As a lead generating device, an 800 call capture system is invaluable to record the name and number of the person calling in response to marketing material. The name and number can then be used to do follow up with the prospective client.

In addition to recording the name and number of the person responding, call capture services also offer a pre-recorded message. This service is especially useful to real estate agents because by entering a certain extension the caller can listen to information about the property listing in question. Since the call capture system is automated the recorded presentation is available toll free, 24/7. This helps the agent sell the property while proving the agent’s resourcefulness to the property sellers.

While it may seem obvious, statistics show that people shopping for a new house need direct lines of communication starting with the marketing rider, flyer, or online listing. Since the call capture service is available 24/7 and the message is recorded, this means that the caller won’t worry about receiving a high pressure sales pitch. However, the system fails when the real estate agent doesn’t bridge the connection between creating the initial low pressure situation and the potential buyer’s need for personal contact. Agents often make the mistake of not recording the listing message themselves. Studies have shown that people feel an automatic connection to the first person they interact with or in this case, the first voice they hear. If the voice on the recording is different, the potential buyer does not feel that personal connection that is so necessary when looking for a real estate agent.

A common mistake made is that a call capture system will be treated like an answering service with the contact information given and the buyer expected to follow up on his or her own. After the buyer has the chance to hear the property recording, the agent has the ideal opportunity to follow up and add a personal touch of contact. If the agent waits too long, more than 24 hours, he or she runs the risk of appearing indifferent or too busy to be attentive, and obviously leaving the caller with the wrong first impression-that the buyer’s interest isn’t important.

 Call capture service providers offer call forwarding and instant call notification along with other features. This way a caller can choose to be connected to the real estate agent right away if the desire.  If not, the caller’s information can be forwarded to the agent immediately, simplifying the act of following up on a lead and taking the first step to building a client relationship.

Another commonly overlooked component to call capture services is the importance of using multiple extensions on different advertising mediums. If one extension is used for a sign rider, another for flyers, and a third number for brochures, then the agent would able to deem which marketing campaign is more successful. By monitoring which extension is being most used, the agent can scale back less successful marketing efforts.

Call capture is a great tool for real estate agents looking to generate leads, track their advertising and get more listings. However, some agents experience failure when implementing this system into their marketing.  This failure isn’t due to the technology but more often due to the application of it.  An agent that educates themselves on how to get the most from their system will be able to avoid these failures.

There are, of course, a number of ways to do this, but sometimes the most effective methods of finding and completing new business are quite simple. Internet fax systems, for instance, can have a major impact on the day to day activities of construction businesses at nearly every level.

An internet fax service works like a normal fax line, except, as its name implies, everything is sent and received through a user’s internet connection. Faxes are emailed to users or retrieved from an online control panel, and there is no paper copy of each fax received (unless a user decides to print out the received fax). Since the faxes are received in common formats like PDF, there’s no learning curve. The process is simple and straightforward and there is no additional equipment required. If a person at a construction office can use an email system, he or she can use an internet based fax system easily, without any additional training.

There are a number of tangible benefits to using an internet fax service in place of more conventional fax lines, beyond the obvious savings on ink and paper. For one, internet faxes received through email can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, on construction sites, during meetings with clients, during lunch breaks, or at home. This is very advantageous for construction companies that use fax services for new contracts, as it allows documents to be easily read, signed, and transferred back to a client without any downtime. After-hours faxes can still be processed efficiently, giving a construction business a definite edge over its competitors. Received faxes through internet fax systems are still secure, as each fax can be password-encrypted.

Every email received through an internet fax service can be easily searched for certain keywords, terms, or job numbers, making it easy to find documents, forms, and communication relating to a certain construction job (or hundreds of similar jobs) almost effortlessly. This makes file cabinets obsolete, which can clear up space in crowded offices, and when paired with modern smart phones like the iPhone and the Blackberry, it’s easy to pull up a variety of forms, blueprints, and more at a construction site, minimizing the possibility of poor communication and speeding up each new construction job considerably.

On top of all of this, internet fax services are usually quite inexpensive, especially when considering the amount of money that modern construction companies pay to simply have land based fax lines set up and operating. It’s a cliché to claim that a fax service pays for itself, but that’s precisely what it does; monthly costs are low, and it works over existing internet lines, with very little setup involved and no down time.

There are few modern technologies that can make those sorts of claims, and even if a construction company doesn’t use fax very often (it’s difficult to find a construction company that operates without fax), internet fax is simply a necessary improvement over existing technology. Standard fax machines aren’t as fast, they can’t be automatically cataloged, and they can’t be accessed at any location without a phone line. Nearly every aspect of traditional fax machines is improved via an internet based service.

