BIRDVIEW Technologies provides technology solutions and consulting services that help real estate agents and brokers connect with prospective clients via the Internet. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company offers a suite of Web-based solutions delivered via the Software as a Service (SaaS) hosted model. These products include AgentSite, OfficeSite and TeamSite. BIRDVIEW, which has been in business for 12 years and has a team of 30, works with realtors and Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in 32 states.

The challenge: expanding marketing reach with a limited budget

Today, an estimated 80 to 90 percent of people in the market for a new home begin their search online, making the Internet a prime source of prospective clients for realtors. BIRDVIEW’s technology solutions, including lead generation, lead management and communication tools, help real estate professionals efficiently reach these consumers and turn them into buyers.

Avo Mavilian, BIRDVIEW’s director of sales and marketing, explained, “Our solutions connect potential home buyers and sellers with real estate agents and brokers.  In addition to getting our client’s own Web site in front of consumers, we facilitate posting of realtors’ MLS property listings onto major sites.” When a consumer conducts an Internet search and sees an appealing house, Birdview’s technology directs that search to the listing agent’s Web site and then notifies the agent that there is interest in the property. Mavillian added, “We also help the realtor or broker manage the ongoing relationship with the prospective home buyer. Every month our clients service two million online consumers.”

However, while BIRDVIEW was helping agents identify and win clients, the company was experiencing its own challenges with lead generation. “With our limited marketing budget and staff, we were looking for a new way to expand our reach that could deliver more and better-qualified leads without a cost increase,” Mavilian said. “Although we’ve used it for years, traditional direct mail is very expensive, and email is a one-to-one approach. Even social networking sites have a ‘ceiling’ – a finite number of brokers and agents.”

Mavilian and his team also wanted to streamline the sales cycle by replacing time-consuming, one-on-one product demos with a more efficient approach. “If we got a hundred inquiries from a marketing campaign, we had to spend a hundred hours on demos or presentations. This process was very inefficient.”

Implementing GoToWebinar for free, educational Webinars

BIRDVIEW has been successfully using Citrix® GoToMeeting® for online collaboration since switching from a competitor in 2004, so the decision to try Citrix® GoToWebinar® for marketing events was easy. “We decided to start offering free, educational Webinars as a way to reach more prospects,” Mavilian said. “People are hungry for information, so we provide helpful content, not a marketing pitch.” Nearly half of those who sign up attend the Webinars.

In early 2009, BIRDVIEW began using GoToWebinar to present a course titled, “4-Step System to Internet Success” once or twice a week. One version of this Webinar targets real estate agents and the other is tailored to mortgage professionals. About 60 people, on average, attend these regular Webinars. The company also periodically offers a Webinar on Internet marketing basics, and its consultants conduct other events as needed. In addition, BIRDVIEW will launch an upcoming expansion to its product line via GoToWebinar.

More attendees, better leads and impressive savings

BIRDVIEW bases its marketing programs on hard data, and the company has plenty of great metrics to report from the GoToWebinar implementation. “We found that people are more receptive to Webinars than any other marketing approach we’ve ever used,” Mavilian noted. “We have achieved impressive, measurable results from the GoToWebinar events.”

First, BIRDVIEW has increased its response rate by 72 percent with Webinars compared to previous marketing approaches – without any increase in budget. With greater returns for the same outlay, the average cost per lead has dropped by $30, or about one third. Adding to these benefits, the company is able to qualify leads from Webinars much more quickly than from other types of inquiries, freeing up about 90 hours per week for the sales team. Mavilian said, “Based on salaries and additional sales we can close, those extra hours add up to a swing of about  $10,000 per month. As a result, we have doubled or tripled the resources that we can apply to our marketing efforts.”  

The ability to cost-effectively reach more prospective customers using GoToWebinar has helped BIRDVIEW through the real estate slump. In addition, the success of its Webinars has given the company confidence in the future, including a green light to launch a new product line. “Based on our excellent metrics from the Webinars – including expanded reach, significant cost savings and high conversion rates – we went to our executive team with an optimistic outlook for the new product line. In fact, we’ve already hired additional sales people because we know that we’ll be able to generate high-quality leads for them when we present the new products in upcoming Webinars.”

As a company that specializes in customer acquisition technologies, BIRDVIEW appreciates the many ways GoToWebinar enhances the lead generation process. “The ease of use and rich functionality of GoToWebinar help us get the most value out of each Webinar,” Mavilian said. “The reporting tool enables us to gauge the performance of our presenters and determine if our messages are getting through. Asking questions beforehand clarifies whether we are reaching the right audience. Overall, it’s like using a scalpel instead of a shotgun.”

He concluded, “I don’t believe we could achieve our corporate goals without Webinars. The benefits of GoToWebinar are just phenomenal.”

About Citrix Online

Citrix Online provides secure, easy-to-use online solutions that enable people to work from anywhere with anyone. Whether using GoToMyPC® to access and work on a remote PC, GoToAssist® to support customers, GoToMeeting® to hold online meetings and GoToWebinar® for larger Web events, our customers – more than 35,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of individuals – are increasing productivity, decreasing travel costs and improving sales, training and service on a global basis. A division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), Citrix Online is based in Santa Barbara, California. For more information, visit www.citrixonline.com or call +1-805-690-6400.

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