Technology - A Gift That Keeps On Giving

I was inspired to write this post after seeing this picture. Technology - A gift that keeps on giving. How does that relate to you as a Real Estate professional? We live in a time where technology is constantly changing for the better and presents you to with opportunities to be able to do more with less.

In a recent blog post by Bernice Ross of Inman News titled Bridging real estate's generational gap states:

"Experts" are out -- "trusted resources" are in
People born prior to 1965 (baby boomers and traditionalists) value expertise. However, they want to be in control of the decision-making process. Clients don't want to be told what to do by their agent. Instead, the expert model has morphed into the "trusted adviser" model. The agent's role is to supply clients with the best possible information so that the clients can make the best possible decision.

In contrast to boomers and traditionalists who do value expertise, nothing turns off Generation X (those born 1965-76) more than claiming that, "I am the expert." Gen Xers distrust expertise. They are highly independent, slow to trust, and insist on doing their own research. As one generational expert put it, "Members of Gen X believe they could pilot the space shuttle if they had a computer and access to Google."

Self-proclaimed experts have virtually no value for Gen X clients. Instead, supply Gen X with plenty of resources, including Web links where they can do their own research. Be the trusted source for "great information."

Gen Y (born 1977-1994) also doesn't value expertise. Gen Yers trust their circle of friends (sometimes called a "posse.") Like Gen Xers, they will investigate things online, but their first level of investigation is to query their posse. When you're working with Gen Y, invite their posse to be part of the process.

How does one go about becoming a trusted advisor and allocate time to learn the right technology tools to make that happen? You have to first recognize that there is a fundamental shift happening with real estate buyers that require real estate professionals to be more prompt in their response, foster and build relationships and not do the hard sell.

If you believe that the shift is taking place (which I do!), then you need to reallocate how you are spending time to increase your relationship network. Enter "Social Media Technology Tools"!

Julie Escobar (Realty Times) in a recent blog post said that "National Association of Realtors statistics still show that more than 80% of consumers who list their homes don't list with the person they bought it from? Why do you think that is? They failed to stay connected with their book of business. And when you also consider the national statistics that tell us that the average consumer moves every seven years, and buys a property worth at least 25% more than their current home – that puts an estimated career value of a client well over $110,000. With that kind of perspective in mind, an hour a day doesn't seem like too much to ask does it?" (from her post titled "An Hour a day - Keeps Customers Coming Your Way")

Conviced yet that you should take this seriously? If you are, then spending a few minutes a week writing a blog post (helps you earn trust and reputation in the marketplace), "top of mind" communication on facebook, participating in Trulia voices, Q & A groups in LinkedIn or looking for social triggers (term coined by my "tweeps" at Dakno Marketing, Brad and Bobby Carroll) on facebook/Twitter makes sense. Start with a strategy and then the tactics will allow you to execute your strategy.

If you are not comfortable with these tools, get started on one of them (I suggest Facebook as they recently passed 500M users, and yes that is not a misprint!) and get good at it. You can then move on to the others! Remember, networking has been around for centuries, just the way you do networking has changed.

So as Julie suggests spending an hour a day with the the multitude of Social Media Technology Tools (mostly free) along with e-marketing campaigns offers a great way to stay on "top of mind" of your book of business and grow it organically over time.

So, what are you waiting for?

Related Articles: Does Social Networking result in more closings?