That’s not to say that internet fax is a magical technology, or that it will immediately make a construction company profitable. It simply gives businesses a set of tools that allows them to operate more efficiently, and in the world of construction, this can be vital.

Regardless of whether a construction business builds properties, provides consulting services, or sells buildings, internet fax services can help in every step along the way. They’re an important new tool for construction companies, and in a bad economy, they can be an especially helpful resource.

An expense most companies would deem necessary is having a toll free phone number. A service organization utilizes a toll free phone number to ensure their customers can reach the company at no cost to the customer. Most companies would agree that having a free means for customers to contact them is necessary to business success and is a business advantage to their competitors who don’t offer the service. Limiting communications can be detrimental to a business so companies not only have a toll free phone number but advertise it and encourage customers to use it. Companies spend countless advertising dollars on advertising and promoting its phone number to ensure its customers can contact them when needed.

How can customers reach sales department of a company without a toll free phone number to facilitate the communication? Most sales that occur over the telephone occur on a toll free phone number. If a customer can’t reach a company by using a toll free phone number, the sale might not occur and the sales representative may lose the opportunity to up-sell the company’s products to the customer. When the company representative is on the telephone with the customer, they have the opportunity to increase the amount of products being sold and may increase the range of interest the customer has for the company’s products.

From sales to technical support, a company needs a means to connect with their customers. If a customer purchases a product from a company, the technical support number will be the next point of contact with the customer. If a customer receives a product and doesn’t know how to use it or can’t set it up, the technical support department can provide step by step assembly instructions, walk the customer through set up and initial usage of the product. Technical support calls tend to be lengthy and time consuming therefore having a toll free phone number allows customers to utilize this service at no cost thus enhancing the customer’s satisfaction with the organization. Each interaction with the customer is important because it will determine their likelihood of returning to the organization for additional products and services.

From technical support to customer service, a toll free phone number is part of the customer service strategy. Customers report a higher level of satisfaction with companies who possess a toll free phone number for customer service. With after sales calls requiring telephone support, customers don’t want to incur additional costs to discuss their purchase with an organization. From shipping issues to satisfaction with the products, customer service departments field a variety of calls from its customer base.

Companies with frequently recognized names often use a vanity toll free phone number where the digits of the number correspond with the name of the company or the product the company sells. The benefit of using a vanity number is ease of use. Instead of having to look up a number online or in the phone book, the number is easily recalled. Some companies use a vanity number as part of the marketing plan and for advertising purposes. With a catchy slogan and an easily remembered toll free phone number, a company can maximize its advertising dollars for print and radio mediums.

Companies today are cutting out unnecessary expenses but meeting the needs of its customer base is not a place to cut back. By keeping the lines of communication open and a toll free telephone number available for the customers, a business can continue to service the customers’ needs and cut excess expenses elsewhere. Organizations need to provide free communications with expanded availability to meet the never ending needs of their customers.

Many agents are using call capture systems to keep their profitability up, and ensure a steady flow of new business. Call capture systems work on existing phone lines, and provide numerous methods for developing new business. Special extensions are set up for each new property, and callers can be taken through guided audio tours of houses and apartments, given pricing information, and more without actually speaking to a real estate agent.

Call capture systems log each call, and don’t interfere with business the way that traditional automated systems sometimes do. If a caller wants to speak to an agent, he or she can do so by quickly hitting a certain extension, but each caller can also access a wide variety of information quickly and easily. This approach quickly translates into better efficiency and profitability, because it cuts several steps out of the process of buying, selling, and marketing a property.

All real estate agencies spend a good deal of time finding and developing new leads, cold calling, and knocking on doors to find new sources of business. It’s a necessary part of the business, as without new buyers and sellers, the talent of a particular agent doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s difficult to envision a market without some amount of lead chasing, but call capture can help decrease the amount of time that agents spend on these fairly mundane tasks. The systems track the numbers and general information of callers, providing a list of verified leads that are seriously interested in buying or selling properties.

This allows agents to contact and interact with their clients in new ways, as the information provided by a call capture system provides a great way to develop a tailored approach to each sale. Before even picking up the phone to call a lead, an agent knows what types of property that lead is interested in, where the lead currently lives (as the capture system keeps track of phone numbers), and more. Each potential client can be addressed quickly, with a personable approach that motivates them to take action as quickly as possible.

