I know that there are tough markets out there right now. I know that there are some freaky mortgage things happening right now. I know that there are some agents struggling right now. I know that I have yet to see a market not make sales from month to month. That is, no one has reported back to me that there have been zero sales in any market. I also know that the layman’s definition of insanity is, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
If you are in a tough market you have to change the way you think, unless you are really insane. Of course, if you are insane and are aware of it, then please seek professional help.
My wife is a successful real estate agent, and has been in the business for over 22 years. She closes 350 homes per year 65% of which come from our internet presence. I have watched our business grow as a result of the internet, when I created our first website in 1997 for $150. However, the one thing that she has always said to me is that listings drive the business. This is still true regardless of the market, but what most of my clients tell me in this market is that getting listings isn’t so much of a problem. So, what happens when you are in a market that is piling up listings faster than the national debt? You may need to change your approach to real estate. You are in need of a mind set change.
If you are in the type of a market where listings are not the problem, and since homes are still selling, then what you need are buyers. Quite honestly you may be in a market where buyers are driving the business. This will be quite a mindset change, but follow the logic.
Homes are still selling, maybe not at the same rate that you once had in your market, but they are still selling. Based on national statistics, more than 60 percent of buyers select their agent from the internet via search engines. To be found on the internet in a search engine one must have a web presence (not just a website) that helps give you search engine power. One must also balance their web presence with a tremendous amount of content that is regularly updated, that is well organized, and is actually useful to the consumer, and is consistent with their business model.
What does this mean? First, know your numbers!!! I can not emphasize this enough. Are you tracking how much traffic you are getting from your website(s)? How many leads are you getting? How many are you converting? What is the percentage of quality leads? How are you defining quality? What is your average response time when a lead comes in? What are all different ways people are finding your site? How are you tracking which advertising is driving the most traffic? Where are your internet leads coming from? How are you tracking that? If you are having difficulty answering these questions then it is like a person dropped into the middle of the wilderness with compass. You may have a useful tool, but you have no idea what direction you should really be going in.
Second, this means that you need to have a complete analysis of what you are really providing to the consumer. Do you know what information your consumers are looking for? How do you really know, or are you just making the assumption you know? Who are your consumers? What is really your target market? Do you know what questions are really important to them? Are you really answering those questions, or are you just telling them how great you are? Do you even know what the right questions are to ask? How about usability? Is your site set up in the most psychologically advantaged way so that the consumer can ultimately find the information they are looking for with ease? How do you know where they are clicking on your site? What is the most visited page? Why that page versus other pages on your site? How are using that to your advantage to gain the potential client as a lead?
Third, this means that you must have a search engine strategy in place. Are you going to use pay per click? How much are you going to spend? What words and phrases are you going to spend it on? What happens when the budget runs out, are you willing to fund it? What are the best words? Are the most common words and phrases the best? What are the best words for producing business? If not pay per click what is your strategy for organic search? Do you even know what organic search is? What words and phrases are you going to focus on with in your text? Are you adding new content to your site regularly? Who is connecting to you? Link exchange is now being degraded by the search engines, so who is linking to you? Where else are you in the internet? Can other people find you outside of your one website? Do you have pages in other places? What do they say about you? Are they about you or good information for the consumer? How about BLOG’s? Do you have one? Do you update them daily?
Finally this means that you do NOT go to a web designer first. It means that you have to outline and employ a solid strategy that is going to have the ability to answer these questions and more that I have not asked. Web Designers by trade are not interested in answering your questions they are interested in getting you a design. While it might look appealing at glance, you may in fact have an awful website. What’s worse you probably will not engage in a web presence at all. Please, please know your information before web design.
I trust that you realize you must have a mind shift. If you are in a tough market you have to become friendlier in your web presence you have to balance your web content with what the consumer wants, what the search engines want, and what you are capable of doing in your business model. This means that in some of your markets the old adage of, “If your going to last, you gotta list” must change to, “If your going to get a bigger piece of the pie, you better meet the needs of those who buy.” You are going to have to wrap your mind around a business model that flies in a different direction. In many of your markets those who have the most buyers are the ones who are making a tough market work. Then when the market does change, you will have put yourself in an easier position to get listings. You are going to build a reputation as the real estate agent who can be successful in the tough markets not just the good ones. Your job now is to change your mind set, so that you set up minds of your market.
Thanks for a great article, Dr. Jay! As a real estate broker and consultant to the innkeeping and unique lodging industry, at The B&B Team, Inc. we’re working hard to get our clients and the bed & breakfast industry in general to understand that change is critical to their success and survival, just as it is for real estate agents. What you have said in your post is similar to what we’ve been saying on our blog, http://www.innkeepersresource.com for a while. We all need to change by learning!