7 Tips to MeetEvolving ConsumerExpectations in Real Estate

In today’s digital age, home buyers and sellers are emboldened and empowered thanks to a plethoraof information and choice. To compete and stay relevant, real estate agents need more than just anecdotesand “best practices” to win new business, communicate efficiently and effectively, and close more deals.

Agents must focus on bringing more speed, transparencyand ease to the real estate journey. In this “Ask Alexa” and“Hey, Google” world, consumers have the answers to alltheir questions in mere seconds. Good communicationis often cited as one of the most important factors inchoosing an agent, but it’s not just about how FAST yourespond but the overall effectiveness of your communication.

With research giving a more specific roadmap for success,let’s dive into the tips that can help you deliver a greatclient experience.

#1. Be FastAgents have been inundated with statistics on the importance of quick response.Yet nearly half of all buyer inquiries do not receive a response from a professional!1

The agents that do respond are often struggling to keep up with consumers’ expectations of nearly instant, real-time response. Most of us know that responding to leads within the first 5 minutes can improve your contact rate,2 but today’s on-demand consumer may want an even faster response. Have a system (and the technology) in place to make quick response easy for you and the standard for your prospects.

#2. Be PersonalWhile quick response is crucial, it can lead to hasty messages like “Thanks for your inquiry! We’ll contact you soon” leaving leads to wonder if it’s even a human being talking to them.

A 2017 realtor.com® consumer lead study found that 70% of respondents received a personalized response to their inquiry, whichled to higher overall satisfaction and a greater likelihood of using the agent. Among those who received a message theyperceived to be automated, only 14% said they were likely to use the agent.3

SOLD

#3. Be Trustworthy Clients are largely drawn to an agent due to their personal relationship —and building trust by demonstrating honesty and highlightingrecommendations is critical. In fact, a realtor.com® consumer study by found that the top five characteristics that impacted a consumer choosingan agent to work with included:

honestylocal market expertisea likeable personalitya personal connectionand client recommendations.4

How can an agent tackle this in a digital-first world? Search for yourself online. What comes up? Be sure that what people see demonstrates your expertise, character and trustworthiness. And, since 85% of consumers say they trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations from real people,5 make sure you’re using your realtor.com® agent profile, social media, andwebsite to showcase your rave reviews.

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

#4. Be the Expert

An overwhelming 97% of consumers feel it’s important for their agent to be a local market expert, with 25% saying that local marketexpertise is the most important trait of all!4 But, when you’re juggling your day-to-day administrative tasks, it’s easy to forget to communicateyour expertise.

Providing meaningful insights and local market information sourced directly from real, timely data is a great way to show you’re the realneighborhood expert. Agents can provide further value by breaking the data down in an easy-to-understand manner that helps clients seehow this impacts their buying and selling decisions.

Pro Tip: Share your market updates on Facebook Live and then encourage people to sign up to receive personalized updates directlyfrom you via email.

#5. Be ThoughtfulIs it better to text, email or call? There’s no one-size solution, but today’s consumers generally show a preference for text or email over phone calls.1 Yet, agents most often initiate the first contact with a phone call.

Pro Tip: Set up a simple survey to ask prospective, current and past clients their communication preferences upfrontand then log those preferences into a CRM so your future communications align with their expectations.

#6. Be AwareAccording to the National Association of REALTORS®, agents have anaverage of 11 transactions per year.7 But research suggests about 30%of those clients may likely decide to work with a different agent the nexttime they buy or sell.4 Given that the estimated lifetime value of each client(on average) is around $33,000,8 the long-term effect of losing 3-4 clientscan add up to a loss of nearly $109,000 in potential income. Ouch!

To keep clients coming back and referring you, focus on delivering a great experience throughout the entire process.

#7. Be TransparentHave you purchased a pizza recently? (This is a real question!) Consumers live in an ultra-transparent world thanks to technology. Even the simplest tasks, like ordering pizza, are more transparent than ever before. Domino’s® Pizza, for example, offers an app for customers to track their order from when it’s ordered to when it goes in the box, and is sent out for delivery. This level of transparency is the new normal.

Buying or selling a home is often a stressful process, but you can help ease client stress and anxiety with proactive, consistent communication throughout the process. Using a quality system that helps you easily track those communications and stay organized is key.

$33,000 (avg. lifetime value of client)x 3.3 (11 transactions annually x 30%)

$108,900 (Loss of potential income)

Putting it All Together: Making Technology Work for theModern AgentThe reality is you can’t add extra hours to the day or be everywhere at once. Technology is the key to helping you serve the needs of today’s consumers. There are a number of real estate software solutions for agent productivity. When choosing, agents should consider the following.

Does the platform:

Provide tools that support client communication and balancespeed and automation with personalization?

Provide quality, data-driven insights and valuable content toconsumers - powered by MLS data - on your behalf?

Provide an all-in-one system with a single-user experience?

SOURCES1 2013 WAV Group Agent Responsiveness Study2 InsideSales.com, 2012 Lead Response Management Study3 realtor.com® Lead Quality Survey, Consumer Insights, September 20174 realtor.com® Consumer Survey, September 20175 BrightLocal 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey6 BuilderOnline.com, Home Buyer’s Top Five Touch Points, Sept. 20157 National Association of REALTORS® 2018 NAR Member Profile8 Lifetime Value Calculator, Top Producer® CRM

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

Optimistic Engaging Humorous Helpful Real

The best technology platform will be the one that frees you up to spend more time taking care of your clients.

Visit marketing.realtor.comTo learn more about tools that are simple, intuitive and provide a

seamless solution at any stage of the real estate life cycle.

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