If it’s Tuesday, Homes.Com Must be Calling
Posted on August 8th, 2007 by Jonathan Dalton
When I first started my website, I lit $500 on fire and signed up as an exclusive agent for ZIP code 85345 with Homes.Com. Tobey and I spent the next year silently smiling at those looking for homes in 85345, all to no avail.
At the time that I signed up, I was told that as added incentive if I didn’t receive even one legitimate lead through Homes.Com, I’d get a free year for my banner ad. I didn’t get a lead. And, as you might expect, that promise of a free year went by the wayside as well.
I don’t know if Jene is still with the company but that’s not the point. I’ve now told this story to at least a dozen agents from Homes.Com after the past year. Now, given that they are looking for additional money from me, don’t you think someone … anyone … would try and address this concern? The closest I came was one agent who said, with absolute truthfulness and absolutely no tact, “You really believed that? You should have known better.”
Well, now I do know better. Now I don’t let the conversation progress much past hello.
As I learned on Friday, while in the process of asking yet another agent how many times I must say no before someone makes a note of the response, there is no great lead system in place for this fine sales folks. Rather, they’re surfing the web and calling agents more or less at random. Not to mention calling ad infinitum.
If anything, there’s a positive to be found in the situation in that my Internet marketing must be working if all of these sales agents can find me working independently of each other. But, for the love of all that is holy, can’t someone at Homes.Com buy a contact management program so they can see how many times they’re trying to bilk the same person?
If they can’t manage this much, why in the world would I spend my money with them? And if anyone from Homes.Com is paying attention, which I highly doubt, please glance at this post before calling. The answer is no. It will remain no. Thanks for playing.
Next thing you know, I’ll receive daily calls from SEO folks promising me the top page of Google for such crucial search terms such as “Phoenix Realtors who Exploit Beagles for Financial Gain.” Lord knows that will drive the traffic like nothing else.
Technorati Tags: real estate marketing, Homes.Com
Popularity: 4% [?]
Jonathan: They have one already- they are the purveyors of Top Producer 7i. Maybe a little walking the talk and using their own product would be a testament to the power of their wares.
Do you get calls from RedZee.com as well?
Those people must call me at least once a week. I’ve asked, repeatedly, to be taken off their list, and I finally got hold of someone who claimed to be a manger who explained that there really wasn’t a list, and then proceeded to start the sales pitch all over again.
I hate being rude to those people, because, hey, they’re just doing their job, and it’s a new person every time they call.
I did find a new technique that I find amusing. As soon as I know it’s a telemarketer, I like to interrupt their pitch and ask, “Whatcha selling?” Really throws off their patter.
“oh, well, if you could just go to this url…”
“no, whatcha selling?”
“oh, well, we put people at the top of xyz”
“that’s a result, not a product. what are you selling?”
there’s always the one smartaleck though who delivers their best line, “you don’t want to increase your business?”
“no sir, i’d like to stagnate. if i could start to loose money, i think that’d be fantastic. can you help me with that?”
I also like, “we can’t find your site xyz.com on the first page of yahoo.”
“oh, do you see any of my other 80 sites?” that’s always good for a pause.
maybe i should start my own over-used, terrible pitch: hey, are you or anyone you know thinking about buying or selling a house in Tucson?
That’s too funny, Kelley. When I was at the top on Yahoo, I also enjoyed asking them what the hell they were looking at.
And Thomas, I believe that’s the very definition of irony.
Kelley: I use the old stand by: ” I am with a client. Send me an email with everything I need to make a decision.”
If they ask what my email is, I just tell them “You have my phone number, you must have my email.” CLICK
You know, I have never gotten an email.
Every time these dolts call me I tell them, “I’m not interested, but I know this agent on the west side that does Arrowhead Ranch and Palm Valley you can call…”
Just kidding of course. I wouldn’t do that to my ex-wife, much less someone I like.
I got one yesterday that said, “I can’t find your web site anywhere in Google!” I said, “Really? 400 people had no problem finding it there yesterday, I wonder what went wrong?!?”
They are evil and relentless.
I tell them I bill $50 for phone consultation and ask for a credit card number.
-Athol