There are a few things in life that I REALLY enjoy; my family, good wine, good scifi books and movies, Michigan Football, real estate.  And when I come across articles and ideas that combine some of my favorite things in life and some of my favorite people, well, GAME ON!

Joseph Ferrara is one of those rare characters you get the opportunity to meet once in a while in your life.  He shown a great grasp of real estate marketing and how it’s driven by the end-user.  Writing for Inman, he pens, er… bangs out this post on MARS, “mobile augmented reality systems.”

Two money quotes from the article:

The MARS user can access and visualize data that is tied to their physical location and environment…

Imagine walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City and getting a guided tour, courtesy of your iPhone. Unlike virtual reality, which seeks to replace the real world, MARS supplements it. This is not the future. MARS is here.

Ok, see, this type of melding of digital information on top of our physical world is truly exciting to me.  I recently finished re-reading a book by Vernor Vinge, titled “Rainbows End,” that sets

The concept of wearable computers and instantaneous access to data to overlay on our “physical” sight/location is intriguing and exciting.  Instead of diving for the iPhone or BlackBerry to figure out where the closest pizza joint is, you would be able to get step by step directions, menus, reviews, tips and likely be able to order your meal enroute.

As real estate agents, we generate a LOT of information.  Being able to search and analyze that information has become increasingly important to the real estate transaction.  With nearly 90% of the home buyers utilizing the internet, at some point in the purchase process, it is important for our information to be out there.

It is becoming even more important that the information is user friendly and easily accessible.

What about Real Estate Marketing and Information?

A few years back while taking a Certified Commercial Investment Member class, one of the instructors was admonishing the students that the next step in COMMERCIAL real estate marketing would be something very similar to MARS.  In fact, the instructor was talking about a demo he’d seen where Chicago had been recreated in 3D within Google Earth.  Commercial RE brokers, within this 3d Chicago, could “hang” for sale/lease signs on individual suites in the buildings downtown and that if the user decided to look at suite 325, they could simply “fly” into and through the unit…a virtual showing, if you will.

The possibilities for real estate, commercial or residential, are mind blowing.  Can you imagine the marketing you could do with your current marketing efforts.  You could easily organize your high resolution photos, full-motion video and room by room descriptions to take advantage of a MARS.  Some keyword marketing, paid and organic, coupled with some QR tags on signs and fliers and you’ll dominate the up and coming real estate consumer in your marketplace.

Imagine a prospective buyer sees your listing as they drive by.  They could scan the QR code or simply access the real estate layer of the MARS in that neighborhood and see all your listing has to offer.  Almost like doing an open house 24/7!

A Glimpse of the Near Future

]]> http://toddwaller.com/2009/09/the-future-of-real-estate-marketing-now/feed/ 0 http://toddwaller.com/2009/07/customer-service-is-not-a-four-letter-word/ http://toddwaller.com/2009/07/customer-service-is-not-a-four-letter-word/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:57:50 +0000 Todd Waller http://toddwaller.com/?p=20

[this post originally appeared January 30th, 2009 at blog.team366.net.  I'm editing it and republishing it here for use outside of real estate]

So on Wednesday, we got a fair bit of snow dumped on us in the Ann Arbor area. It fouled up the roads, was generally a pain to travel through and seriously messed up one of my windshield wipers.

You never realize how much you depend on those wipers until they don’t work correctly…

So, on my way home, I stopped into our local Advance Auto Parts for a single replacement wiper blade. I anticipated paying for the blade, opening the package, removing the old blade and installing the new blade.

You Know What Happens When You Assume…

Rob, the guy behind the counter, zeroed in on me as soon as I came through the door. Greeted me warmly and inquired why I had poked my head into the store. When I explained what I was looking for, he took one look at my car (he saw me pull up) and asked what year it was. He then asked which blade I was replacing, found it, cashed me out and then headed for the door with wiper blade in hand.

Shocked that he was heading to the door, I asked what he was doing, “I’ll replace it for you if that’s okay.”

Some of Life’s Neatest Moments are Small – An Aha! Moment

As I drove home, it dawned on me what had just happened. I had low expectations, anticipated that I would fumble around with an auto parts book, have to wait in line, and then spend a few moments in the freezing weather replacing a simple wiper blade.

Admittedly, my expectations weren’t high to begin with…and I was alright with that.

