Re-imagining the Real Estate Consumer Experience
Industry leaders agree. We need to think beyond the transaction and re-imagine the consumers real estate experience.
“Consumer experience” is the real estate industry’s version of “blockchain”, “Artificial Intelligence”, or “Augmented Realty”. It’s clear that the the best consumer experience is the one that earns a person’s business. For example:
“One-click” purchases with Amazon, vs getting off the couch, getting into your car and driving to a store
“One-click” taxi service with Uber vs walking to a high-traffic curb (in the cold) and trying to find an available taxi
What does this mean for those working in real estate?
The Way It Used To Be
Prior to the mid-1990’s our interaction with the consumer, began the moment they called or walked into our offices. Today, the equivalent would be to log in to Realtor.com and browse. In fact, the website has over 60,000,000 unique consumers search their portal each year.
Consumers are beginning their real estate experience well before we ever get to meet them. So how real estate agents recalibrate their approach to be relevant within this changing dynamic? This is where the leaders at Inman gave their views.
It’s All About Strong Real Estate Client Relationships
At Inman Connect, brokers, association executives and, influencers all gave their take: “It’s all about relationships”. The emerging voice is that as an industry, we need to have deeper, longer-term relationships with our customers if we hope to improve their real estate experience.
Of course it’s important to note that the words “relationships” and “value” are ones that are easily thrown about. Indeed, you hear them just about any time a few real estate agents get together (there’s a joke in there somewhere). Especially if you’re already tapping into your network, marketing, and offering your services to those you come across in daily life - how can you offer more value?
For one of these experts, the answer is to “know what the consumer wants before they know they want it”. In other words, by becoming part of the buying or selling cycle before your current or potential clients even think to start browsing online. While this may be easy for someone with access to the computing power required for predictive marketing analytics, this is beyond the reach of the average Realtor in practice.
How Can I Deepen My Real Estate Client Relationships?
The challenge of adding more professional value and deepening client relationships is one all of us are going to be grappling with for some time. Fortunately, there are ever-more tools at your disposal. An intuitive website and effective online marketing are not only great for lead generation - they invite you into the home buying or home selling process faster. In fact, it’s important not to get too caught up in reading the tea leaves. There is reason for optimism - by focusing on being responsive and offering a premium service, we believe real estate agents will be able to adapt and continue to have a place in the real estate transactions of the future.
How will you bring value to your clients today?
Between marketing your business, juggling showings, and staying on top of your leads, you need a system to manage your workload in a stress-free and intuitive way. RealOffice360 is an unbelievably simple CRM, business tracker, and daily planner for real estate agents and Realtors®. Rather being just a data dump for client information, RealOffice360 helps you visually build your business plan, cultivate your real estate database towards your goals, and ultimately keeps you focused on what matters most: your clients and your deals. Get started for free - no credit card required!