This article was originally posted on inman.com

Running a cost-effective lead-generation program is as difficult as anything else brokers will do. It requires diligence, smart systems, accountability, agent buy-in, measurement, and, increasingly, automation and brand exposure.

Once you’ve decided to run an in-house program, you must ask yourself if you really know how to capitalize on the latter two components.

Follow the five lead-gen strategies listed below to maximize deal flow and increase ROI for your in-house lead generation program.

Facilitate efficient online branding
Today’s agents know their online presence is more important than ever. This means your lead-gen program should offer your agents customizable, fully branded IDX websites and content pages that drive leads into your CRM.

Lead-gen IDX websites should allow agents’ clients and their team to search across single or multiple MLS feeds, automatically sorting relevant local data and effortlessly and consistently drive high-quality leads to your pipeline. Ensure the platform offers mobile capabilities, integrated lead capturing, real-time updates and the ability to create unique branded assets for all levels of your real estate organization.

Lead sorting and funneling
Lead-generation can boost your sales and profit levels by automatically delivering your best leads to your best agents with the right lead-routing rules. No more losing precious leads to inexperienced agents and eliminate tasking top performers with simple or unproductive leads. When your leads are sorted and funneled to reward the top performers automatically within your system, you enable the highest close and success rates!

Focus on lead integration
If a system separate from your main lead-gen platform powers your lead-routing, you’ll suffer from miscommunication and lost deals.

Agents should also have access to lead-generation and marketing tools that empower them to drive the leads for themselves. This means giving agents or real estate teams the ability to order more leads right from their own dashboard. An integrated lead-gen program provides the right tool, at the right time, for every member of your team.

Marketplace and add-on support
An intuitive and efficient lead-gen dashboard can quickly become an agent’s most valuable tool. Your lead-generation program should offer an integrated marketplace that allows anyone to utilize third-party tools and services not offered by the platform itself. Smart integrations should be available at the click of a button, empowering your team with valuable tools whenever they require them.

Top performers do not adopt lead-gen programs without these components. Ensure your system has a marketplace that offers great tools at the best pre-negotiated prices to keep costs low for your team.

Drive income with behavioral automation
Automation is the most valuable feature of a powerful lead-gen program. The best systems will have autopilot features to auto follow-up with leads, prospecting and networking. These automated drip emails and text messages need to be unique and personalized with the lead’s information from your CRM—no one enjoys receiving a generic auto-response message.

But more than just email and text messages, your automation should act like a true assistant, queueing up phone calls that automatically connect right to agents’ phones. Automation increases the amount of quality leads your team receives, deepening relationships with your customers.

Having a firm grip on your lead-gen program gives you complete control over your own success.

By following these recommendations you can build a predictable business, making your ROI easy to measure and your growth is simply a matter of pouring more marketing dollars into the top of your funnel. Incorporate these five keys into your in-house lead gen program and watch your sales soar.

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