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Home Insider Blogs Mark Juleen's Blog Pay-Per-Lease Model Killing Your Budget?
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Jan 27
2009

Pay-Per-Lease Model Killing Your Budget?

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Posted by: Mark Juleen on Jan 27, 2009 01:00

Well, there are some companies (one in particular) that may not appreciate this post, but they are getting an unfair share of our marketing dollars in my opinion.  Here's my tip of the day to help you reduce the number of "I just want my $100 so I'm going to say I heard about you on Blah.com" people.

Don't ask them "How did you hear about us?"  Ask, "Have you been here before?"  You will be amazed at how many people will say, "yes," or tell you they've driven by before.  You can then ask a follow-up question like, "Did you research us online, or find information about the community anywhere?"  This way, source one = referral or drive-by, source two = whatever.com or guide. 

Even if a prospect has heard about or driven by a property before, many are aware of the $100 fees for using Blah.com.  According to the policies, you don't have to pay a fee if their primary source is a referral or drive by.

 Enjoy your day!

 Mj


Comments (4)Add Comment
617
written by berto_s, January 30, 2009
Another way to help keep up with those situations is to use your lead manager to keep track of individuals using their name, email, or phone number to see what contact they may have made prior to submitting a "blah.com" lead. The trick is making sure your leads from all sources are getting inserted in ways that don't make more work for you.
67
written by themarketingnerd, January 30, 2009
Thanks for the comment Steve. Good tip.
628
written by KSilver, February 01, 2009
Just to play a little devils' advocate by taking into a couple points of view. I used to hold the opinion that it's no mistake that a pay to play business model for the websites like "blah.com" lends itself to a disadvantage to the property. And, doesn't necessarily lend itself to honesty on the part of the customer. However, blah.com does have a limit of how many leads (max) a property will have to pay in any given quarter. And, make no mistake - blah.com in our neighborhood does have a great web presence.

And, as I am a decision maker in these instances I have often been perceived by the customer as being unfair by citing other sources that may have been mentioned. So, I am no longer willing to present any negative outcome to those that seek the payout from the site. These days, I pay up knowing there is a maximum of the referrals we have to pay (by the way I rarely pay the max on a 535 unit bldg). And, the customer is happy. Maybe every know and then blah.com will have to take the hit!
912
written by Jackie Koehler, October 16, 2009
I've known properties to experiment with offering their clients the $100 directly and often the source they claim changes and often their pay per lease billings decrease.

Renters often use many sources, we know its rarely just one in the decision making process. Of course they would like to take advantage of receiving $100 and would cite that source over others. Its human nature. As a property manager you don't want to start the relationship by denying them the $. Yet it may cost you less to offer a similar deal directly to help get the honest source.



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