International brokerage eXp Realty has launched “Making It Rain,” a new marketing program to generate Internet leads for its 540 agents.
Agents pay a minimum of $100 per month to join the program and in return eXp will market their branded eXp Realty search portal or another website of their choosing with the help of search engine marketing, Facebook ad campaigns, Craigslist and other channels, eXp Realty founder and CEO Glenn Sanford told Inman.
Sanford said agents can choose to target buyers, sellers or other agents (to grow their referral business) with the eXp Realty-powered campaigns. The program, which comes with no contract or referral fees, includes both a drip-email marketing component and tools that help agents determine who’s the best lead to follow up with, he added.
Glenn Sanford
The idea for “Making It Rain” came to Sanford at a recent meeting of realtor.com operator Move Inc.’s broker advisory board. Sanford, who served on the board, said he was surprised to learn the high prices agents were now paying for leads from third-party portals like Zillow and Trulia.
In announcing the program, eXp also pitched it as a lower-cost alternative to leads provided by realtor.com and Market Leader.
In addition to giving eXp Realty agents an option to generate leads outside of the popular search portals, “Making It Rain” was also a chance for eXp Realty to launch its first lead-gen program, he said.
“At eXp Realty, we have come to recognize the exploitation of agents through expensive lead generation subscription contracts, as well as the abundance of inaccuracy of listing and property data often found in syndicator websites,” Sanford said in a statement.
EXp Realty brought on the lead generation software provider Kunversion late last year to power its company website and customer relationship management platform, as well as those of its agents. Though Kunversion offers marketing programs similar to “Making It Rain,” Sanford said that eXp Realty’s is separate from Kunversion’s.