Sophisticated Online Lodging Solutions
Like you, from time-to-time the team at Bookt evaluates the quality of our leads. We know that some lead sources are better than others and we can fine-tune our marketing tactics to prioritize both our time spent and target marketing dollars in order to exploit/leverage both the higher quality leads and better lead sources.
In a nutshell, “Lead Scoring” links a value to each lead based upon weighted criteria. For example, a vacation-shopper who fills out a web form on your Bookt site might have a higher score than someone who emails you with a question. Or, a caller who asks for your Pet Policy may have a higher score than someone who signs-up for your Newsletter. Sometimes the differences in quality are subtle. The BIG opportunity is, by giving a value for each lead (hot/warm/cold in the beginning) your booking agents can better prioritize their lead lists and focus on those opportunities with the greatest potential value.
How do you accomplish this? By creating a perceived “value” system based on analyses of your past experience; it might be as simple as scoring based upon lead source or it may include a variety of factors including rental property of interest, length-of-stay, and time frame. Some of this information might be captured at the time the lead is created or later – and your rental agents can add or verify info so the lead score can/will adjust accordingly over time.
And, once you have a “lead scoring” methodology in place, your sales team can use it to prioritize their activities. In Bookt’s experience, this can make a huge difference in terms of productivity/bookings.
As you become more sophisticated with your “lead scoring” practices, you can move beyond a hot/warm/cold type of rating system to an actual numerical score based on a myriad of factors collected over time. And, as a Vacation Rental Manager, lead scoring also provides you with a way to analyze both the quality of your responses to inquiries and vacation rental agent performance. If all you have is anecdotal info or gut feelings about lead quality, it’s hard to change behavior. With lead scoring you can see by vacation rental agent, what the average score for their converted leads is and the average score for booked reservations. Further, over time, this metric can be built into their compensation and bonus plan.
Would you like to discuss the nuances of “Lead Scoring” for your Vacation Rental business? Would you like to take a peek inside Bookt’s Command & Control Center to see all of the easy-to-use tools that makes your life as a Manager more productive and your sales agents more effective?
Call 1-800-941-0868 x 934 or email: joel@bookt.com and we can chat about “Lead Scoring” and how it can be used to increase your Online Bookings and create opportunities for Online Success!
There's never been a better time to methodically measure the "temperature" of your vacation rental leads and to Get Bookt!
Posted by Joel Fellman on 8/13/2009 0 Comments