For brokers, a fork in the road

Trulia announced the launch of an ad network today, a collection of sites on which real estate brokers and others interested in reaching home buyers can place targeted advertising. It's a first, and an overdue one at that.

Last week, John L. Scott announced that they have purchased a small technology company to accelerate its in-house technology development. The company has also steadfastly withheld its listings from syndication across the Web.

Kudos to both companies for aggressively seizing on two key trends -- in Trulia's case, the flight from print real estate advertising and, for JLS, a movement among brokers to gain greater control of their future, which is increasingly tied to the online opportunity.

Brokers have been feeling around in the dark when it comes to the web for some time now. But these two developments cast some light on the strategic options:

a.) Ride the SEO savvy, traffic, user experience and reach of an online partner like Trulia to extend your brand and engage consumers online at very low cost.

or

b.) Do what it takes to create these aptitudes internally, leveraging IDX, Web 2.0 apps, and the IT and development efficiencies now available to build your own site into a leading consumer destination in your market or markets.

The best choice? I can't say. What makes sense for your competitor may not make sense for you. But I can list some of the questions you may consider in getting to a conclusion. I'm missing some for sure: My point is to help you reach a decision that needs to be made.

In consideration of a syndication/online ad network strategy:

1. Does a potential syndication partner bring me an audience I am not already reaching?
2. Is my brand well served by the content, user experience and brand equity of the syndication partner?
3. Exactly what stands between me and the consumer on the syndication partner's site?
4. Is sending my listings or ad dollars to a Website supporting the growth of a potential competitor, or riding the coattails of an established media property?
5. Am I -- is my brand -- diminished by putting my inventory on other people's shelves?

In consideration of a destination strategy:

1. Do I, and the people that work for me, have the knowledge and skill required to support an effort to make our Website a top destination for home buyers and sellers in our market?
2. Am I committed to re-org my communications and marketing departments to move from executing or managing vendors who perform old tasks (e.g., Issuing press releases, supporting agents with print collateral) to new ones (e.g., blogging, video production, SEO).
3. Do I have, or can I find, technology staff and trusted vendors who can create an online experience that is competitive with the top online players?
4. Can I sell the vision internally to managers, agents, and staff?

Most brokers remain in a dangerous stasis, floating in suspension amid kinetic innovation. It's time to move. Look outward or inward, but do press forward.

-- Brian Boero

Can you find the positive spin in this picture?

Ya gotta look real hard, but here's my attempt:

Most agents and brokers are bungling the foreclosure opportunity so badly that those who invest time learning how to work capably with investors and lenders, employ new online foreclosure applications, and approach the market place with sensitivity stand to profit handsomely.

-- Brian Boero

Wake them up from their dead dream

Back in 2002, when I was a partner at a technology company, a client surprised us with an unannounced visit. He drove five hours from his corporate office. Arrived wearing jeans, Tony Lama's and his signature Tommy Bahama shirt.

He hung out with our staff. Handed out gifts -- plaques denoting his appreciation to everyone involved in working on his project.

Later that day, he joined us at The Cliffs in Shell Beach. He bought dinner, handed out cigars. We stood near the gazebo and toasted as the sun deposited itself into its piggy bank horizon.

Then he handed each of us an envelope. I stumbled in my efforts to vocalize sentiment. The best I could come up with was something along the lines of "man this is so over the top and completely unnecessary." 

"Never forget who brung ya." he said, grinning.

Back then, his account was the life-giving deal that birthed our young company from the canal of anonymity. He would say that his gesture was a little gratitude for the big work we did to help launch his new idea. I would disagree. His gesture, one of many, taught me much about creating lifelong clients.   

Who was your first customer? You know, the one who took a risk on you before you were a proven anything? They brung ya.

Who was your last client? The one who bought into your reputation. Believed in the word of mouth about your company. Your service. Or maybe they were someone who took a gamble on faith. They brung ya too. 

Do they feel forgotten? What have you done to keep them believing, loving, heralding you?

Do they know how deeply woven into the fabric of your success story they are? If not, why?

Better yet, forget why. Instead get busy dusting off the memory. Wake your customers up from their dead dream. Shock them. Amaze them.

Vendors, brokers, agents: Find that gazebo where you can stun your customers and partners into speechlessness.

- Davison

Sunset from The Cliffs

 

The masked ball

I am a big believer in the power of social media. They -- or, it, really -- enables meaningful connections; it's a solvent of unnatural barriers that stifle talent; it explodes the wall of cant that brands and service providers place between themselves and customers in the name of "marketing."

But lately, in the back of my mind, I've been a little uneasy with where all this is headed.

