Shark Tank is one of the most popular features in our lead management solution, Pipeline ROI. It’s a unique way to route leads that companies are finding increasingly effective. It’s not for the faint of heart (we named it Shark Tank, what do you expect?) but it gets leads in the hands of agents extremely quickly and inspires healthy competition. In this post, we’ll look at some basics surrounding the Shark Tank and three unique examples from companies using it now. But first, a quick overview:
- What’s with the name? It wasn’t inspired by Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D, Jaws: The Revenge (yes, there’s a fourth) or any other shark-themed horror flick. The idea is that leads get thrown into the Shark Tank, and the first agent to snap them up gets to reap the rewards.
- What is it? Shark Tank is a lead distribution method in which leads enter Pipeline ROI and are then broadcast to a chosen group of agents simultaneously. Everyone in the Shark Tank gets an e-mail and text message on new leads at the same time, and whoever clicks the “accept” button first, gets the lead.
- Sounds cool, how do I use it? It’s simple, and only takes about five minutes to set up. You’ll need to do two things detailed below.
A quick warning before you implement this or change your current routing method: Tell your agents! It could cause confusion if you start sending leads out to everyone at once when no one understands exactly how Shark Tank works, or why it’s in their best interest to accept leads as fast as possible.
- First, click on “Settings” then “Shark Tank.” From here, you’ll need to set a maximum # of leads an agent can accept from the Shark Tank each day. This prevents one or a few people who are especially quick with their phones from getting every lead. Also, you’ll need to decide who can see the leads in the Shark Tank. You may want everyone to have access to it, or maybe just one or two agents. The choice is yours.
- Next, you need to set your lead sources to distribute leads using the Shark Tank method. To do this, click on “Leads,” then “Sources” below that. From the Sources page, open each profile for a source you want to route through Shark Tank. Go to the third step called “Lead Routing” and change your settings to match those in the picture below. Leads will first enter the Shark Tank for a determined # of minutes and then fall back on routing to an agent one at a time if it isn’t claimed before it expires. The list for “Assigned” agents at the bottom is the routing order for leads that expire out of Shark Tank. That list does not determine agents who get the initial offer for Shark Tank leads.
Now let’s look at some innovative ways you can use the Shark Tank to improve your lead management.
- Daily Lead Duty – Think of it like a virtual floor duty. You can route all of your leads through Shark Tank, but only keep one agent eligible to see the Shark Tank leads each day. That agent is on “floor duty” for the day and they get first crack at all leads. If they miss one, it goes to everyone else routing one-by-one as a safety net. The next morning or later that night, swap in the next agent to be on daily lead duty.
- Shark Tank Weekend – Looking for a way to make working the weekends a little more fun? Start routing your leads by Shark Tank on weekends only, and spark some competition among agents to pay attention and be quickest to grab new leads. Whether you typically handle a lot of business on the weekends or take a more relaxed approach, Shark Tank will get leads to the most eager agents, and ultimately convert more leads to clients.
- Special Privileges – Maybe you want to give a particular agent (a superstar) or group of agents (veteran agents) the first look at leads before routing to everyone else. You can add those special agents to the Shark Tank so only a select list sees the leads first before they go into normal round-robin routing. Going a step further, maybe you hold a contest to see who converts the most leads in a 3-month span. That person gets to be the only one in the Shark Tank for 10 days straight if they win, netting them bonus leads as a reward.
I’m sure there are even more creative ways to use the Shark Tank to inspire your agents, impress potential clients, and close more deals. If you have a Shark Tank success story, let us know at PipelineROI@alamode.com