November 03 2015
Like a shot of adrenaline in the arm, technology has invigorated the real estate industry by accelerating the time it takes to list, show and close a home. Think about it--buyers no longer need to look in the paper or troll neighborhoods looking for "For Sale" signs; they can find homes for sale from wherever they are, right from their mobile phone. Agents no longer have to meet clients to sign papers; today, everything can be signed electronically.
However, if you think about how information is communicated between agents and clients, the model we use is still very linear. For example, let's say a couple found a home online that they're interested in viewing. First, they tell their agent that they want to view the home. Their agent then contacts the listing agent, who, in turn, contacts the sellers to propose a viewing time. Then the communication reverses and goes back through the listing agent to the buyer's agent and, finally, back to the buyers.
That's five touchpoints just to schedule a showing--and we're assuming the buyers are available at the proposed time! If not, the process starts all over again. As you can imagine, the touchpoints in this linear model add up pretty quick. The more touchpoints, the slower the process becomes and the greater the chance for miscommunication. The image below from showing solution TourSimply illustrates this well:
TourSimply is interesting because they've transcended this inefficient communication model by using a shared calendar. Here, the seller's role changes from reactive ("Yes, my property is available at that time") to proactive ("Here are the times that my property is available"). Sellers set times that their home is available for showing on the calendar, which the buyer's agent can access to schedule an appointment instantly. Once scheduled, notifications are then sent to all parties. This centralized model looks more like this:
Appointment scheduling isn't the only type of communication that can be improved by reducing touchpoints. Here are a few more examples:
Agents, it's your turn: What are some of your communication pain points and how do you overcome them?