If you're hoping for real estate agencies and brokerage businesses to magically appear on your doorstep, you could be in for a long wait. It's time to get aggressive about identifying high value real estate agencies and brokerage businesses.

Measuring Lead List ROI

There are several metrics that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of real estate agency lead lists.

For starters, conversion rate (number of sales/number of leads) is essential in measuring lead list success and failure rates. But you may also want to think about integrating a few other metrics into your assessment routine.

A units-per-lead measurement demonstrates the quality of the leads in your lists. When compared to your internal lead generation metrics, a may indicate a provider that isn't performing adequate qualification or lead filtering. Along the same lines, individual metrics for your sales staff indicate how well each of your team members is using the leads they receive from your vendor.

Using Lead Lists for Direct Marketing

With direct mail, you only get one chance to capture a prospect's attention. When a real estate agency decisionmaker reads your piece, he has to be knocked over by what he sees.

Most businesses invest large sums of money in the creation of each direct mail piece. But the effort and resources you put into your direct mail marketing channel will be wasted unless your pieces are seen by the right people. As a result, lead generation isn't just about adding real estate agency names to a list -- it's about producing a high quality list of real estate agency sales prospects.

When to Change Lead List Providers

Reputable lead list providers understand the importance of accurate lists. A single lapse can mean disaster for a B2B enterprise, so it's important to regularly evaluate the quality of your provider. Good providers are meticulous about quality and are careful to include new real estate agencies and brokerage businesses in their database.

If your current provider isn't meeting your expectations, maybe it's time to start looking for a new vendor. At Gaebler, we recommend Experian Business Services. Experian delivers first-rate real estate agency leads that convert at higher rates than leads that have either been generated in-house or provided by other vendors.

Other Options for Getting Business Leads

Growing your business by buying targeted campaign lists from mailing list and lead database brokers is a great start to any lead gen initiative. Still, make sure you brainstorm on other ways to improve lead generation.

For example, by joining a trade association, you can often get access to a good directory of prospects. The nice thing is that the leads you get in this manner are often leads that your competitors may not have access to.