Overview
Listing Hotline was built as a lead capture tool to help Real Estate Agents catch more leads as the leads are physically passing by a home. Automatically share basic listing info with passersby as soon as they drive by the property FOR SALE sign and call or text the hotline phone number using either a unique 4-digit code or the listing street address number. Once passersby request info about a listing, they’re automatically added as a lead to the assigned Agent’s Smart CRM.
How Does Listing Hotline Work?
The listing 24-hour hotline simply requires Agents to put on their FOR SALE sign a listing hotline phone number, a unique 4-digit code associated with the listing, and a quick description of how it works. An example would be: "CALL OR TEXT CODE TO 24 HR HOTLINE FOR INFO." From there, passersby can quickly see a phone number and code (they don’t even have to get out of the car!). All the potential lead has to do is call or text the hotline number with either the code or street address number. Then, the system automatically gives the lead basic information about the listing.
The following information will be passed to the potential lead:
Over the phone from the call tree:
Square footage
# of bedrooms and bathrooms
Listing price
Via an automatic text to the lead:
Square footage
# of bedrooms and bathrooms
Listing price
Assigned Agent Smart Number
Link to the entity website with search results
The system will then do the following automatically:
Sends the lead a text message with all the above info.
If they call the hotline, the lead still gets the automatic text with the listing info.
If they text the hotline, the lead gets the automatic listing info text as a reply.
Adds the caller/texter as a new lead in the Smart CRM
Adds hashtag(s) to the lead which can be used to trigger lead routing rules, Smart Campaigns, and other useful marketing tools in BoldTrail.
How to Access Listing Hotline Numbers & Codes
First, navigate to the Lead Engine tab. Then click into the Listing Hotline tile.
You can then view the Hotline Numbers and Listing Codes from the two tabs.
Utilizing Listing Hotline
Add unique 4-digit codes to listings in the Codes Table to find more exact matches for listings.
You can manage these codes from the “Listing Codes” table.
If you have a particular code you prefer, you can manually edit the listing’s unique code from the listing codes homepage and see if that other code is available.
If a lead enters a unique 4-digit code, it will pull that result first on the hotline when a lead enters the code, ahead of street address results. This is helpful when a listing has multiple results for the street address.
You can pair any code with any hotline number available to you provided by the brokerage in the “Hotline Numbers” table on your actual FOR SALE sign.
You can also use the street address number instead of a code.
This will have the same functionality in the Listing Hotline as using the unique 4-digit code automatically generated for each listing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who gets assigned the leads from Listing Hotline?
The Assigned Agent through lead routing will receive the potential lead.
Ex: If the Listing Hotline is assigned to the Company, it will follow the Company lead routing rules for that account.
Listing Hotline follows “Bypass the Listing Agent” setting. If “Bypass the Listing Agent” is turned off then the leads will always be automatically assigned to the Listing Agent.
Leads are owned by the entity that the hotline number belongs to. Ex: Leads that are added via calling or texting a Company hotline number will be Company owned.
Where can I access the Listing Hotline Homepage?
You can access the Listing Hotline via:
Lead Engine tab, then select Listing Hotline tile.
Individual listings pages in the listings tab
Call & text capture (Smart Numbers) tile in the Lead Engine.
What listings show up in the Codes table? Which listings can receive codes?
Listings only appear in the codes table if they are Active listings in both the MLS & the account (e.g. an Agent belonging to your Company). The Listing Hotline will not pull results (street address or code) for other brokerage listings that share your MLS, and their listings will not show up in the Codes table on the BoldTrail Listing Hotline homepage.
Once a listing is removed from the MLS/changed to a status other than Active, the listing is removed from the Codes table on the Hotline homepage, and the code is recycled, or it is put back into the pool of available codes.
If a listing is part of an MLS that is not associated with the entity website utilized by the hotline number, it can still receive a 4-digit unique code. However, the website link in the text message will not go directly to the property if the property does not exist on the website. Instead, the link will take the lead to the general entity website homepage.
What if there are multiple listings with the same street address number in the account? What if there is a listing with the same street address number as a code?
In the scenario there are multiple results, calling the Listing Hotline permits the lead to select which listing they’re looking for up to the first 5 results. If one of the results is a listing with a unique 4-digit code saved in the Listing Hotline codes table that matches the user input, the code will always be the first option. Therefore, if there are multiple results for the listing’s street address number, we recommend adding a 4-digit code to create a better experience for the lead.
If there are > 5 results, the caller can press 6 for an automatic text reply with a link to all the matching results using the BoldTrail website of the entity that the listing hotline number is assigned.
Similarly, if a lead texts the hotline number the code, or street address number and there’s > 1 result, the hotline number does not text back with options, it sends back a reply text with the link to the website with all of the matching results.
What’s the best way to set up automation for the first response for Listing Hotline leads?
Listing Hotline can be used within BoldTrail, such as with lead routing and Smart Campaigns, connecting to all the automation. To utilize automation you'll want to know the system source and associated hashtag.
The system source for Listing Hotline leads is: Listing Hotline
There are two hashtags associated with Listing Hotline leads. Those are as follows:
hotline_mlsid_{mlsid} - for the listing the lead inquired about
hotline_phone_{phone number} - for the hotline phone number the lead called or texted
To learn more about Smart Campaigns, click here.
To learn more about Lead Routing, click here.
Admins: What scope should I choose for my Listing Hotline numbers?
The available scope options for Listing Hotline numbers are Company, Office, Team, or Agent. There are multiple factors to consider when choosing the Listing Hotline entity scope:
Area Code
When choosing a hotline number, most of the time Admins will want to use a hotline number that matches the area code of the Office or Team that will be using the hotline. Often, an area code may overlap Teams or Offices. In this case, it's recommended to set the hotline number as Company-scoped, so that multiple Offices or Teams who have listings in that area code may use that hotline number.
Lead Routing/Ownership
Ownership of leads will belong to whoever the hotline is assigned to. Ex: Company and Office hotline numbers will create Company-owned leads. Similarly, new Listing Hotline leads will follow lead routing rules set up for each of these scopes (Company, Office, Team, or Agent).
Search Results
Listing Hotline utilizes both street address numbers and the customizable unique 4-digit code of the property. If your account intends not to use the unique 4-digit code, hotline numbers that are scoped more narrowly will pull fewer results. The larger your brokerage is, the more likely the street address number may pull multiple results.
Website Link
The hotline will text the lead a link to the property within the active website associated with the entity that the hotline number is assigned. Therefore, you can only select hotline numbers to be scoped to entities that have an active BoldTrail website.
The default recommendation for all hotline number scopes is the Company (visible to all Agents in your account), but you have the option to change this at any time.
Admins: What do I have to do to assign or change the scope of Listing Hotline numbers in my account?
Reach out to Support via the blue chat bubble for assistance with changing the scope or your Listing Hotline numbers.
Have more questions? Please reach out to Customer Support via the blue chat bubble to the right or by emailing support@insiderealestate.com!