Where do Customers come from?
Trying to find customers seems daunting when you’re new. And after you have your first few sales, and think you have it made, you stop doing what got you the sales in the first place, and business dries up. How do you get and keep customers? First ask how customers find you, and the home their looking for.
From the 2004 NAR profile of buyers & sellers:
Internet
Friends
Agents interviewed
The internet is the WOW factor in Real Estate. 74% of buyers used the internet to aid in looking for homes (90% used Realtors as well). More important, in 2004, only 38% of buyers found their home because a Realtor introduced them to it (down from 50% in 1997). 15% first found the home they purchased on the ‘net. That number was 2% in 1997, and has risen about 4% a year since (Maybe 25% or better now?). Ok, so they found their home, what did they do next? 72% drove by or viewed home, 51% viewed home online (read virtual tour), 23% requested info. OK, so you need a web site. That’s not news (although I was surprised by the percentage that found THE home…), but what do they want when they get there? 84% want detailed info, 84% like the photos, 58% liked virtual tours (2004, now high speed is more the norm). Point is, you need a web site, your company needs a web site, it needs GOOD info, and people need to find it.
So, you’re going to tell me virtual tours are expensive? Not really. We create, and host our own tours here. No cost, cheap really. And no more work than you do when you list a house. Regardless of cost, if it sales homes, it’s much more valuable than other advertising you can do.
So how do people find the listings and web site? 52% use Realtor.com (well, it was a NAR sponsored study…), 45% use local MLS, 39% use Real Estate company site. And if your company is doing IDX, no reason they can’t put your listings on your site for you. A simple save search link will do it. Newspaper website? 17%. Seems to me, with the rise in internet use, we brokers would be better off advertising our website more than anything else.
And Newspaper? Only 5% found the home they bought in newsprint, up from 8% in 1997. Home book or magazine? 2%. Holy smokes!!!
If your broker provides your with web space, Make the most of IT!! If not, ask why not? And Virtual tours. Get them in front of the public.