All of this means that call capture systems directly lead to more sales, and more commissions for agents and agencies that use them effectively. Less time is spent following up on dead leads, and promising leads are easily prioritized. Real estate agents that use call capture systems can spot weaknesses and strengths in their selling techniques more quickly, and can turn more sales each month.

Some agencies have gotten particularly effective at incorporating call capture numbers into their advertising, which allows for a more specialized and effective approach that can be quite engaging to customers. Rather than sit on hold, new customers instantly gain information about homes–at the same time, their information is logged and stored for follow up. A single ad in the right publication can therefore turn over far more leads than it might have with traditional advertising methods.

Agencies can also easily determine which advertising efforts are resulting in the most leads, leading to smarter, more balanced advertising investment. As ads are a huge cost in the field of real estate, this further improves profitability by cutting a major expense. Budgeting is easier, and as the call capture systems are themselves a fairly minor cost, they’re absolutely essential for agencies operating on a budget that can’t afford to sacrifice money advocated for advertising efforts.

Call capture is certainly an important technology for real estate agents as well as sellers and buyers, and its simple effectiveness is making it a popular new option. The right approach to a call capture system can make it a formidable tool, and when combined with smart advertising and talented agents, it can provide a huge boost to an agent’s profitability almost instantly.

A quick search on the Internet will show you a listing of Internet fax providers that offer services both paid and for free with certain restrictions. The downside to free fax providers is that the service is funded with ad ware. In addition to the paid third party advertising on the fax documents, the free ware can also carry limits on the number of faxes a user can send or receive. Some providers only allow in-coming faxes. In terms of using a fax for business purposes, free or discounted providers are not recommended to project a company’s sense of professionalism.

The typical ad-free internet fax service charges in one of a few different ways: price per month, price per page or price per minute. Some providers charge a monthly fee, which can be based on a contracted length of service. As with any contract enforced service agreement, the user should read the fine print. While a lower monthly fee may entice a company, the lower amount can sometimes be offered in conjunction with the cost of an upfront provider membership due or with committing to an extended contract. Also, with a monthly service contract check for limits on the number of faxes sent or received within the month.

A price per page plan is going to bill you for each page faxed out or received. Many Internet fax providers bill in this way.  As with any provider, check for any contract obligations and limits.  Some providers will include a number of pages with their plan and then charge an overage for any pages outside of those limits.

For price per minute plans, there will be charges associated for the actual minutes used on the line while sending and receiving your faxes. Again most providers will include a certain amount of minutes with your system and then charge an overage rate. The price per minute providers will tell you that you can send approximately 2 fax pages per minute.  Do the math if you are comparing a price per minute and price per page plan and see what will actually be most cost effective for your business.  If one provider is charging 5 cents per page and another is charging 5 cents per minute, you will be getting a better deal with the price per minute provider.

Cost is only one factor that you want to consider when deciding which Internet fax provider to go with. Another important consideration is the reliability of the service. Traditional faxing requires transmission over a telephone line which has lead to fax users dealing with inherent telephone line problems. From busy signals to the aggravating failure of a fax not going through or the document being truncated, traditional faxing has its share of headaches. Internet fax offers the reliability of a digital internet connection – a business doesn’t have to worry about their customers getting a busy signal when trying to send an important document or paper jams and other hardware malfunctions.  However, the Internet is still technology and things can go wrong.  Ask your prospective provider what their reliability is like and how long they have been in business.  If they can’t tell you what their uptime is, move on.

Lastly check that the features you need in an Internet fax service are there for you.  Some common features include, toll free or local numbers, faxing to multiple recipients, receiving more than one fax at a time, fax to email, and the ability to archive faxes online.

Once you decide that Internet fax is best for your business, it’s time to find the best Internet fax provider.   With a little research and by asking the right questions, you will find the right match and be on your way to enjoying all the benefits Internet fax has to offer.

1. Professionalism

A virtual PBX with a toll free phone number can do wonders for a business’s corporate image.

With features like music on hold, call queuing with custom hold scripts, and the ability to transfer live callers to another extension, even the smallest of companies can sound like a Fortune 500 enterprise. Professional virtual PBX features allow a business to appear large and well-established, even if you’re a one-man operation.

While there are many successful sole proprietors out there, new customers are often wary of doing business on a non-face-to-face basis (i.e., over the Internet) with a proverbial “guy working out of his garage.”