There's something counterfeit among the blog posts, comments, social network connections and fora. I'm speaking here of the business to consumer side of things, where the promise, and the stakes, are highest.

While on the surface something like Trulia Voices or any number of agent or broker blogs may evidence plenty of open, no-pressure interaction, the sort of conversation many of us venerate, what really is there that's real here?

Social media promises humanity, but I often find it more like a masked ball, a place where cads and opportunists dart about behind avatars, user names or personas that serve to obscure, rather than illuminate, what's underneath.

For every pro who manages to channel excellence into this new medium, there are a dozen who rise to the bait of a consumer query like a trout to a fly, gobbling up "engagement" promiscuously. For every master blogger, there's a copy and paste artist feeding search engines but leaving consumers hungry.

There is thus a big signal to noise ratio in real estate social media. I wonder if the static will overtake the message entirely, if consumers will tune out.

Social media only works as a marketing strategy for agents and brokers if there's something behind the posts: A track record, a deep expertise, a capacity for interpersonal communication, something, anything, that marks one as great. I see too many jumping into this because it seems easy, because someone told them to do it, or because there's nothing else to do amid a slow market. And that's unfortunate.

I get asked a lot about social media strategy. Before I say anything else, I tell people -- whether they're making decisions for themselves or entire organizations -- that they must have something to say, they must be able to say it well, and, if that's the case, must throw themselves into it with the same seriousness they bring to their most critical business endeavors.

Right now, it feels to me like too many are just throwing on the mask.

-- Brian Boero

The end of real estate "search"

The forces that will kill real estate search as we know it have been set in motion. They are embryonic but growing rapidly. They will overtake their prey within a couple years.

Personally, I look forward to this. I'm tired of filling out form fields, yanking on drop downs and fiddling with sliders. In fact, "searching" for anything suggests, a.) that you've lost something, or b.) anxiety.

There are three reasons why I think we're in for a big change:

1. Everyone has a mobile phone
2. The Web experience on these devices is improving at breathtaking speed
3. Location awareness, either through GPS or cell tower triangulation, is being built into more and more of them
   

What does this mean? It means the Web will become something we experience with increasing ease. We'll do less searching and more finding. Our very presence will replace "search criteria" for location specific items like ATMs, coffee houses -- and homes.

This is part of what many have called the "ambient Web." The hardware is ready; the Web apps will follow soon.

A couple months ago, Yahoo! introduced its FireEagle platform, which allows users to securely share their location online and gives developers a suite of APIs for feeding them information based on where they are at any given moment. Google released a "My Location" feature to its maps late last year. Microsoft added location awareness to its Live Search in the UK and Japan just last week. The latest update to my iPhone made driving directions much easier by automatically finding my starting point, even when I am lost.

The FireEagle site's home page reads, in part:

"We're here to make the whole web respond to your location and help you to discover more about the world around you."

Location, location, location indeed. Here's how it could play out in real estate:

An IDX vendor or listings aggregator writes a FireEagle app, tying a feed to users who have location aware mobile devices. As a user moves about -- say, on a Sunday drive through a new neighborhood -- listings pop up on her screen much like road signs present themselves through the windshield. To take this still deeper, if the app ties together data points like the user's credit score and loan app, it will only display properties in her price range.

See, no more searching.

I know this sounds far-fetched right now. Most brokers are still limited by sclerotic IDX solutions and old school "Website vendors". And I realize that mobile, location aware online real estate apps won't be much use for relos and those unconvinced by assurances of privacy. However, as I have argued before, the customer has "left the building" -- accessing the real estate information they need on the go. 

As sure as I sit here typing on Gregory Street in Oakland, this is coming.

I can't wait!

-- Brian Boero

Redfin sets sail: Are you following?

Redfin broke a big taboo this week by "co-mingling" FSBO's and foreclosures with MLS listings.

Under every circumstance it's the right thing to do. It delivers exactly what the customer wants: All the listings, in one place.

But there's something more here. Look beyond the mashup. How do you think the Redfin brand is being strengthened by offering every housing opportunity, politics be damned?

I'll suggest the following:

• It makes the company and its agents appear distinctly more expert.
• It makes the company seem more consumer focused and more trustworthy than other brands.
• It makes the company appear more sensitive to the needs of the community by providing representation to people with alternative needs.

I don't believe the first question most consumers ask when they hit a site is if it has all the listings. I believe they don't know to ask. Trulia's fabulous traffic proves that. If anything, the consumer has been slipped that false notion mickey about coverage for a long time.

But that's certainly about to end. And it's about time.

So what's next? Well, it wouldn't hurt to follow suit. The data feeds are out there. Along with a herd of new company sunrising across real estate's horizon with new ideas, tools, apps and possibilities. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to leap frog either. One up them as they say.

