Thinking Like an e-Consumer

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

Today’s Consumers are different from those Realtors® served during the decades prior to the mid 1990’s. They have become more knowledgeable and demanding as the Internet explodes previously protected information into their every day lives. Consumer-buying patterns and habits are changing as empowered buyers become more sophisticated and more demanding than ever before.

The former, more traditional consumer was totally dependent upon the Realtor® for the provision of real estate information. Be it the houses that were for sale, general property data, neighborhood information and even mortgage information. The traditional buyer didn’t have much of a choice regarding what house he or she saw and when they saw it. The traditional buyer has been generally programmed to expect personal delivery, fax or the postal service as primary vehicles – everything takes days. The e-Consumer will expect communication to be email, thus immediate.

The report “A Changing Landscape” by the National Association of Realtors® summarizes e-buyers as technically competent, having access to vast online resources and a desire to be included in the decision process. They further tend to be extremely price sensitive to goods and services seen as commodities, but they will pay a premium for those they perceive to have a high value. They expect superb customer service/attention and are prompt to provide feedback, both negative and positive. The customers of the near future are going to be acquired and retained by Realtors® who successfully put themselves in the place of those customers and understand the problems and choices that technology presents. Creating a good customer experience usually requires: quality content, content suitability and easy access to the content.

The Realtor’s® first opportunity to capture a new customer will most likely occur during the initial property search. This process is one that is already sufficiently technology enabled. With the rapid proliferation of web-based MLS information the “market reach” that a single listing achieves is far greater today than ever before.

Few surveys better illustrate the difference between a traditional homebuyer and an online, or e-Consumer, than the annual survey conducted by the California Association of Realtors®. They have done this survey for three or four years now and the key findings have been very consistent.

Overall e-Consumers tend to have a more positive and satisfying experience than traditional homebuyers. E-Consumers generally devote more time to researching and investigating their home buying options early in the home buying process than traditional buyers. They spend an average of 5.8 weeks contemplating their home purchase before contacting a Realtor®; 3.7 weeks more than the traditional buyer’s 2.1 week average. E-Consumers also spend 4.5 weeks investigating the market before contacting an agent; almost 3 weeks longer than the average of 1.8 weeks spent by traditional buyers. However, after contacting a real estate agent, traditional buyers spend more than three times as much time looking for a home than the e-Consumer; 6.6 weeks compared to only 2 weeks.

Acquiring new e-Consumers and transitioning existing customers in the new e-market requires a fresh skill, one that can now be acquired by taking a new e-buyer course offered by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC). This 6-hour course is now being offered nationwide (www.Rebac.net) and is great course to obtain a solid understanding of the e-Consumer and their buying patterns.

Summary

It is important to remember that online business does not stand alone, but forms an integral part of traditional business. Regular business fundamentals still apply. Survey after survey tells us that it is all about staying flexible and responding to changing customer requirements and needs. It is all about sharing information and ideas freely with the customer in order to expedite the process. It is all about communication, fulfillment and getting the transaction completed effectively, efficiently and timely.