering information via an online registration (or perhaps even a walk in to the model or sales center) but when the sales professional gets an online registration or visit it is all about closing the deal. Sales people, quite naturally gravitate to those leads that are sales-ready (ready, willing & able to buy now). Most sales people are not thinking about long-term nurturing or cultivation of leads through an extended buying process because we typically compensate, measure and reward sales people on one thing – closing the deal.

Unfortunately, in current market conditions, only a small percentage of prospects are ready to be closed — what we call sales-ready. The great majority of prospective buyers today have less sense of urgency, have more alternatives and have a much longer buying cycle – why not call these marketing-ready? If more leaders and managers will think strategically of lead generation and follow up in these broader terms – SALES-READY OR MARKETING-READY (rather than just A, B, or C’s) they can begin to build a blueprint of distinct selling processes for these different categories of leads and prospects.

Not only will the mismatch begin to disappear you will get more sales in the long run with higher close rates and a much better return on your marketing investment.

Onni Achieves Sales Success in Real Estate Project Marketing

September 3, 2010 in CRM Software, Customer Success Story by Dave Clements | No Comments

To date our blog posts have not highlighted too many client success stories. However, in today’s real estate market, it’s great to share positive stories and we will highlight more of these successes going forward.

Onni has a terrific story!

The Onni Group has several new multifamily developments in progress throughout Vancouver’s Lower Mainland and is one of British Columbia’s premier new home builders with a reputation for providing architectural innovation, superior quality and courteous customer service.

Onni recently announced that in the past 300 days, they have sold 350 new homes! Not a simple task; and no doubt they have accomplished this with a top-notch marketing strategy, consistency of sales tactics and processes and, at the core of everyone’s business, a team of great people.

Lasso is particularly proud that Onni uses Lasso real estate CRM for their marketing, sales and inventory management. From capturing leads off their website and at presentation centers, managing prospect and broker activity to email marketing and managing inventory and pricing from single source, Onni captures all registrant, purchaser, and broker detail in Lasso and can easily segment, market and communicate across their entire database.

Some current Onni Projects include:

The Mark	V6A	Social

We congratulate Onni on a great sales success story and look forward to highlighting more customer successes across North America.

In today’s unpredictable market, selling new homes is challenging. One of the secrets to sales success is establishing consistent marketing & sales processes and then leveraging the benefits of technology for better sales results. Over the past year, Lasso has been hosting a series of complimentary webinars to help new homebuilders and developers develop both online and offline marketing strategies. Lasso’s next webinar, features home sales experts Myers Barnes and Mike Lyon – this dynamic one-hour webinar will provide a roadmap to improve close ratios to 30% or more. Learn more here.

Guaranteed Close Ratios of 30% for New Home Sales

August 20, 2010 in New Home Sales by Dave Clements | No Comments

Have you figured out how to go beyond just staying in the game to really winning in these turbulent times?

Lasso’s upcoming complimentary webinar on September 21^st – CRACK the code to +30% Close Ratios .. . Guaranteed! – will feature new home sales and marketing authorities, Myers Barnes and Mike Lyon.

We have asked Myers and Mike to present this one-time webinar where they will deliver a roadmap to success that is achieving 30% (and higher) close rates for homebuilders across North America.

They will demonstrate how to make the successful connection between online marketing to onsite sales with a proven formula that is not only pragmatic and ‘doable’, their combination of people, process and technology delivers proven results. Time after time!

Learning Outcomes:

Successful integration between online & offline sales
Role of the Online Sales Counselor
The transition to the Sales Team
Define the lead follow-up process
Master a paint-by-numbers sales process
Double your conversion ratios

For more information and to register, click here.

Lasso holds educational webinars every 4-6 weeks. View our past webinars, featuring Mike Lyon, Jeff Shore, Jim Adams and Carol Flammer here.

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Author Archives: Dave Clements

Real Life CRM Success Example

Do We Hide Behind Email?

CRM Fundamental 3: Track Your Lead Sources

All Leads Are Not Created Equal – Establish a Sales Rating System

Capture Every LEAD – CRM Fundamentals

CRM – The Fundamentals

The Ultimate Online Marketing and New Home Sales Resource Center

The Buy/Sell Mismatch

Onni Achieves Sales Success in Real Estate Project Marketing

Guaranteed Close Ratios of 30% for New Home Sales

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