The Client Lifecycle depicts the flow of Leads into the office, their conversion to Prospects, then Clients and Sales. Marketing generates Leads into the office and our effective handling of them results in our gaining contact information and permission to stay in touch. This is when the Lead becomes a Prospect. At some point early in the relationship, the Prospect becomes a Client when a loyalty commitment is made. For sellers, it’s a Listing Agreement. For buyers it might be a formal Buyer Broker Agreement or something less formal. Our Clients become Closed Transactions and enter our Client Base. If they are particularly happy with our service and savings (they often are), they may become advocates for us in the marketplace . . . and isn’t that nice?
It is important to understand that at each transition point in the Lifecycle, the Lead can be lost. These junctures are decision points where the customer decides whether to continue working with us. These are indicated in the diagram by the red diamonds. The overall success of the office is determined by the effectiveness with which the Staff handle each decision point. I call these ‘Moments of Truth,’ because careful analysis of Leads Management data can reveal where the office is strong and where weakness exists. For example, if there a lots of Leads, but not many Propsects, an examination of how leads are handled should be undertaken. If we’re marketing, but not getting many Leads, the first thing to check is how calls and emails into the office are handled. Is each customer inquiry being logged? Even if contact information is not obtained? If so, an evaluation of the marketing is in order.
The Lifecycle can be a roadmap for improving your office but it is dependent on having and faithfully using a Leads Managment System that gives the Broker/Manager visibility at each Moment of Truth. The first step in any of this is to begin using the Help–U-Sell Buyer and Seller Data Sheets every time the phone rings.