What are the most successful lead cultivation practices?

Real estate professionals cultivate leads in a variety of ways. Before the Internet, it was all about networking, print marketing, T.V., radio, homes magazines, business cards and other traditional media that still work for us. Then along came the Web and we added websites, blogs and social sites. Let's examine how we handle leads that are generated on our websites and why one agent takes a higher percentage to the closing table than another.

There's only one way to define "success" when it comes to working with website leads; it's a closing and commission. Nothing less is acceptable if you place maximum emphasis on lead conversion. We should also define a lead as a prospect, someone we have enticed into giving us their contact information. Until we have that, we have no lead to cultivate.

1. EVERY lead is a good lead. Start with this in mind and don't pre-judge leads by their questions or search habits. If you're watching their activity in your IDX, you still may not know their true motivation or financial capability.

2. DO NOT judge, but definitely use their questions and search habits. If you're going to try to help your prospect, you'll want to send them information that relates to their needs. Don't send canned email about McMansions to a searcher who is marking 2 BR ranch homes as favorites.