Oct 10, 2010
Anyone in the sales world will tell you that building and maintaining a healthy pipeline is key to staying in business. Most sales people believe in taking active rolls in building their pipeline. Making cold calls, getting referrals, and advertising are all ways to actively build your pipeline. However is it important to have passive pipeline builders as well. One great way to do that is to use QR codes with Mailchimp to passively collect leads to fill your pipeline.
QR codes and Mailchimp make a great free way to build your pipeline
In the Real Estate business as with other businesses staying in contact with your leads and clients is key to building and maintaining a brand. Mailchimp does this very well with great looking email marketing. Mailchimp has built easy and intuitive ways to build and maintain lists of contacts for your marketing emails. One way they do this is by using QR codes. QR codes placed on marketing material can quickly take people to extra information they desire. By simple capturing their name and email address as a requirement to get the info they seek, we can build our pipeline without doing anything at all.
How to use QR codes and Mailchimp to capture leads
In this example we want to put a QR code on our real estate flyer so people can quickly get more photos of a house. In this case we are going to put the QR code on a flyer for 123 Main Street.
Step 1. Create a “list” in Mailchimp.
To get started you first must create a list. In the example we are creating a list for 123 Main st. This is simple to do, it just requires some information about the list, who the “sender” is, (this is you) and why they got put on this list. This will help them later understand why you are emailing them.
Add some details to the list. List name could be the property you are listing, or the area people want info from. Make sure you have the default reply-to email correct so you can avoid the spam filters.
Step 2. Editing the forms
It is important to create forms that capture the info you want. In our example we are just requesting Name and email, but we could ask for phone number, or even how many bedrooms and bathrooms they want in a house. We can really ask for as much or as little info as we want. As a rule, the less you ask for the higher probability of getting real information. Mailchimp does require double opt-in to any campaign so if they give you fake info you will really never know about it. More on that later. Simple decide on the level of required info and move on to step three.
Step 3. Getting your QR code
Now that the sign up form is created we can grab the QR code and test it to make sure it works. Not all QR code readers can read all QR codes. I know it sounds dumb but it is true. Make sure the QR code that Mailchimp is giving you works. If not you can always take the “signup form URL” that Mailchimp provides to another QR code generator and build a different one.
Step 4. Redirecting the “Thank You” page
Before we get to into the process itself we need to understand what is happening. When someone scans our QR code they are going to be taken to the web form we built that asked them for their name and email. Once they enter those items, Mailchimp will either display the standard “thank you” page or any page you wish to redirect them to. It is at this point we want to redirect them to the URL that has the mobile ready page for that listing. This way the client gets what they want, and they only had to give us their name and email.
At this point you could be done, that is depending on what your goal is. We have set up a QR code, tried to capture the contact record, and redirected them to the content they are looking for. But we still don’t know who they are. Mailchimp, like other email marketing clients requires double opt-in or opt-in confirmation. When they fill out the form Mailchimp sends them an email asking them to confirm they want to get emails from us. So we need to make sure that our confirmation page is convincing enough to get the end client to say yes.
Step 5. Edit opt-in Confirmation email
The opt-in email will be sent to the lead right after they fill out the form. Since the lead is already been redirected to the mobile listing pages we could be done. It all depends on whether or not the lead gave us a real email address. If the email address is real then Mailchimp will have a confirmation sitting waiting for them when they check their email. If they confirm, or opt-in, then we get to see whom they are. If the email address was fake or the lead does not confirm the opt-in, we will never know who they are. Which really just saves the REALTOR time tracking down bad leads.
Why Double Opt-in is important
In the world where we already get to many emails it is important to let people control what messages they receive. In our example, the QR code would be put on our flyer and placed in front of the house. If they customers scans for more information, they will get asked to fill out the form. Some of them will fill out the form with an email address that is fake. Sometimes that fake email address is really someone else’s real email address and it is important to not upset these random strangers.
The double opt-in also allows the lead to give us their real information and stay in control. By giving the lead the ability to accept our marketing efforts a second time, we effectively those less interested. Leaving the REALTOR with only the most interested people. So not only do we get the lead the info the requested, we save time by not chasing down leads that are not interested in doing business with us anyway.
Helpful Mailchimp Links
About Ed Neuhaus
Broker and founder of Neuhaus Realty Group. I started working in real estate as soon as I could push a lawnmower and help clean up investment properties for my parents. Investing in real estate has always been a passion and now I have turned that passion into a way to help others. Buying and selling homes for others is just one way I think I can make the world better. No sales pressure, no gimmicks, just an honest work ethic gets the job done. Let me know how I can help you. Give me a call today at 512.366.3720
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