Believe it or not, most people don’t know how to make international phone calls, and, out of laziness and unfamiliarity, wouldn’t be inclined to call one even if they did. What’s more, many customers are turned off by the idea of calling some faraway country to get tech support for a product they already purchased, as is often the case with more and more businesses outsourcing their customer service departments to locations where labor is cheaper. Companies can avoid losing customers from something as trivial as a few extra phone digits by employing the use of a locally-recognized toll free phone number.

A professional image is an absolute must, as image leads to trust, trust leads to customers, and customers lead to profits.

2. Flexibility

A virtual PBX with toll free phone number is tremendously convenient, offering all the benefits that come along with any toll free line and more. They offer phone number portability and follow me capabilities allowing one to work from everywhere. No one has to know where one’s staff is really located. All employees appear to be located in a central location, even if a company’s main office is located in Los Angeles, satellite office in Chicago, and temp workers in India. As long as everyone has a reliable Internet connection, they are as good as working side-by-side in the same room.With the follow me features of a virtual PBX it is possible to forward calls to any location, even a cell phone. This allows mobile workforces to remain productive, out getting things done and still receive calls. Virtual PBX systems also offer email and SMS message delivery features, too, alerting staff right away if they receive a voicemail message. This allows a company’s sales force to move freely without missing important sales opportunities.

A toll free phone number PBX can take multiple simultaneous calls, each answered with your own customized greeting. It also acts as your fax number, forwarding incoming faxes to your email. All communications remain under one easy-to-remember telephone number. This technology, known as unified communications in the telecommunications world, makes things incredibly convenient while providing customers with a professional image of one’s business. Customers only have to remember a toll-free number. Keeping track of a Rolodex full of local numbers and extensions is a thing of the past.

A toll free phone number virtual PBX is easy to set up, too. All it takes is following a few simple steps it’s ready for deployment.

3. Cost

A toll free phone number virtual PBX is one of the easiest and cheapest components there can possibly be in a modern business setup. The beauty of all things virtual is that there is no expensive hardware or software to purchase and maintain. You don’t need a traditional telephone-based fax line for sending and receiving faxes. Gone are the days of costly paper-based fax machines. Faxes can now be sent and received seamlessly through an existing Internet connection.

Further money savings are also available for companies already using a traditional toll free phone number and/or PBX system. Some traditional PBX companies charge in excess of 20 cents per minute, even going as far as billing in full-minute increments. Many toll free virtual PBX systems include free minutes in their monthly packages, with overage charges being a fraction of this quoted cost billing in fractional increments. With such tremendous savings and no loss in functionality, there is little reason to stick with a traditional PBX system.

A company can get a lot of benefits from implementing a virtual PBX with a toll free phone number into their communications.  These are just a few.  Virtual PBX systems are flexible and some providers can even customize the systems to match a business’s exact needs and functionality required.  This makes them a great tool for businesses looking to project a professional image, while maintaining their productivity and cutting costs.

Some critics decry call capture technology as a form of telemarketing, and argue that it lacks the personalization and human interaction which is fundamental to the success of any real estate business.

Done correctly, however, call capture technology can help a real estate agent form better relationships with clients by using information gained in the capturing process to be more focused on individual client’s needs.

In a typical call capture situation, a prospective buyer will call the number because they are interested in a home they’ve seen. At the end of the recording, there can be an option to either speak to an agent directly, or to leave a message and have someone call the potential client back. Both of these situations are great for client-focused relationship building.

In the first case, a client who has called the number has already shown interest in what the agent has to offer. This places the call one step ahead of a “cold call” in which the client’s interest has to be determined before proceeding. This means that an agent can be sure there is interest in a home or service provided by the agency – and proceed from there. The conversation can quickly cover the details of the property or service, as well as what type of specific information the client is looking for.

The client’s needs can be quickly assessed, and plans can be made to call them back for a follow-up. When a return call is placed, it will be at a time of the client’s choosing, and will come with the information they themselves have requested. Clients who feel that a real estate agent values them by both answering their questions directly and being timely in responding are far more likely to consider that agent for purchasing or renting a home, and return again in the future. They will recommend others to that agent as well.

But what about the client who leaves a message on the call capture number? The same principles apply. They will leave details about what kind of information they are looking for. This can give the real estate agent invaluable information to prepare for the next communication with the client. A real estate agent can be ready not only to answer the questions which were explicitly left on the call capture message, but also be prepared with answers and advice about further questions the customer will likely have, even if they have not voiced them yet. A customer who feels that the real estate agent they are dealing with is going beyond the normal expectation of service will be far more receptive to the idea of a continuing business relationship, even if a purchase is not immediately made.

