March 15 2016
Real estate brokers need to take a bit of a scientific approach to justifying some decisions in their business, especially when it comes to investing in technology. Historically, this is referred to as Return on Investment, or ROI. There are a few ways to research ROI on technology, but none of them are very pure. It is nearly impossible to track a consumer from customer acquisition to sale.
The most powerful and dynamic marketing tool in real estate is your sphere of influence. Agents have it, brands have it, firms have it. It draws consumers in before they even know it. The influence is gathered outside the ring of marketing and well before the activity of buying a home. New brands don't have this. New agents don't have this. Home buyers come from somewhere, and at some point they engage. What happens next?
In general, not much happens at all. Research from the WAV Group's Agent Responsiveness study indicated that 48 percent of buyer inquiries were never responded to. The average number of call back attempts from the agent after the initial contact was 1.5. The average number of email contact attempts was 2.07. The average response time was 917 minutes or 15.29 hours.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS GUARANTEE THAT CONSUMERS ARE RESPONDED TO IMMEDIATELY AND REPEATEDLY. Brokers must realize that the consequences of not providing a CRM solution to agents represent a serious compromise in their business. By investing in a CRM solution, this issue is cured immediately.
One of the significant benefits delivered by the Houston Association of REALTORS® is consumer research. In 2014, they surveyed 7000 active buyers in the Houston area to understand their behavior. One key question related to CRM was How long have you been working with an agent? In our terminology, the question relates to how long a buyer may need to be incubated in a CRM solution before a sale.
A legendary dictum of salesmanship is to stay connected to a customer until they "buy or die." I searched the internet for the origin of this sage advice, but I could not find a source. There is no doubt that a CRM solution that supports the customer relationship with agents is the most important investment a firm can make. Here are a couple of takeaways: