Realtors Need a Paradigm Shift

This article gives further evidence that when you offer consumers something of value on your site they will return, but force them to register to view listings and they will just find another site...

RISMEDIA, Dec. 13, John Boudreau, www.ionmarketinggroup.com — According to a recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine, more that 70% of consumers say that they are unlikely to purchase from or return to a site after encountering “register for more information” log-on pages that block access to promised content.

Let’s apply that statistic to real estate Web sites. Often, Realtors require their potential customers to login in to get access to MLS listings and “free” information. At Ion we’re finding that a huge percentage of Web site visitors are just not ready to buy or sell a home right now. Asking them to login just drives them away. The key is to afford them access to information until their ready.

Think about it. If you had a retail store that sold expensive cameras, would you stop your potential customers at the door and ask for their name, phone and e-mail? If you did, pretty soon you wouldn’t have any customers. The “I don’t want to talk to you unless you’re serious” attitude needs to stop if real estate professional hope to truly service this growing market.

According to Tiffany Shlain, founder of the Webby Awards in San Francisco, “Before, the goal was just to get people onto their site. Now the goal is to offer them information, links and services that can help them.”

Realtors must go through a paradigm shift. A paradigm is “a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality”, according to dictionary.com. Reality had changed. Realtors must re-evaluate the tone of their Web sites. The content and information should project the idea that “we care about you, even if you’re not ready to buy right now.” In doing so, Realtors will set themselves up for a steady flow of new customers who are ready to buy or sell now.