On the Fourandhalf blog today, we are talking with Jordan Muela. Jordan is the CEO of LeadSimple, the exclusive provider of lead management technology for the property management industry. Simply put, if you want to organize your sales process and your property management leads, you need to know more about this company.
Property management is a unique industry, and we asked Jordan how Lead Simple solves the distinctive problems faced by property managers. Three of the primary issues this software helps with are speed, persistence and process.
1) Speed
Calling your property management leads back in a timely manner is critical. According to initial research, LeadSimple found out that on average companies were taking 40 hours to respond to property management leads. That’s a pretty shocking statistic for a huge conversion factor. Everyone knows responding quickly matters, but responding first is actually more important, especially if leads are going to multiple companies for information.
2) Persistence
There are usually a number of follow up attempts necessary before a property manager gets in touch with or gives up on a lead. This can be at any point in the process; on the front side, or later on if a meeting falls through, or if you send out a contract and you don’t hear back. LeadSimple will help you stay on top of your contacts and keep you aggressive in the short term and the long term.
3) Process
You need a structured and defined series of steps that you follow on a consistent basis every time a property management lead comes in. You don’t want to take a gamble on how any individual lead will be treated. Consumers and leads need a consistent sales process no matter when a lead comes in or who in the company is dealing with it.
As you can see, this program basically helps you get to the lead as fast as you can and it provides a process and methodology so you have as many touches as you need to in order to optimize a particular lead and move to the next one.
There are a few special things that property managers are really excited about with this software. Here’s a little description paired with what primary issue they help you with:
Call Connector Service (Speed)
With the call connector service, a company will immediately receive a phone call, followed by an email and a text message when a new lead comes in through a contact form.
Usually, when someone fills out a contact form on your website or landing page, you’d just get an email notifying you about that lead which you will notice whenever you’re looking at your new emails – however long that might take. When you work with Lead Simple, you will be notified in three ways; email, text and phone call. Basically, when a form is submitted on the internet, LeadSimple’s system calls the property manager (who perhaps does not check emails regularly throughout the day) then follows up with a text and an email, any of which can connect you directly to the lead. So you’re still getting that instant notification, even when you’re out of the office. In the call, you get all the details you need about that lead and you’ll have the option to press “1” and call them right away. Again, right from within the call, even when you’re out of the office.
Tracking System (Persistence)
The tracking system allows property managers to track calls and emails. Most people don’t track their closing rates even though they should. To understand your calls and emails, you need to track them with detail. Unless you are recording that information, you are flying blind and you’ll be unable to diagnose what might be wrong with your sales process. A “click-to-call” function also helps you with persistence because it just makes it easier to contact people. Everyone has a backlog of leads they should follow up on but for whatever reason we get busy. Lead Simple allows you to pull down a call list so you have immediate access to a list of leads. You click on a link and the system can automatically calls you and connects you to those leads. It makes it much faster to churn through a list of old leads you want to follow up on, for instance.
Work Flows (Process)
Your process will benefit from a cool new feature called Work Flows. This part of the software lets you define and build out the steps of your sales process. For instance, every time a lead comes in, you will be prompted to respond immediately. Then, you’ll set up a reminder for a second touch via email an hour later. You’ll get a prompt to make another phone call three hours later, and another touch on day four, five, six – whatever you want your process to do for you. Work Flow allows you to define it your way, or we provide in-house workflows like the LeadSimple Follow-Up plan, which is a 20 day, 10 touch model you could adopt.
Some property managers love using these features. However, if you have a group of managers or agents who resist change and struggle with switching to an online property management lead system, Lead Simple will still work for them. If people are uncomfortable learning this technology, LeadSimple can work around that resistance by allowing your agents to make calls and reach leads without realizing that everything is being tracked anyway. LeadSimple will provide them with tracked phone numbers and email addresses rather than the original contact info, so that they can keep working the way they work, but the system is still tracking lead activity, recording and documenting all the work that’s being done.
Different Strategies for Different Types of Leads
Some property managers don’t understand the difference between a lead, a hot lead, and a prospect, and they treat them all the same. A prospect is familiar with your company but not quite ready to buy yet – you need to keep them engaged with what you do, but not hound them with sales calls. That’s where property management marketing comes in. You want to continue interacting with that prospect. You’ll provide relevant educational content and keep them in your funnel until it’s time to begin contacting them on a regular basis again and they’re ready for a property management quote. Lead Simple can work with a company like Fourandhalf seamlessly to keep the content, the marketing and the sales process moving in the same direction. Even if you have a prospect that isn’t in a sales-ready place, you can put that lead in a campaign that nurtures engagement until the time is right.
How Lead Simple Coordinates with a Property Management Marketing Company like Fourandhalf
LeadSimple supplies tracking email addresses, so when a property manager creates an account, like with a marketing company, or for a particular campaign – each of these lead sources will have a specific email address. This keeps your tracking process simple, and in the big picture it automatically tags your leads so you know where they came from. This is important because you can have a lower cost per contract when you know how and through which channels you’re getting higher conversion rates, and capitalize on that knowledge.
These are the kinds of basic strategies necessary just to stay competitive. When you want to grow your property management business, you have to build out your sales process. You begin to think through the process more deeply and you improve that process while it is developing.
We think Lead Simple is worth examining because it is software that can help you find the shortest path to managing your property management leads. This was a very interesting chat with Jordan and if you have any questions, you can contact Lead Simple, or Fourandhalf – Internet Marketing for Property Managers.
