Why are Agents Failing to Meet Client Expectations Online?
We live in a high-tech world. Almost every buyer goes online before ever contacting an agent. They look at homes and have access to a tremendous amount of information about the neighborhoods and values of those homes, but the experience home buyers have when searching for homes embarrasses me and it should embarrass you as well.
Did you know that most homes are eliminated from their search based on the visual experience the buyer has with that property? Allow me to explain. Less than 4% of all homes listed have virtual tours and most homes are shot by amateurs (yep, that means real estate agents using their own digital cameras), which provide poor (at best) examples of what the home is really like. Now, I don’t mean to offend the few of you that are actually competent photographers, but when I log into my local MLS with my buyers and they ask to see the virtual tours, more often than not there is no tour of the property and the photos are very bad. Why?
There are only two reasons I can think of that make any sense to me. First, we don’t really understand what buyers want, so we give them what we prefer instead; and two, Realtors are too cheap to spend a little money on professional photography. (Or maybe in this tough economy, they just feel that they don’t have the money to properly market their listings.) Either way we are failing.
Go to any web site like www.Nike.com or www.BMW.com or www.Apple.com; each of these sites is visited by millions of people each month who are then treated to an interactive online shopping experience. Even more importantly, they get a “customized” experience that allows them to design their car, their shoes or even their cell phones. These companies spend millions of dollars understanding buyer behavior and then they deliver—and in many cases exceed—their buyers’ expectations.
As a real estate professional, if you want to start meeting—and exceeding—your buyers’ expectations, then it’s time to put your $199 digital camera away and let the professionals handle your photography. It does not matter if the home is a short sale, a crack house or is listed for $89,900—if you show it offline, you should stage and show it online. Period.
One of my favorite technology companies is Obeo (www.Obeo.com). This company has done the research and developed the tools to really deliver what agents want…and need. With every tour package they include still photos, panoramas, neighborhood information and demographics, social networking integration (automatic posting to your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts), YouTube video creation and posting, and a lot more.
But wait, there’s more! When I first saw their optional service called the StyleDesigner, I knew they were onto something special. The StyleDesigner allows the potential buyer to change the color of the paint on the walls, or change the counter tops, floor coverings and cabinets. When I watch buyers interact with this technology they are blown away AND they can actually start to visualize what it would be like to live in that home and make it their own! This is the experience they are used to in so many other industries. Why has it taken so long for us to get there? Now that we are there, why are so many agents pinching pennies and not giving these buyers what they want? My guess is most agents don’t know these tools exist, or they simply think that what they provide is adequate. In this competitive world, I don’t believe adequate is enough, we have to be exceptional!
Let’s take it our online marketing up a notch and start giving buyers what they really want!
Verl Workman
Speaker, Trainer, Coach