How to lose a customer in one day

Using technology to develop leads is an art. But seriously, is it an art just to have a conversation? More often than not, I find it is. Here is an actual exchange of emails I’ve had with a real estate company. I started receiving emails after landing on one of their listings on Edgeio.

(I’ve copied and pasted from my email so forgive the various fonts…)

May 15, 2007
Good Morning.

The link below is the new property inventory on the market that matches your search specifics this morning.

Are these properties that I’m sending to you what you are looking for? I would appreciate some feedback from you, I want to make sure my parameters are correct.

xxxxxx

Real Estate Professional

Hi xxxxxx,

I am not looking to buy a home right now. I am a marketer/educator and was doing research on Edgeio.

Thanks for checking though,

If you are interested in learning about new ways to connect with today’s consumers you can check out this site or come to one of my clock hour classes.

June 2, 2007

Hello Tami,

Click the link above to view the new property inventory on the market that match your specifics.

Are these properties that I’m sending to you what you are looking for? I would appreciate some feedback from you. I want to make sure my parameters are correct.

New xxxxxx agent
Real Estate Professional

June 6, 2007

Hello Tami,

Click the link above to view the new property inventory on the market that match your specifics.

Are these properties that I’m sending to you what you are looking for? I would appreciate some feedback from you. I want to make sure my parameters are correct.

xxxxxx
Real Estate Professional

Hi xxxxxx,

Just to follow up again ( I think we spoke on the phone last week…at least someone from xxxxxx realty called me). I’m not in the market for buying or selling right now. So you don’t need to send these.

Out of curiosity, are you familiar with the kingsgate neighborhood in Kirkland?
Tami

June 8, 2007

Hello Tami,

Click the link above to view the new property inventory on the market that match your specifics.

Are these properties that I’m sending to you what you are looking for? I would appreciate some feedback from you. I want to make sure my parameters are correct.

xxxxxx
Real Estate Professional

Notice the underlined text. I was asking about the neighborhood because my neighbor is getting ready to sell her home and is interviewing agents. I had a lead! What’s the response? Just the same old auto responder.

Acquiring leads is pointless if you aren’t going to have real conversations with them. It seems ridiculous to be talking about this but not as ridiculous as it has been to receive constant auto-responders. I’m not naming the company (in the above email exchange) because quite frankly this is not the first time this has happened. I frequently shop websites and I’ve had this experience with a number of companies. The one commonality is they are all companies who pride themselves in their use of technology and provision of leads to their agents.

The mentality here must be that lead generation is a numbers game. How else do you explain this? Whatever is is – it is definitely not Web 2.0.

The companies and agents that are winning with today’s consumers have learned to engage customers and have taken a genuine interest in what their customers are saying.