Today, James Nellis II from Spoken Word Seminars interviews a Realtor who specializes in The Triangle area of North Carolina. The Triangle is typically defined as the Raleigh, Durham & Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. Claudette Anderson can be found at TriangleLiving.com and will open our eyes to the potential found online for Real Estate.

Claudette Anderson’s business is completely focused on the internet. Anderson’s company is E-Realty and consists of 15 Realtors. Her individual team consists of 4 Realtors spread throughout the Triangle Area, a Listing Coordinator, Closing Coordinator and Internet Marketer. Anderson has focused on internet marketing since 2001.

Nellis: Claudette we typically focus on Money Lost and Money Found ideas. What would that be for you?

Anderson: Money Lost for most Realtors is not knowing how to convert leads. Our Team’s Money Found is the internet tool from Favorite Agent The most important part of that tool is learning how to convert the leads.

Nellis: Claudette why did you choose Favorite Agent versus all of the other marketing websites?

Anderson: They have a higher lead capture rate than the others. They capture 25-33% of everyone that accesses their gateway and lead capture system.

Nellis: What is a gateway system?

Anderson: The gateway is the portal for consumers to access listings. It is a search friendly IDX site that enables the consumer to save searches in a user friendly format.

Nellis: How many leads do you get a month from the system?

Anderson: It is totally dependent on our marketing budget. Currently we get about 2-3 leads a day. There is a direct correlation between the amount of business we want and the advertising money we spend. Right now I am training a Lead Coordinator to help with the growing leads and business.

Nellis: Tell me about the leads you get every month…

Anderson: Some leads are bogus but you will get that with everything. I have been using Favorite Agent since July 2008 and it has been very successful. We started online marketing with Favorite Agent in August of this year.

Nellis: Most Realtors & readers want to know about ROI. What has been your Return on Investment with this program?

Anderson: Well, I agree with them, anything you do has to be profitable. I pay $120.00 a month to Favorite Agent and then my monthly will depend on our Google marketing budget. We spend roughly $250-300 a month on internet marketing.

Nellis: So, you started advertising in August of 2008 spending approximately $400.00 a month to generate leads from your marketing and favorite agent website what has been the result?

Anderson: We have already generated 12 closings in under 4 months. We have 2 clients under contract and we are actively working with 7 more clients.

Nellis: Wow, that is very impressive. Are there any other tips you could provide to reach numbers like you just stated?

Anderson: The key to it depends on the training of the the Realtor converting the lead. I am putting together a lead conversion system that will come out later in 2009. It will teach Realtors how to have higher success with leads.

Nellis: What are your current conversion rates?

Anderson: If I talk with the lead over the phone I am at 72% If I only use email we are at 61% I will typically do an online presentation or meet with a new lead at a local coffee shop..My favorite destination spot is Stone Wolf Coffee.

Nellis: How can other Realtors avoid the pitfalls of losing possible internet leads?

Anderson: Most Agents give a “sales pitch”- that never works. Realtors need to build trust and credibility. Remember to NEVER pressure the lead. Many consumers are turned off by Realtors that try to sell them a home before understanding their needs.

Nellis: Claudette Anderson, thank you for taking your time to tell others about the success you are having online and some tips on how to increase their effectiveness for today’s consumer in 2009.