I apologize for not being bad enough on this bad blog disguised as a hot dog stand. I know I am capable of wreaking havoc through out the bloggoshere, but have not had much time these days for wreaking.
As a REALTOR I get a lot of junk mail, I save some of it. This particular piece caught my eye because it comes from a lead aggregation company. The folks who have big web sites that look to consumers like free information but exist so companies like house values can gather "leads" and sell them to agents. This one stood out because it was sent via USPS. Those poor leads! There are people out there waiting for an agent to respond to a snail mail post card. I hope they have moved on. If they have not they should be able to find my site quickly and get a accurate home valuation from and expert very quickly.
I get a lot of spam from HouseValues and from several other companies. They urge me to hurry because there are leads out there for me. When the "leads" come directly to me and don’t have to go through a lead aggregation company they get much faster service, better too. We need to teach consumers how to cut out the lead aggregators and go directly to the agents in their area.
As an added comment it did not escape my attention that this piece was done in black and white on very thin paper. It came in one of those envelops I almost never open that looks like some kind of an official notice.
Hi there. I have been out Working a lot.
ARDA was here, at Walt Disney a few weeks ago and now I have a lot going on.
ARDA is the American Resort Developer Association, an industry I have been in for a long time. Anyway, if I ever need a mass mailing done I will contact House Values marketing company, NOT.
TTFN
posted a story for you on the Comic Corporate link.
(:
What bothers me is that consumers are leery of contacting an agent or real estate company directly but would go to the lead aggregators for a referral. What they don’t realize is that many of the agents paying for those leads do not have a referral base to give them leads. That says a couple of things about those agents: either they are new or they haven’t performed successfully for their clients in the past. Either way, it wouldn’t be the route I would take.
Bonnie – you hit the nail on the head. The sad truth is that the general public does not have a lot of trust for our industry to the point where they find help from lead aggregators. I think we made our own bed but it is still the consumer who suffers because of it.
Just say no! My mantra about lead aggregators.
Oh, I think I am even more needed than that. My “urgent letter” was in a FedEx type package, and stated they needed an agent specifically from my brokerage. Those poor buyer leads. What will they do without me?
Kelly – I am thinking they will all go under. They sure are getting lame with the advertising.