I thought of my clients, past and present, that have expressed their pleasure at some small expectation that my team and I have exceeded through the course of our transactions. It dawned on me that many folks entering the real estate market view the process as about as enjoyable as root canal…and that, potentially, as an industry, we have brought this upon ourselves.

A Few Questions…

What are your clients’ expectations?

• Can’t go any further without knowing their expectations!

Have you meet your clients’ expectations on a regular basis?

• If yes, how can you exceed their expectations?

Do your clients realize you’ve met their expectations?

• Without slapping yourself on the back too hard, have your clients seen the value you bring to table by simply meeting their expectations?

Application

First, KNOWING your clients’ expectations is the biggest issue to address.  Within real estate, consumer expectations on agent performance are particularly low.  Therefore, meeting client expectations are relatively easy for a professional.  Perhaps your industry or service already has high expectations.  What further things can you do to meet and exceed client expectations?

Second, under promise and over deliver.  If you start with the end in mind, and know the objections and concerns that WILL arise during the course of a sale or service, you KNOW what your clients will ask, require, desire and talk about.

Plan in advance to manage expectations.  If you can manage expectations throughout the process, under promising and over-delivering will come naturally.

Third, have your clients ever expressed satisfaction or surprise at something you’ve done throughout the course of their transaction?  Chances are, if you are in sales, that at some point a client was floored by your service, delivery, professionalism, etc.  Your ability to differentiate yourself from others in your field helps IMMENSELY in managing expectations (in re, already low) and then showing value above and beyond the average (just returning inquiries appears to be a great place to start.

What traits of awesome customer service have you experienced recently?

Hello?  Is this thing on? Any brokers here?

Where are the brokers in the social media space across the internet?

Real estate agents have been on this bandwagon for a few years now:  Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube…  And a few brokers, to their credit, have jumped into the social media space.  They are the forward thinkers amongst their peers.

Sherry Chris, the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens has a good post about the book “Marketing in the Groundswell” by Charlene Li and what has(n’t) happened within national and regional real estate brokerages.

Sherry is to be commended for actually engaging, not only the agents in the real estate industry, but consumers.  Imagine the “risk” that she has exposed herself to…or has she really?

She has pushed towards more transparency and clarity within real estate as a whole industry.  And now she’s asking a vital question of her fellow brokers:

What does this industry need to look like to capture the interest of  the customers of today and tomorrow?

As an agent pushing the envelope of technology within real estate, I’ll phrase the question a little differently:

Where are you guys? Business models are BORN out of this kind of disparity!

Brokerages would benefit greatly from seeing Sherry’s foray into the social networks.  In an era when our public officials try for transparency, or at least the appearance, it is great to see an industry leader practicing it.

Accountability and Candor

Over at deadlyvipers.org, there’s a nifty post on a book entitled, “Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust” by John Kador.  The third point, in the brief post, says it all about Kador’s findings:

3. Leaders who don’t know how to apologize are seen as liabilities.

It would appear that open candor and accountability are slowly making a come-back as desired traits for people in leadership roles.

“But Todd, this post was supposed to be about social media and real estate brokers.  What does accountability and transparency have to do with how brokers utilize a new(er) technology?”

With information at anyone’s finger tips through a quick Google search, it is extremely easy for anyone to fact check claims, boasts or intentionally deceptive statements.  So, if a broker or agent makes a wild claim, the consumer can dismiss or validate the claim with no other intervention than a quick Googling.

Back to Sherry…

She “gets it,” and is actively seeking ways to push her brand further afield by creating value, backing up claims with results and showing all who care to see, exactly what is happening.

I’ll leave you with Ken Brand’s comment from Sherry’s post:

Interesting stuff.

I see a few things.

A. Old guard, hanging on for dear life, hoping to survive long enough to retire/exit/sell/fade away. (slow toast)

B. Old guard clueless and scared shiftless. (fresh toast)

C. Solid leadership skills; set savvy strategy, rally the troops, inspire the troops, wise enough to hire 2.0 trainers/speakers/presenters, savvy enough to retain and attract talent that embraces the 2.0 future. Dabbles in 2.0 but is currently personally uncommitted. (a two slice toaster)

D. Radioactive Always On Killer App Toaster Oven = The Skill set of C + the Mind set to embrace, point and shoot 2.0 connection/converstion tools and toys.

The immediate future belongs to C & D. The long term future belongs to D.

Which are you? And what can you do to make it to become the “Radioactive Always On Killer App Toaster Oven?”