TMLS Agents Market to the Digital Buyer

August 3, 2011

It’s no secret that the real estate business isn’t run the way it used to be.  In fact, this is true for any business out there.  Once the Internet arrived a new “digital” generation was created. The way people searched, communicated, and most importantly marketed their products/services changed, potentially for the better.

You may like your old ways and you may even think the way all real estate was sold prior to the Internet is better than it is now, but let’s think about these ways for a second:

• Paper ads – Advertisements in the form of newspapers, magazines, and postcards take time to design, time to send in to get published, and time to get to the customer.With all that unnecessary time, you miss out on what happens while awaiting the publishing process, which means your ads won’t be up-to-date.  Not to mention, these ads have limited space meaning your paper ads lack a lot of the information the customer is looking for. Another downside is these ads are final! You can’t just cut out part of the ad once the property becomes unavailable. Realistically, how do you know whether or not your ads are even reaching customers?

• Face-to-face selling – If the only resource a lead has is to contact the realtor by phone or in the office and the only way to view a home is going to the property, it is likely the lead would choose a simpler route. It’s understandable to visit a property near closing, but if that is your only means of selling it seems like a wild goose chase and a waste of time for both parties. If leads have better access to background information for TMLS properties, you can maximize your time by only showing houses that they are interested in. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers; while face-to-face selling may be a good way to interact with your leads one on one, wouldn’t you want all possible ways to find your “perfect” property?

Now that we’ve covered the old selling techniques, it’s time for you to consider investing in a simpler online brokerage solution.

Why should you use the web to market your real estate?

• Your customers are already online – With 87% of real estate buyers going online to conduct property research, it only makes sense to provide them with efficient information through the web. CONNECT offers Internet Data Display (IDX), Virtual Office Websites (VOW), and easy to use websites (WEB).

• It’s easier, we promise – Although the Internet itself may be slightly intimidating at first, we assure you that using an online vendor is a simple and efficient way to get “connected” with your clients. CONNECT’s products were built by real estate agents for real estate agents! We offer a free Demo to help better your understanding of our products and maximize your time.

• It’s convenient – Using the web is the best way to give the most up-to-date information to potential customers.  You will be able to readily update information about a property as soon as the information comes in.  No more waiting for the next publication of the local newspaper to come out… With CONNECT you are sure to get the most current and up-to-date property information because CONNECT updates it's IDX and VOW feeds every 24 hours. Also, if you choose a local provider like CONNECT, setting up and maintaining your websites will be a breeze!

• It’s inexpensive – When you take into account all of the time and money it takes to do other forms of advertising and meeting with customers, you save a lot of money by making your business more web based.

• It’s necessary – your competition is already there.  In order to stay in the game, joining the web is the way to go.

Although your old steps to a successful business may seem easy and comfortable, it’s just not where the market is anymore.  In any business, in order to succeed, you have to go where your customers are.  With 87% of the market online, it’s your best bet to accelerate your sales.

If you haven’t jumped on the web train yet, or if you just need a simpler track, contact CONNECT and we will show you exactly what you need to do!

For more information, or a demo of our new line of Connect Sales Accelerator tools, please give us a call today at (919) 521-4131.