Comments on: Revenue models in the industry http://www.sharpio.com/revenue-models-in-the-industry/ { random thoughts about startups, social media, and technology } Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:53:28 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: andrew http://www.sharpio.com/revenue-models-in-the-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-140 andrew Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:10:09 +0000 http://www.sharpio.com/?p=139#comment-140 I am a personal locator in Houston, Texas. I did not know that mynewplace had abandoned the "pay for lease" model. Thats extremely interesting. Here is what I do know about both models as I have tried both. The problem with the "Pay per lease" model is as follows. a) People can enter bogus information. In fact most people don't want to deal with emails from corporations. Rent.com and Mynewplace have automated emailers in place. But if renters don't include proper info the emails will never get their. b) Mynewplace has a $100 incentive in place if renters remember to report their lease. However, most people don't know or don't care about this. By the time they lease they have forgotten where they found the property. c)The last and most important factor is that these websites cannot talk to the customer. Like Eric says, walk-ins have a much higher closing ratio. I will also tell you for a fact talking with a customer over the phone is a million times better than emailing without a phone number. I am a personal locator in Houston, Texas. I did not know that mynewplace had abandoned the “pay for lease” model. Thats extremely interesting. Here is what I do know about both models as I have tried both. The problem with the “Pay per lease” model is as follows.

a) People can enter bogus information. In fact most people don’t want to deal with emails from corporations. Rent.com and Mynewplace have automated emailers in place. But if renters don’t include proper info the emails will never get their.
b) Mynewplace has a $100 incentive in place if renters remember to report their lease. However, most people don’t know or don’t care about this. By the time they lease they have forgotten where they found the property.
c)The last and most important factor is that these websites cannot talk to the customer. Like Eric says, walk-ins have a much higher closing ratio. I will also tell you for a fact talking with a customer over the phone is a million times better than emailing without a phone number.

]]> By: Eric Wu http://www.sharpio.com/revenue-models-in-the-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-99 Eric Wu Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:56:06 +0000 http://www.sharpio.com/?p=139#comment-99 Steve, you are right in that the lead model does not account for walk-ins, which are the highest conversions. However, the lead model does account for phone calls, tracked through Call Source. One major fault of the lead model is similar to what Orbitz faced; consumers bouncing off the vendors site and going directly to the supplier. Steve, you are right in that the lead model does not account for walk-ins, which are the highest conversions. However, the lead model does account for phone calls, tracked through Call Source. One major fault of the lead model is similar to what Orbitz faced; consumers bouncing off the vendors site and going directly to the supplier.

]]> By: Joe http://www.sharpio.com/revenue-models-in-the-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-98 Joe Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:55:33 +0000 http://www.sharpio.com/?p=139#comment-98 Eric, good writeup. A couple notes for you. First, you put pay-per-lease instead of lead on #3. Secondly, I find it very telling that MyNewPlace has given up on the Lease model. It's always been a very difficult one to execute correctly, for some of the reasons you've given, and the fact that they couldn't make it work tells me they just couldn't overcome some of those issues. Seems that it gives Rent.com a clear product differentiation factor again. Eric, good writeup. A couple notes for you. First, you put pay-per-lease instead of lead on #3. Secondly, I find it very telling that MyNewPlace has given up on the Lease model. It’s always been a very difficult one to execute correctly, for some of the reasons you’ve given, and the fact that they couldn’t make it work tells me they just couldn’t overcome some of those issues. Seems that it gives Rent.com a clear product differentiation factor again.

]]> By: Steve Bertolacci http://www.sharpio.com/revenue-models-in-the-industry/comment-page-1/#comment-97 Steve Bertolacci Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:16:13 +0000 http://www.sharpio.com/?p=139#comment-97 You comment on how apartment managers are receptive to the pay-per-lead model, but that doesn't cover phone leads or any other lead contacts. Advertisers will often capture a vast majority of their leads from the phone. And as many apartment managers know, turning a lead into a renter is often better handled either in person or on the phone. It just makes it easier to close the sale. You comment on how apartment managers are receptive to the pay-per-lead model, but that doesn’t cover phone leads or any other lead contacts. Advertisers will often capture a vast majority of their leads from the phone. And as many apartment managers know, turning a lead into a renter is often better handled either in person or on the phone. It just makes it easier to close the sale.

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