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The one thing we all have in common is we are confident, have product knowledge, and know how to facilitate buying and selling property.
People come to us because of our experience.
However, you may be finding that people know a lot more about a property before you even get the chance to show it to them.
In fact, an American National Association of Realtors survey showed that 92 per cent of buyers use the internet to begin their house hunt.
That is massive, and it got me thinking about how we can better use the tool that nearly every home hunter uses before picking up the phone or inspecting our listings.
As one US blogger said after seeing the survey: “If you’re not active, engaging, and networking online, then you’re missing out.”
We all have our own ideas on what marketing is best for our area and business. All you have to do is get on realestate.com.au and have a look at the advertisements.
I have long believed and continue to recommend you need a price on ads, and the research backs me up. Homes without prices are scrolled straight past by 50 per cent of surfers.
So, how can you improve your online presence? Here are some ideas.
- Give them what they want. Most of us get this right, but there is always room for improvement. By the time I get to speak to my buyers, many have already checked out the Google Earth or Google Maps street view and cruised up the nearby streets online. They’ve also checked out Google Earth from above and know if the next-door neighbour has a pool and a shed and what is over the back fence. Help them out by pointing them to the tools. “This property has terrific street appeal; check it out on Google Maps.”
- Become the local expert. Local media is the same as the national media. It is always looking for new interesting talent to fill up the hours and hours of programming on radio, television and hundreds of centimetres to fill in newspapers. Find out who the local news people are and call them with tips. Become the go-to person when it comes to real estate, not some interstate guru. I’ll be expanding on this in the future.
- Understand SEO. We are getting into computer jargon here, but it simply means search engine optimisation. This is just a fancy term for making sure that when someone puts in that they want a house in your area, you come out on top or high in the search engine offerings. Do things like including keywords in the page title, metadata, image file names and, of course, in the body text. Better still, get your kids or the youngest person in your office to do it for you.
- Internet Access. OK, we know 92 per cent of people will look at our ads before they contact us. So what do they all have in common? I mean all 92 per cent of them. They are all computer-savvy, and high up on their list of what they want to know is “How good is the internet?” A random search showed very few online ads even mentioned broadband. If the home owner doesn’t know or doesn’t have the internet (not that you’ll find many these days), check the address with your own internet provider. One call, and that’s it.
Which takes me back to point one. The modern home buyer is computer-savvy and knows how to use it, so give them what they want.
Adrian Bo is a licensed agent and auctioneer, sales training academy founder and author.
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