Another advantage that call capture can bring to the area of client relationship building is the fact that customers will never receive a busy signal or be put on hold. Clients have a very limited amount of patience for real estate agents who hold their calls for long periods of time, or whose phones are never answered. A call capture line allows information to be disseminated to the potential clients even if the call comes in during the middle of the night. A phone call can then be made to the prospective client in the morning, providing an excellent demonstration of prompt service.

While call capture can enable a real estate agent to excel at client-company relations, the technology itself is not what will ultimately drive up sales and boost customer retention. It requires a concerted effort from all real estate agents to return messages as soon as possible, and with as much specific information as possible. Allowing calls to build up in the system without returning them will only lead to the perception that the business is largely automated and not interested in connecting with clients. It will also add undue stress on the staff returning the calls. No matter the home or service being sold, and no matter the price involved, it is essential that call capture be pared with top-notch client-focused interaction.

Every business that uses a fax machine runs into the same problems from time to time. First of all, these companies have to worry about paper jams, as anytime you have to feed a piece of paper into a machine, there is the chance of a problem arising. Secondly, employees will have to wait until the machine is free in order to use it, but this is never a problem with an Internet fax system because the system can be used from any computer. This is one of the main reasons why so many companies are starting to fax over the Internet. They are tired of the hassle that goes along with running a traditional fax machine.

Some businesses may be afraid that there will be a big learning curve when switching to Internet fax because it is different than the norm. However, it is quite simple to learn it will actually be easier to use because faxes can be delivered directly to their intended recipient. This eliminates the possibility of lost faxes and mishandled communications. When something is simply printed onto a piece of paper, it is much easier to lose than if it is stored electronically or delivered to an email address.

The fact that an internet fax can be accessed online is another reason why many companies are beginning to favor this system, as it makes it possible for employees to still utilize fax when they are away from the office. All they need is an Internet connection and they can send and receive faxes regardless of their location. This is extremely beneficial for companies that have employees that travel a lot or that work from home.

Another feature that many businesses appreciate about the internet fax system is that other businesses do not have to be on the same system. One business can be faxing over the Internet and the other can be using a traditional fax machine, but there will be no breakdown in communication. By having the ability to communicate with other businesses and their fax machines from anywhere, those who are using this system are at a definite advantage in the business world.

Finally, most internet fax systems are compatible with common word processing and document formats such as Microsoft Word, PDF, Excel, etc. so documents can be typed up the way they normally would be and then sent via fax to their destination. The only difference is that there will be no printout required, which definitely makes things easier. When you factor in the savings that will occur due to less paper and ink being used it becomes clear why so many companies are switching over. The cost of operation for an internet fax system is significantly cheaper than a traditional fax machine and these savings can add up to hundreds of dollars per machine over the course of a year.

The business world is more competitive than ever and every manager is looking for an edge. Those who have set up internet faxes in their offices are giving themselves this extra advantage because it is a cost cutting method as well as a time saver. These benefits are significant enough that traditional fax machines may become a thing of the past very soon as the internet fax system becomes the norm in the business world.

The strategy of using a toll free phone number starts with picking a number that’s recognizable and simple, often referred to as a “vanity” number. This typically means using a word or recognizable pattern, as this makes the number easier to remember for potential customers and business clients.

While this doesn’t always seem like an important step (especially for companies that cater to government or industrial clients), it greatly improves the potential of the toll free phone number in a basic, identifiable way. After all, nobody can call a phone number without remembering it, and a well-chosen phone number can serve as a tremendous branding opportunity. Of course, once a phone number is selected, it becomes difficult to change for the same reason, which is why the initial choice can be so important. A business should take some time when deciding on a number, and carefully consider available options that would be effective in their particular field.

Advertising becomes much easier with a toll free phone number, especially the aforementioned “vanity” numbers. A company’s advertising should therefore be modified after a toll free phone number is introduced, both online and offline, and the new number should be clearly displayed on company websites, brochures, press releases, letterhead, and anything else that bears a company logo.

Campaigns will become more effective once a toll free phone number is displayed consistently. Customers and business contacts see the toll free number as a sort of professional status symbol, and mentally associate toll free numbers with larger businesses. This association can be used by small businesses to great advantage, and can allow them to successfully compete with the larger companies in their field–and large companies can use the number to enforce their brand.

