What They Want
Give the customer what they want, and BE NICE about it. As I stood in line at the local coffee shop and heard the rude comments of the gal behind the counter – because she got the order wrong – I watched the customer feeling awkward like they did something wrong. Got me thinking – what is true customer service for us in real estate? It is giving the customer what they want because they are the boss. The key to true success in this business is knowing what the customer wants and giving it to them. According to NAR’s 2007 Profile of Homebuyers and Homesellers, 34% of consumers found the ACTUAL home they purchased online. That means they researched online and filtered through many homes, neighborhoods, got down to the home they were interested in and by looking at photos, comments on the listing and the multimedia fell in love with the house. They then called or emailed a REALTOR(r) and BOUGHT IT!
Ways to Deliver
So three easy ways to deliver extreme customer service – give them what they want. Start with photos, LOTS of them. make sure they flow the way you would walk through the home, from the exterior to the inside. Include a floor plan if you have one. If the consumer likes the neighborhood, and is satisfied with the size of the home, they are more likely to want to see the inside. A floor plan can help accomplish that. Once they get inside it is up to the seller to make sure there is no clutter, it is clean and smells good. Maybe even staged a little?
Point2 Technology and my friend Roger Noujeim sends me statistics time to time form their website. They found that the number of clicks on properties and amount of leads increased in proportion to the number of photos. “A new study by Point2 Technologies Inc.,… tested how the inclusion of photos with online listings affects real estate sales. By tracking consumer views, interest and leads, the study concludes that more photos generate increased consumer interest. Listings that feature no photos generate 0.02 percent of the page views that listings featuring 21 to 36 photos attract.
Listings with 21 or more photos generate more than 55 times the number of page views, 27 times the amount of interest and 898 times the number of leads compared to listings featuring no photos.”
Ad Copy?
Many of were traumatized by being only able to write 14 words to advertise our properties in the local newspaper. I am thankful those days are over . . . forever. SO, change your ad copy from 3br, 2 ba with fr and eik. Add some information about what makes living there special. Then there is multimedia. Virtual tours that tell specific features about the house are helpful because they can be send form the website virally. I like to add voice to a virtual tour. For me that is where the selling really starts. Here is a link to an article called Video is mainstream, is it on your website? Enjoy
monika
October 25, 2008 at 6:57 pm
How very true Amy. Today we went on a CMA appointment and I think we took about 60 photos and 2 short videos. I won’t use them all BUT I have enough for a few virtual tours and then different pics for mls. The more the better in my opinion.
Paula Henry
October 25, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Amy – First of all, a belated welcome to AG. This can not be said enough. I have seen agents put itty bitty pictures on the MLS and only one. I guess the misconception is, it will entice buyers to want to go see the home. Time is a huge factor for us all and buyers want the oppotunity to see the home online. I have sat with many buyers who pass by homes with no pictures. If only the seller knew!
I explain that to sellers when a buyer does make an appointment to see their home, they are truly interested and not just lookers, because if they have seen one of my homes online, they know it matches their criteria.
Then there is the issue of really bad pictures – anoher post 🙂
Ben Goheen
October 26, 2008 at 12:49 am
I laughed after seeing the photo and reading the first 2 sentences. My wife (and fellow Realtor) is a vegetarian and went through the Wendy’s drive-thru today. They said, “Welcome to Wendy’s, what can we make fresh for you today?” She replied, “How about a caesar salad with no bacon.” (pause, pause) “No.”
Almost every time I see a listing with 1 photo I click on the ‘next’ button with lightning speed. It amazes me to see the number of dinosaurs in this industry who don’t realize the importance of good photos and virtual tours. A recent full-page ad in my local paper had 30+ listings, 1/2 of which were either missing the price and/or address. Really?? A buyer that has a ton of time might try to track a couple of those listings down to get more information. But more than likely they’ll just click ‘next.’
We all have a responsibility to our sellers, it’s obviously to me that some take it more seriously than others.
Teresa Boardman
October 26, 2008 at 5:05 am
Our MLS only allows for ten photos. With that said it amazes me how one listing can have 10 really bad photos and some only have one photo. This has been a well duh! for years. consumers want photos.
Missy Caulk
October 26, 2008 at 7:46 am
Our MLS only allows 10 photos too, but that is an improvement from 6 then 8. On my outside web-sites I put in multiple ones. Seems like the MLS’s just don’t get it yet. Well, maybe there are some that do, if anyone knows any that allow that many let me know. We are interviewing new MLS vendors.
Jim Duncan
October 26, 2008 at 7:01 pm
@Teresa and Missy – Our MLS had a limitation of something like 20, then I and another Board member asked in one of our meetings “why?” The answer was “because.” So we fixed it. Now it’s something like 50 or something silly like that.
Lisa Sanderson
October 27, 2008 at 9:29 am
We use FBS’s Flex MLS and do not have a limit on photos for listings.
Using lots of photos doesn’t only give the house hunters what they want. It gives you and your seller what you want – the right kind of traffic through the listing. Having lots of photos helps to thoroughly qualify the house to the prospect and the likelihood that they may buy is greatly increased.
And this goes for your compelling ad copy too. Tell it like it is and notice the quality of the prospects that inquire or look at the house. This goes for the negatives about the place as well as the positives. Paint a true picture and you’ll seem more credible, you’ll get constructive feedback and the house just might sell quicker!