Or not. You certainly have options. You can use this opportunity to vilify Redfin. Or allow your local MLS to ban you from co-mingling.

I think that continuing to moor your boat to old taboos is a bad idea -- especially when your competitors have set sail into the future. 

- Davison

HomeGain messes with the narrative

The story of recent online real estate history goes something like this:

In 2005 Trulia launches, blogs bloom, and the consumer and professional lie together openly on the sunny meadow of Web 2.0. The lead companies that had dominated the scene start to look like snakes lurking in the shadows.

In reality, the story is not so neat. HomeGain's Agent Evaluator product rocked the transparency and consumer empowerment angles starting in 1999. Blogging holds great potential, but few real estate pros master the practice and produce measurable results. Brokers and agents continue to buy leads.

HomeGain's release of an "Agent Blog Network" today underscores the dissonant reality of online real estate. The idea of putting a blog on top of a lead machine is pretty jarring. It doesn't fit into the narrative many, including myself, have helped perpetuate. I like that.

The facts are pretty simple. Agents that find it cost effective to outsource their traffic building effort pay a little bit of money to blog in front of the 5 million monthly visitors to the HomeGain site. Consumers get yet another means of evaluating whether or not an agent has expertise and brains. Good deal all around. 1.0, 2.0 ... who knows?

Who cares? Congratulations to Louis and the HomeGain team.

-- Brian Boero

There's something about Chip

I found Chip standing outside my front door this past Saturday morning.
The time was precisely 12:00.
I remember because it was at that very moment that I was blown away.

My wife collects people. Plumbers, electricians, handymen. She needs to. If asked, she'll say "put a tool in Marc's hand, reserve a gurney at the emergency room." It never fails -- a byproduct of inner city apartment living.

We go through service people like matchsticks. Few ever left an impression. Lori thinks they juggle too many clients at once. It sounds right. But it's nonetheless unacceptable.

Chip was the new hire. A handyman. Referred by a friend. He communicated with us a week ago. Said he'd arrive at 12:00 on Saturday. I've heard that before so I made other plans just in case.

Chip entered with a tool box and air of confidence. Dispensing with small talk he attacked the project immediately assessing the parts and created a supply list for Home Depot. There was something about Chip. I decide to postpone my backup plan and join him. 

For the first ten minutes he quietly drove his truck as I excused myself to take a call. When I hung up he asked what I do for a living and how I got into it. I explained.

I then asked him what his story is.
I've been dwelling on it since.

As it goes:

Chip was homeless between 1987 and 2003. Courtesy of alcohol and drugs. That was then. Today he owns a “service business” as he puts it. And a home. A truck. A trailer. A motorcycle. And a list of happy clients that refer him tons of business.

There is something about Chip. The way he navigated himself through Home Depot in search of an idea. The way he interacted with the sales staff in search of assistance. The way he passionately approached the simple task of installing some lighting in my house.

What I remember most about Chip was what he shared with me on the ride way home:

You know, there are a lot of handymen in San Luis. And I can honestly say that I am not any more skilled at what I do than my competition. But I don’t need to be. All I have to do is deliver on three simple things. I need to be on time. When I say I will be somewhere, you can take it to the bank. I need to complete the task when I say I will. Not two hours later. Not 2 weeks later. That means understanding the job as it is, not as the client describes. And 3, I charge $10.00 an hour less than everyone else. What I have figured out is that these three things are more valuable to homeowners than being the most skilled.   

The hour I spent with Chip is something I wish could share with everyone I know. Five years ago he was living under the three towers in Morro Bay. Today, when he is not delivering on his promise to his customers, he’s back out in Morro Bay delivering on a different promise.

There is something about Chip. 

I left him back at the house to finish the job. I had to take care of other things - things that did not require tools with sharp pointy ends.

Chip finished the job at 2:30. Precisely when he said he would. Not a drop of sheet rock dust anywhere. Lori re-hired him to install some air turbines in our attic next weekend. He had time to install during the week but I asked Lori request he come next Saturday. I wanted to be around when he comes back.

This morning I gave his name to a friend. He asked me how good the guy was. “He's as good as anyone" I said, but he's on time, gets the job done exactly when he says he will and he's ten dollars cheaper than his competition"

The last thing Chip said to me was “If you love what you do for a living, you will never work again.” Some figure that out early in life. Some later on. At the bottom of life's ravine.

You want to build a strong career? Start with the simple things.
The ones you can control.
The ones your competitors take for granted. The little things that will blow people away. Like returning a call immediately. Delivering your product or service ahead of time. Giving them a good deal even if they don't ask for it

And make that your everything.

