A Great Website
Did you know that 75% of consumers say that they will judge a business’s credibility based solely off of its website? What does your website say about your business? Does it say that your business is modern, efficient, and offers a great product? Or does it say ‘Man, I hope that Y2K thing doesn’t crash my computer and wreck my fax machine…’ ; )
Think of it like this – your website is your digital storefront. As people drive by your store, they will instantly judge your business based on how it appears from the street. The same happens on the internet as consumers cruise the web looking for their next home. If your website looks great, you will have instant credibility with that buyer, and they will walk into your sales center with a great impression of your business. If the site doesn’t look great, they may not step in at all.
So what makes a good website? It’s actually simple – a good website gives easy access to the information that the user is seeking, and the information is presented in a visually appealing manner. That’s it. Useful information and a great user experience = a rockin’ website.
And from the business perspective, the website also needs to clearly guide the user to the next step. A website full of beautiful homes looks great, but if it doesn’t convert users into customers, it’s not serving its purpose. A website needs a clear call to action to make the user become a customer.
Digital channels come and go (remember myspace and Napster?), but businesses will always need a solid website to generate leads and convert customers.
A Social Media Presence
More than 75% of US residents have a social media account. And the statistic is fairly consistent across ALL demographics: low income Americans have social media accounts, elderly Americans have social media accounts, Americans of ALL education levels have social media accounts, and rural AND urban Americans have social media accounts. It’s like everyone’s on Oprah, and she’s slinging out social media accounts. If you’re not actively engaging customers on social media, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to speak to your market.
And the best part? You can get started for $0. All you need is a PC (or smart phone) and you can get your business social media accounts set up. But like the website, you must have a strategy to your social presence. The objective is to drive customers to the sales center so that they will purchase a home, and your strategy needs to reflect that objective.
Robust CRM Software
Do you know how many customers were interested in purchasing homes from you last year? If you ran a promotion, do you have a way to contact all your leads from the past 18 months and let them know you’ve got a killer deal going?
If your answer is ‘No’, it’s probably because you don’t have CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) software in place to manage your customer relationships. CRM software keeps track of every customer relationship with your business, and all the information associated with that relationship. CRMs are powerful tools that allow you to market to specific segments of your contacts in a clear, efficient manner. There’s plenty of options out there: SalesForce, Keap, Hubspot (FREE), Insightly, Less Annoying CRM, etc., so try out some before you decide on which software you want to use.