Advancing and Growing Your Business

An extract from the new audio series Real eConnections
by Stefan Swanepoel

In many regards real estate e-Business is no different than traditional real estate business in the sense that it is still all about finding and servicing new customers. Knowing what is available to the e-Consumer and where he is in the buying or selling process is still very important.

The key to success is therefore to determine as quickly as possible exactly where the e-Consumers are in the process and how much information is already in their possession. You can only anticipate their next step or need if you know where they are.

For many years, real estate professionals and companies were considered the primary gatekeepers of real estate information. However, with so much of the information available on the web today including significant information about the actual listings, the role of gatekeeper of the transaction has significantly diminished.

Now we all know the information is out there. It is not that the consumers can’t find it, it more likely that they are struggling to make sense of it. You see, the Internet is generally considered a black and white medium while we know that the information it provides access to is a very broad and gray. Information is seldom right or wrong, it is how we interpret it, what we include in the interpretation, etc. that affects the how we use it.

Remember that you are the expert in your market. You know the neighborhood, the people, the roads, the schools, the changes, the new airport, etc., and it is that experience which qualifies and enhances the interpretation of information. More than ever, the real estate professionals of the new paradigm will be required to take on the role of steward of the transaction and will be looked upon to guide the home buying public to the proper contacts for advice and to manage their special needs.

e-Consumers already expect you to:

Provide a Faster and More Pleasant Experience
Provide Reduced Costs and Savings
Offer All Property and Community Information in Real Time
Participate with Regular and Complete Communication

Now as the e-Consumers mature they also expect:

A Totally Managed Transaction
All Transaction Related Services at One Location

One-Stop Shopping

One-stop shopping is no longer just a theory. It is being applied everyday with more and more success by the frontline people of the industry. The time has come to focus on providing a more comprehensive one-stop type service. As the home buying process evolves even further, the new real estate professional has the opportunity to play an increasingly larger role with homebuyers and sellers. There is no reason that you could not become the single point of contact for your client’s entire home-related transaction.

No doubt this term means different things to different people. If we were to transfer it to real estate it could mean something like this. The offering of all off and online services that integrate the entire home sales service with all settlement services. The goal being the facilitation of the entire home purchase transaction through the management of the process before, during and after the closing, while a home and “lifestyle concierge” service for the entire home ownership period.

However, offering a broader base of services, and in particular ancillary services with which you may not be experienced, can prove to be very complicated and in some cases a very costly
experience is going to require you to do your homework in advance.

Creating value

The most effective way to participate in this new consumer-centric model is for real estate brokers to re-engineer their existing traditional business by overlaying it with a larger selection products and services. The broker must remain the first and key point of contact with the client from the beginning, throughout the transaction and during the client’s ownership of the home. Without this commitment to the customer, the broker will surely loose out to other service providers in the great game of customer satisfaction.

As real estate professionals, you have most likely been recommending the services of electricians, moving companies, home inspectors and others. Isn’t it time you create a more personalized “concierge type” service - one in which you have more control over and maybe even actually make money from? The first step is to honestly answer three simple questions as the answers will determine the action you should take to implement the new service – The What, The Why and The How? Although these questions might appear basic or isolated, successful implementation depends on which combination of choices you make. These tapes expand on this concept of how to create additional value through offering ancillary services.

Summary

It is our job to figure out how to meet the changing demands of sophisticated consumers that are demanding a more comprehensive and superior service at a lower cost while still providing a practical, real world, profitable business model in which all components prosper. For us, it is not only a prudent, but a wise business decision.