- Davison

The Three Towers in Morro Bay, Ca

Brokers: Get out of the real estate business

There's an interesting article in the current issue of Fast Company any broker looking to differentiate should read.

The piece documents Starwood's successful effort to burnish the Le Meridien Hotels brand by thinking outside the bounds of what most people think a hotel should do for its customers. They got out of the hotel business and into the business of creating memorable experiences.

The program, in a nutshell: Meridien now performs the role of tastemaker and curator for its guests, presenting them with art installations, cooking classes, signature fragrances and more. The company hired a French museum director as its "cultural curator." The "LM 100", an international group of "cultural innovators and artists," fuel the program.

You may find this sort of facile dilettantism pretentious. But it's working. Online bookings are up dramatically.

Here's the summation, delivered by a hospitality industry analyst:

"The old-school version of this would have been to put together a committee, redesign the hotel, and that's it," says brand maven Addis. "Instead, these guys are going to be perpetually curating on behalf of -- not marketing at -- its audience."

Are you, or is your company, "marketing at" your customer? Does your idea of what you could and should be doing prevent you from inviting them to share a distinctive experience?

Why shouldn't your company ride a long tangent off the tight circle of conventional wisdom? It's not like the old stuff is just too good to let go.

Really. Get out of the real estate business as you've known it and start differentiating. Slash your print ad spend and put an interior designer and landscape consultant on your staff (prospects get a free consultation; clients get on-site evaluations). Run home safety and self defense classes in the room you now use for office meetings. Check out this post from Davison for more ideas in this vein.

Could you make these things work in your company? I don't know. You know. The point is to try something different, something neither you or your customer ever expected. Do it now, while the whole industry is off balance, while consumers are jaded. While everyone else is cutting their marketing teams. A cool drink tastes better in the desert. 

Step outside the real estate business for a while.

-- Brian Boero

Where’s mom when you need her?

Once upon a time, you “walked in” for real estate services. A pleasant face greeted you. You had questions; helpful people had answers.

It was a simple.
Friendly.
It worked.

You called, someone answered. You were handled. Not routed through some invisible air traffic system waiting for a faceless controller to pick you up a day later with a response.    

The Realtor was once a servant. Performing the heavy lifting and attending to the smallest details. Making sense of things.

The client was afforded the luxury of being serviced. They were unencumbered by the minutia of the process.

When I was young we spent time huddled around the kitchen table. Eating. Talking. Dreaming.

Back then, the only box we all stared into was the Ebinger’s cake box. Pale green with brown crosshatching. We craved its contents - sweet and addictive.   

In these happy golden days of yore, the customer was king -- even though they weren’t “empowered”.

If you think consumers are truly empowered today, you are clinging to fantasy

You enter the local yogurt shop. Pick your Styrofoam cup. Pour your own yogurt. Choose and apply your own toppings. The only visible and meaningful exchange between you and the service person is experienced at the cash register.

Fast food. Self service. 

Today you enter real estate the same way. Pick your Styrofoam website. Pour your own flavor of search. Apply your own data, sign-up, log-in, drag, drop, join, calculate and map out your real estate treat. The only visible and meaningful exchange between you and the service person is experienced at the real estate cash register.

Fast food real estate. Self service.

All this technology. Amazing feats of invention. But if you think leaving it in the hands of the consumer is empowering, you are clinging to fantasy. 

The power I see

Technology can be empowering. But what happens when those who license and present it to the consumer are incapable of adding to it the nuance of expertise, the touch of service?

What happens when they have no aptitude for integrating it into a cohesive experience?

What happens when the professional skims the surface of technology, takes the cheap route and makes technology an Achilles Heel when it should be a strength?

I’ll tell you what happens. You lose control of your business. You end up with a wary consumer that doesn’t know what to do or who to trust. You end up having your entire value proposition eviscerated by outsiders, your carcass picked apart by squawking crows on the trash strewn shoulder of your industry.

How empowering is that?

Technology is amazing. If used right. But if not, if misguided, you end up selling your brand down a dry river bed littered with crappy websites, crappy search and a workforce of spoiled agents that don’t want to work -- or even know what work to do.

Empowerment is not conning oneself itself into believing the consumer wants to do everything themselves. Empowerment sunk when real estate began believing the consumer would have no issue paying top dollar for the privilege of serving themselves.

Where’s mom when you need her?

Today, we all gather round the same dining table. We still dream, eat, talk and wonder about our next home. The box we all stare into is equally alluring as the old Ebinger’s. Its contents just as sweet and addictive. Filled with empowerment and promise.

What would be incredibly empowering is if real estate started leveraging its contents better. Serve it up like mom used to. She knew exactly when and how. And was always there when you needed her.

That’s what real estate needs now more than ever. 

- Davison