The Lead Generating Virtual Tour

      The hallmark of the next generation of virtual tours is their ability to generate leads for the listing agent. What follows is an explanation of why this is beneficial to both the listing agent and their client and how it is accomplished by the Virtual Tour 2.0.

      Marketing a listings is one of the best opportunities to pick up new clients. Prospective buyers might find your listing in magazines, newspapers, or in the brochure as they drive by one morning. And, without fail, each of these advertisements will contain your picture and contact information. What a great opportunity to have buyers in your market, possibly without agents, call you for information. Ultimately, the goal of a marketing savvy agent should be just that. And why not? As I’ll explain, it’s good for your client also. This theory is the foundation for the lead generating virtual tours. But before explaining the benefits of the new virtual tours, let’s step back and examine the theory and purpose behind all virtual tours and how this theory has evolved.
      What is the role of a virtual tour? Simply put, it is the definitive online advertisement for your listing. All other online marketing for your listing should have the goal of getting prospective buyers to the virtual tour. It has more pictures and more information. This enhanced online exposure is the principle purpose with which the first generation of virtual tours were designed. The lead generating virtual tours take this process further. It is an evolution of design and structure based on the principle that virtual tours should not be an end. They should be the means for much more. The additional goals of the lead generating virtual tours are to maximize prospective buyers interest in the property and then nudge them into contacting the listing agent. Therefore, the goal is not just to inform the prospective buyer, like the old generation of virtual tours. Now, all online marketing will lead buyers to the virtual tour, and the lead generating virtual tour leads them to you.

Lead Generating Virtual Tours Benefit Agent and Client
      There are buyers who will go to a virtual tour and make the decision, before leaving the website, that they are not interested in the property. They will not view the property, they will not contact the agent, and they will not write an offer. There are also buyers who will visit a virtual tour and gain interest in the property. These interested buyers are still a long ways away from writing an offer, the virtual tour was just the beginning of their search. Their next step in their real estate search is obtaining more information and viewing the property in person. The virtual tour is only the end of a buyer’s search if they are uninterested. And, because of this fact, the lead generating virtual tours never aim to be the end of the search. They are designed to convince prospective buyers to inquire for more information and view the property in person.
      This is beneficial to your client because the more people who view the property and talk with the selling agent, the more offers the property will receive. More offers can translate into a higher sale price. As stated before, there does not exist serious buyers who decide to purchase property based solely on a virtual tour. So, this system will never turn away serious buyers. It is designed such that more buyers are brought to the negotiation. This will help you achieve the highest price for your client.
      As a marketing expert you can see how this system is also greatly beneficial to your real estate business. The goal of the lead generating virtual tour is to get buyers in your market to contact you. The system will generate you more leads which will translate to more clients and more business.

A Look Under the Hood – how the CrownListings Virtual Tour 2.0 works
      The Virtual Tour 2.0 is built to get prospective buyers to contact you. This is accomplished by recognizing and executing three distinct goals. The first goal is to maximize prospective buyer interest in the property. The second goal is to put these interested buyers in a position of wanting more information. The third goal is to help these buyers chose you as their source for that information. This has been proven to be the best system to create a lead generating virtual tour.
      Maximizing prospective buyer interest is the full extension of the principle that an advertisement for a property should present the property in a favorable light. There are two areas of a virtual tour that can generate interest, the pictures and the content. In both areas the goal of the Virtual Tour 2.0 is to highlight and artistically display the desirable features of the property. By doing this, an emotional connection can be made between the buyer and the property. It is a mistake to include every detail as well as pictures for every room taken from their doorways. This has been shown to turn buyers away or create no response. Prospective buyers are welcome to any information they want, but putting this information on the virtual tour is a marketing blunder.
      Creating interest in potential buyers is a great start but there is a gap between getting a buyer interested and getting them to call. This gap is the question, why should they call? And the bridge that best spans this gap is the need for more information. The buyer might want to know things like what is the local elementary school or whether the backyard is big enough for their dogs. The person who is most likely to be able to answer their questions is the listing agent. The need for more information leads them to you. The trick then, is to put them in a position of interested yet needing more information. This has been proven to be best accomplished by giving the integral facts of the house (i.e. location, # bedrooms, # baths, square footage, etc.) while omitting less fundamental information. It is still best to display the desirable features to generate interest but the neutral and less desirable features should be omitted. Remember, it is best for you and your client if potential buyers get their information from you, not from a piece of paper or a website. With these steps you have now created potential buyers who are interested yet want more information. Unfortunately, they won’t necessarily go to you for that information. The last goal is to help those buyers choose you as their source.
      Helping a potential buyer choose you as their source of information is addressed through personalization, association, and ease-of-contact. Personalization is showing the buyer your personality so that they can form a preliminary connection with you. It is a lot easier to contact a person who you know than to contact a complete stranger. The Virtual Tour 2.0 starts with a letter from you, the agent, introducing the property. This immediately gives you personality and makes the buyer more comfortable with you. Your picture is included to further enhance your persona. A picture is included again on the contact page to reintroduce you and further the buyer’s comfort with you. Along with a personality, it is important that the buyer views you as a competent real estate agent. Association is how a potential client views you as a professional based on the virtual tour. Part of your association will come from the type of listing you have and just the fact that you have a listing. On top of this association, the Virtual Tour 2.0 will be friendly, classy, and professional. A buyer will associate you with this, and by using a virtual tour that has these attributes, the buyer will transfer these attributes to you. We also include a link to your other listings (unless requested otherwise) to further express that you are an active professional with experience. Now, as perceived by the buyer, you are a friendly and classy professional who is active as an agent and has a personality with which the buyer can be comfortable and connect with. The last step is to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to contact you. The contact page of the Virtual Tour 2.0 is designed to be as user friendly as possible. It has all of the contact information you request as well as links to your webpage and other listings. Also, it has a direct e-mail form if the buyer would like to send you a quick message without any hassle. Ease-of-contact, Association, and Personalization will help the buyer chose you as the best source of information on the listing.