Here is a stat for you: The California Association of REALTORS® 2004 Internet vs. Traditional Home Buyer Study says that 71% of Consumers Interviews only one Agent. Often this stat is quoted as “71% of Consumers deal with the first Realtor they talk to”. From here, a lot of Realtors sit back and wait for the phone to ring. After all, why not, if someone calls, are likely to only speak with just them, right?
Hmmn, maybe, but why would this be? Because consumers are too lazy to contact more then one Realtor? Or maybe because Realtors are great sales people and close at that high a rate? Or could it be that consumers don’t want Realtors to have to compete for their business? Of course none of these are true.
What is really going on here is that most consumers have already decided before they call the Realtor that he is likely their man. When they make that call or go to see a Realtor they are just checking to see if the Realtor lives up to his billing.
So, you see, their was a competition. It was held in the newspaper ads, bus boards, bill boards, radio, TV, quality of your listings and most importantly, these days, the Internet. These days more and more consumers are starting their search online – in fact 73% of them according to the 2005 NAR study of home buyers and sellers. They look Realtor website, they look at the listings on them and how much attention was paid, how rich the data and descriptions are, where there Realtor is exposing them.
These days the competition is increasingly being held and decided online. I would love to hear any and all ideas on how we can help our members win that competition.