Lead Generation Company - Important Knowledge

Leads and referrals are terms that are cornerstones to real estate and any other industry that relies heavily on recommendations. We talk about it so much that it becomes second nature and also interchangeable. But they are not and they both mean two different things, but what are they? Don’t worry, in this blog, we will not only go over the difference between leads and referrals. But also companies that promote leads. Also called a lead generation company, and why they charge such a large amount in order to work with them.

Finally, we will show a great solution to the problem that many lead generation companies pose. And how you can keep full control of your leads and referrals. In short, we will look at NuOp and its many benefits.

Leads Vs Referrals

1. Leads –

First off let’s talk about leads and what it means exactly. The base definition given by bigcommerce.com is this; “A lead is a person who has shown an interest in your company’s products or services. They have provided at least some basic info suggesting potential interest in buying from you.”

but what does this mean exactly? Well more or less a lead is a person that shows interest, yes, but also requires a lot more elbow grease to get them as a customer. This person most likely found you on Google search and is going through your sales funnel in hopes to convert. Leads also do not expect a phone call or to be contacted in any way, unless they signed up for some sort of contact.

Here is an example:

A lead generation company gave you their CRM or a list of phone numbers that are from possible leads. Maybe say for people looking to buy property or sell their home. At first glance, this may look like a really good listing, but you got to keep in mind these people do not expect to be called by an agent or someone similar, and it’s not much better than cold calling. Or door knocking and pitching.

Finally, leads are not qualified. As mentioned before they have no personal introduction to you or the company you got leads from. And according to getthereferral, “That introduction is for the mutual benefit of both parties. The person or company who is given a lead has no assurance that the lead will be a successful one.” It’s a shot in the dark.

2. Referral –

Now that we talked about leads let’s take a look at referrals. Now that we are on the other side of the table, referrals are simply people who are referred to you (or the lead generation company) by an outside party. Whether that be a friend of the person or family, they found their way to you. The google definition is this, “an act of referring someone or something for consultation, review, or further action.” Pretty simple right? The biggest difference between leads and referrals is that referrals come with that glowing seal of approval. These people are actively looking and hoping for a phone call and know one is coming.

Referrals come to you, but for leads, you have to chase them. See the difference? Referrals are also pre-qualified by the person that referred them. This makes it really easy to work and close deals with them, and the more referrals you have the more sales you will gain. Overall referrals are generally better than leads. But leads are not bad, a lot of the time referrals start as leads!

Here is a quick example;

You are running a new photography company and to get started you took business photos for one of your friends and some photos of your family. Your friend loved his new photos so much that every time he was talking about pictures or where to get some he would by default refer people to you. These new customers come with knowledge already about you and what you do as well as your quality of work. They are ready to do business with you. Your family may tell others as well and boom you got an influx of new business.

Take this same idea and apply it to real estate and now you got it!

The Lead Generation Company World – A Costly Investment

In our new digital world, we do business very differently. There are a lot of tools to make our lives easier, one of which we will be talking about soon. But we have things like Yoast which helps companies and bloggers nail SEO. Tools like Ubersuggest help companies fix and grow their sites and the countless other data analytic services out there. But for agents and real estate, there are online CRMs and companies that promise top-notch referrals and leads. But the catch? It costs your entire child’s college savings and gives no guarantee of making an ROI.

But why is that?

Paying for third-party lead generation is generally more expensive because of a few things.

1. They do all the marketing and hunting. All you have to do is pick at the finished list.
2. Pay-per-click prices can make the cost fluctuate
3. Essentially allowing you in is an investment for them. If leads fail they want to make sure they make some sort of gain. Making you pay lessens the impact.

Among many others.

So when thinking about B2B lead generation just keep this in mind. A lead generation company may also be heavily selective when it comes to who they allow to take certain leads or referrals. If one is a higher level of importance and complexity they may only allow top-level agents or users to take it. There are even examples of companies taking your leads and selling them back to you (cough couch). Which means you no longer have control over your own referrals or leads.

All of this sounds horrible, I’m sure you may be wondering if there is any company out there that gives great referrals and business and does not charge your entire life savings for it. Good news, there is.

NuOp, A Powerful Agent Community

Thankfully it’s not all hopeless and if you do not want to make a huge investment and still get powerful tools and access to great referrals. Then NuOp is here for you. NuOp is the first truly peer-to-peer or P2P service for agents and other professionals. Where other places select who gets what, on NuOp you do not have to worry about going through a middleman. If you are looking for referrals or are drowning in them and need to offset some, there are options for you. Get instant notifications on referrals in your area and if you want to send referrals out you get to pick from three different exchange methods to fit exactly what you need.

And all of this is for free. Also with an Essential account, you get access to things such as:

• My Ops. A powerful organization tool.
• Invite & Earn. Invite your network and cash in on referral fees.
• Connection features. Never lose contact with your referral partners again.
• A growing list of informative blogs, like this one!
• High-quality referrals on the dynamic live feed.
• Ambassador program. Become an ambassador and get cool perks.
• Instant legally binding documents for each referral.
• Grow your digital footprint (SEO) with each referral you create. How? Learn more here.
• And much more.

So it’s not all hopeless. NuOp is a great, affordable, and growing community of fellow agents and professionals just like you.

Conclusion

We talked about leads and referrals, why lead generation companies have a steep investment to get into them, and how NuOp can help you grow as an agent and professional. This blog certainly was a lot to take in. But hopefully, it helped you get through a few lingering questions as well as give you an option to grow your future. If you enjoyed this blog make sure to check out the many others!

Thanks as always for reading and remember to sign up today for free and try NuOp out now!