Regardless of a business’s size, a strong phone and voicemail system can be very helpful once a toll free phone number has been chosen. Modern virtual PBX systems allow for unprecedented efficiency, and different extensions and departments can be routed off of a single toll free phone number, building the appearance of a large, professional company in the minds of potential clients. Voicemail has a similar effect, and can also improve a company’s efficiency through virtual PBX systems that allow the delivery of individual voicemails to a user’s email.

Some businesses go further by installing complete systems capable of selling products and services to customers 24 hours a day, while keeping the virtual PBX system capable of easily handling traffic to individual users inside the company (a simple phone tree explains options to callers, routing them to the correct departments or individuals). Contrary to popular belief, such modern routing systems are fairly simple to install, work over existing phone lines, and aren’t restrictively expensive. They allow a toll free phone number to be used in new and creative ways; for instance, individual extensions can be quickly created and used for certain ad campaigns.

Another emerging technology is broadband phone and VOIP connections, which are also fairly inexpensive and easy to use. These systems allow more call traffic to be handled, and can be combined with a phone and voicemail system to eliminate dropped calls and shorten hold times. Every business should investigate these technologies–they provide quite a few valuable and downright nifty resources, which can decrease the time spent on each phone call, improve sales, and build credibility very quickly.

The most important thing for businesses to remember when implementing a toll free phone number is the importance of a professional approach at every level. From the time a call is received until the moment it ends, every caller should get the impression that they’re speaking with an efficient, caring company that values their business.

There’s a reason that many companies worry about hold times and satisfaction ratings–they translate directly into profits and losses when a toll free phone number is being used to its full potential. New technology has made it much easier to find this potential, but only a professional and creative approach can guarantee results.

The first is not following up on calls as quickly as possible. This can be difficult if the inquiries on the call capture line suddenly skyrocket, but most customers have a waiting threshold of only a couple days or less before moving on to another agent. And really there is no reason an agent should not be able to return their call within a couple of hours. Even a quick phone call to let a customer know that their inquiry was received and someone will contact them again in the near future with more details can do wonders for retention. People will always abandon an agent that they feel does not value them.

The second major mistake agents make is not being prepared. An agent will most likely have multiple extensions on the same line for different properties. Make sure that before calling a client back, the information related to the home they were interested in is readily available. Their questions could range from price to time of availability for a showing, in addition to more specific questions about layout or upgrades in the home. A real estate agent that seems unprepared will likely lose a client’s interest. Homes are the most expensive purchase most people will ever make, and a lack of information will drive them away.

Another major mistake that agents make is not giving a reason for callers to connect to the agent right then and there. The recording will likely be the first introduction the client has to the property – they will have seen a sign or business card with the call capture number on it, but never have been inside or possibly even near the house. The recording needs to pre-sell the home. A few specifics are in order but don’t give away everything. The idea is to provide enough information that the client is interested, but leave out enough that they will want more details. Agents can encourage a call with the use of phrases like, “To find out the best upgraded feature of this home, press 0 to speak to me now.”  Or they can entice them with, “To find out why the current homeowners hate to sell this house press 0 now.” Then agents need to make sure that when they connect, they are ready to fulfill their promise with some extra, valuable information that wasn’t in the recording.

Some agents simply make the mistake of not using the toll free call capture number enough. Many businesses will put this number on signs of homes for sale in the neighborhood and on their website. Both of those can generate excellent traffic, but are only the tip of the iceberg. The call capture number should be on everything the real estate company produces. Business cards, pens, pads of paper, mugs – if it has space on it for the number, it needs to be on there. Anything the agent does needs to be connected to the call capture number. If the business sponsors any local teams, for example, make sure this number is mentioned or displayed at their games. This is because an agent can never predict where a strong lead will come from. The more places in which the toll free number is displayed, the more leads will be generated.

As much as the call capture number is a valuable business tool, a company must ensure it entails a personal feel. Using computer-generated recordings on the capture line or delivering the information in a stilted and disjointed is a mistake. The recording on the call capture system needs to be done by a real person, and with some real enthusiasm for the home being sold. An apathetic effort in the call capture recording will lead to a similar response from a potential client, who will move on to a more dynamic real estate team. Studies show that there is an increase in conversions when a potential client calls and listens to recording on a property and is then connected to the same person when they are ready to speak to someone.  Real estate is a personal business and when the agent makes the recordings themselves it gives the call capture line a personal touch too.

Call capture is just like any other technology in that it is designed to help us do things easier, faster and more efficiently.  And just like any other technology when not used properly, it won’t help us accomplish much of anything at all. Real estate agents that avoid these 5 mistakes will be on their way to generating the leads they need to have a successful and profitable business.