By: Lief Larson, CEO Workface.com
A recent HomeFinder.com consumer survey indicated that only 41% of consumers currently have a real estate agent. Not only is this an incredible opportunity for agents, but online agent engagement is needed now more than ever. Though real estate has gone digital, it is still a relationship business powered by meaningful, human conversations; however, the web has removed a lot of the human touch from the process. Real estate is ripe for innovation, but where do we go from here?
Data from the National Association of Realtors released in 2010 indicated that 89% of all homebuyers use the Internet as a source of information. Yet, here we sit in 2012 and there is minimal agent presence on web, despite the fact that the majority of homebuyers are starting their home search online. This gap is bogging down the entire industry; you simply can’t have a relationship business absent of proactive client service. This bottleneck is slowing down both agents’ reaction time to homebuyers and the time to sale.
Allow me to elaborate. Homebuyers can find a wealth of information online, including available home listings, locations and pricing. Still, there is one thing they have a hard time finding: a live agent ready to engage them in real-time on the web. Sure, email and phone are options to reach an agent, but both communication methods require effort and time on the part of the homebuyers. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous for a homebuyer to be able to reach an agent like you via online chat, when you’re available?
New technology makes it possible to co-locate agent presence with a listing, enabling a homebuyer to see live agent status associated with a property listing. When an agent is in an “online” or “available” status, the homebuyer is provided with the option of self-initiating live text, audio and video chat with the agent. Imagine how powerful it would be if all agents could swim upstream in the relationship process by engaging the homebuyer at the moment of interest.
2012 welcomes a new period where real estate search sites will no longer act simply as property resource locators, but will serve as digital tools for connecting agents and homebuyers. 2012 is the year of greeting homebuyers at your digital front door!
About: Lief Larson is the CEO of Minneapolis, MN based Workface Inc. Workface (www.workface.com) provides live chat, presence, agent directory, and identity management services for the real estate industry.
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