What is a "lead"?
An open reflection on certain words, what we mean by them and how to grasp their meaning can help us to better define the concepts and actions they refer to.
By analysing the meaning of some (mis)used words in our profession, I will try to put in crisis some common assumptions in relation to the sales process of real estate services. I will then propose new (or not so new) words to replace the old ones in order, through them, to suggest a simplified commercial process that is not intended to be innovative, but will at least be explained in words that we all understand and that inform about the implications and actions associated with them.
"Language is not the envelope of thought but thought itself".
(Miguel de Unamuno)
"Chi parla mal, pensa mal e vive mal. You have to find the right words: words are important"!
(in "Palombella Rosa"by Nanni Moretti)
What is a "lead"?
When you look at the meaning of "lead" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, of all the possible meanings, the closest to our lead -the "sales lead" (lead sales) - is defined as: "something serving as an indication or clue. Police followed their only lead.>", i.e: indication or track.
The (Anglo-Saxon) sales theory, with more or less consensus, or more or less steps, agrees in pointing out the following ideal sales sequence:
List (or Subscriber) >>> Lead >>> Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) >>> Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) >>> Opportunity >>> Customer >>> Evangelist
Is this sequence valid for the sales process of real estate services, to achieve recruitment?
In my opinion, no (or at least not completely), since national estate agents do not work with leads unless we have a method which - through complex analysis of big datafor example - enables us to identify individuals or population groups whose socio-demographic and economic indicators suggest that they are highly likely to be in a position to sell your home now or in the near future. This is possible and done in the United States, I don't know about here.
The above sales sequence is probably used by a friend of mine who sells measuring and control instruments for various chemical industries: He looks for companies in various sectors related to chemical processes (List); analyses which ones perform processes that may require his product (Lead); once contacted he receives some response requesting more information (MQL); after sending this information he receives a request for a personal meeting (SQL); negotiates conditions and deadlines (Opportunity); sells (Customer); and tries to exceed his customer's expectations and take care of him in a sustained way (Evangelist).
A call from a customer saying that they have seen a flyer our (or should I say "flyer"?) in his mailbox and that he wants to see us to decide whether he sells with us is not a lead -not a clue!- but f_ _ _ _ing evidence! He wants to sell and he is telling you so.
The same applies to those who contact us because they click on our ad on Facebook, those who call us recommended by another agency or the e-mail with the "private flat for sale" information that we receive after contracting an Idealista recruitment area. They are not leads.
On the other hand, they almost always contact us determined to buy, but often undecided about who to buy from (you, the other, both?). Are we in a phase of negotiationAre we facing an Opportunity? It is not certain, as we will see below, but what is evident is that the sequence of sales of real estate services is not only different, but much shorter. [Further reading: In real estate, the customer journey is a one-way trip.]
OK, if this is not the sequence and we can't call them "leads", can we call them "prospects"?
Let's see what the DLE says about the word "prospecto":
"Paper or leaflet accompanying certain products, especially pharmaceutical products, explaining their composition, usefulness, instructions for use, etc.".
What the hell, and "prospecting"? (see "What about Europe?").
Prospecting: "From English to prospect, east of prospect 'land suitable for a mineral deposit', and this from Lat. prospectus, pass. part. of prospicĕre 'to look, to examine'.
- tr. to survey a piece of land, a project, etc.".
And turning to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for the word "Prospect"... we find three related meanings of interest to us, the last one in particular:
- The possibility that something will happen in the future
- An opportunity for something to happen
- Someone or something that is likely to succeed or to be chosen".
In other words, a prospect is someone or something likely to be chosen (for something): a candidate.
I am interested in this.
A proposed sequence of sales of real estate services in standardised Spanish.
Assuming that all agencies listen to those who talk to us about the importance of social selling and promoting consumer contact with our brand-agency, and based on what we have analysed so far, I propose the following sequence, which I am sure many of you already follow, consciously or not:
Follower >>> Candidate >>> Chosen >>> Customer >>> Evangeliser >>> Evangeliser
Follower: The one who keeps in touch with us (and we with him!), is aware of what we say and do and, in general terms, keeps us present and identified in relation to an activity.
Candidate: The person who informs us that they need to sell a property and are considering doing it with us - great, but we also need to consider whether we are working with them. That is why he is a "candidate"; because we will have to validate whether, in a business with "at risk" income such as ours, this person is the desirable travelling companion. Talking about a "candidate" means reports -Le parole sono importanti! - that we have to make a decision about him.
Elected: He may not yet be sure about working with us, but we have identified that he represents a real opportunity sales: We have elected and therefore, it is time to put the company's resources to work so that it stops considering us a candidate Isn't it nice for our customers to know that at some point, even before they had made the decision, we had already chosen them?
Client: If I have to explain this to you, you are reading the wrong post. Go to here.
Evangeliser: Idem.
In another post, I will focus on which company resources should be brought into play in each of the conversion phases of the sales funnel in order to ensure that as many Followers become Evangelisers as possible.
