SEVEN HABITS FOR EFFECTIVE LEAD

MANAGEMENT

SPUR THOUGHTS ABOUT LEAD MANAGEMENT

CARMELA GILLENWATER

• Vacation Rental Industry Enthusiast

• Supplier – 19 years

• Operator or Consultant – 8 years

ASHLEY HAMM – 360 BLUE

• Florida Panhandle

• 300 Properties

• Began in 2008

• Technology

• Escapia

• Navis

• Technology we helped to

develop:

• GTHY

• gladRESPONDER

• gladCONTRACT

7 HABITS FOR EFFECTIVE LEAD MANAGEMENT

1. Identify Business Objectives

2. Define & Follow a Process

3. Respond Quickly

4. Capture Rich Contact Information

5. Re-use Leads

6. Measure Effectiveness

7. Establish a Culture of Improvement

1. IDENTIFY BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• What problem are you trying to solve…

• Improve low lead conversion rates?

• Improve lead follow up?

• Improve marketing effectiveness?

• Consistency of responses?

1. IDENTIFY BUSINESS OBJECTIVES – 360 BLUE

IDENTIFY BUSINESS OBJECTIVES – 360 BLUE

WHAT PROBLEMS ARE WE TRYING TO SOLVE?

• Improve low lead conversion rates

• Faster response rate = Higher conversion

• Improve lead follow up?

• GladRESPONDER / Hot Leads

• Improve marketing effectiveness?

• More time on qualified leads

• Consistency of responses?

• Branded responses

• Suggesting alternative properties based on

availability

2. DEFINE & FOLLOW A PROCESS

• Roles: Who is responsible for each step?

• Steps: What happens every time for each activity?

• Lead Status: When does a lead go from New > In Conversation > Quoted >

Booked > Closed?

• Division of work: How will you divide work among your team?

Define and Follow a Lead Management Process

2. DEFINE & FOLLOW A PROCESS – 360 BLUE

DEFINE AND FOLLOW A PROCESS – 360 BLUE

3. RESPOND QUICKLY

• Respond within the first 60 minutes and you get:

• 7X better chance of converting than if you wait more than 1 hour

• 60X better chance of converting than if you wait more than 1 day

• Think about this:

• The average VR traveler inquires on 7 properties – being the first to respond is

important

• Don’t be afraid to call

• Answer the most common questions in your message

• Suggest alternatives when property is not available

3. RESPOND QUICKLY – 360 BLUE

RESPOND QUICKLY – 360 Blue

Before and After Auto Responder

Before

• Responded to all incoming VRBO/HA inquiries through

email

• Tracked guest data through Navis lead forms

• 200+ inquiries in each mailbox per day….impossible to

catch up

After

• PMT in 2012

• gladRESPONDER in 2013

• More time to convert a lead

• Focus on outbound

• One-hour follow-up time / Assigned agent

• Conversion rate on Glad leads is higher than all

other campaigns

4. CAPTURE RICH CONTACT INFORMATION

• What information should you capture?

• Interests, dates, phone, email, others in travel party, lead source

• What do you do with it?

• Brain Power

• Excel/Google docs

• Property Management Software

• Free or Fee Based lead management software products

4. CAPTURE RICH CONTACT INFORMATION - 360

CAPTURE RICH CONTACT INFORMATION– 360 Blue

WHAT WE CAPTURE

• Guest full name; Dates of stay; Stay value; Prior

guest or not; Phone #; Email; # of Adults/# of kids;

Reason for stay

WHERE WE KEEP THE DATA

• GTHY

• Escapia

• Navis

• Mailchimp

WHAT WE DO WITH THE DATA

• Concierge

• VIP

• MARKETING

5. RE-USE LEADS

• Making the most out of the contacts collected

• Generating new leads vs. re-using the ones you have

• How do you (or can you) segment your database?

• Type: Guests/Prospects

• Interests: Hikers vs Skiers

• Communication Type & Timing

• Newsletter/ Promotions/ Anniversary

5. RE-USE LEADS – 360 BLUE

RE-USE LEADS – 360 Blue

Formula for estimating cost of new lead:

(Avg booking x Conversion Rate) x (1 – Commission Rate) = Lead Worth

• 360 Blue Marketing activities

• NAVIS

• Google Adwords

• GLADResponder

• GLADPro – concierge activities

• Make the most out of the contact information

• Segmented/Personalized email/direct mail marketing

• Custom audience targeting with emails on Facebook

• Cheaper to reuse leads than to generate a new one

• Segmenting Data

6. MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS

• What questions are you trying to answer?

• What marketing channels are most effective?

• Which employees convert the most leads into bookings?

• Which properties get the fewest inquiries?

• Is our business growing or shrinking?

• What are the metrics that support those questions?

• Conversion rate by marketing channel

• Conversion rate by reservation sales agent

• Inquiry conversion by property

• Inquiry and booking trends

6. MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS -360 BLUE

MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS – 360 Blue

• Establish Metrics/Incentivize Employees

• Distribution site analytics (property basis) –

• VRBO

• HomeAway

• Measure overall engagement vs. reach – Facebook

• Track conversion rates in Google Analytics

• Email marketing

• A/B Testing

• Open Rate % (subject lines)

• Click Through % (call to actions)

• Navis

• Campaign numbers

• Call results

7. ESTABLISH A CULTURE OF IMPROVEMENT

• Don’t fall into the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” trap

• Don’t “boil the ocean” – start with one clear problem

• Engage your team for ideas on how to fix the problem

• Be willing to experiment. Try. Observe. Refine

7. ESTABLISH A CULTURE OF IMPROVEMENT - 360

• Adapting to Changes (Technology)

• Attending Conferences

• Weekly Strategy Meetings

• Weekly Revenue/Marketing Meetings

ESTABLISH A CULTURE OF IMPROVEMENT – 360 Blue

7 HABITS FOR EFFECTIVE LEAD MANAGEMENT

1. Identify Business Objectives

2. Define & Follow a Process

3. Respond Quickly

4. Capture Rich Contact Information

5. Re-use Leads

6. Measure Effectiveness

7. Establish a Culture of Improvement

Question and Answer Time!

THANK YOU!

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