Nicole sat across the dinner table from us Friday night. She was not her usual positive self. Something happened. I decided to pry.
Replaced
A former actress, Nicole followed her true calling behind the camera. She did film. Music videos. And stills. The latter is, IMO, her best work of all.
Her son came twelve years ago. A daughter, sever years later. So she ditched LA and set up a photographer’s studio here on the Central Coast.
Many of her stills adorn the walls of my home. Family portraits. My kids. Wife. Dogs. Taken at different times over the last ten years.
Nicole closed her studio on Friday.
I assumed the economy took its toll. Nicole believes it goes deeper than that. “Everyone is a photographer today,” she said. “They own digital cameras, enhance them with Photoshop (or picnik) and post them on Flickr. The value of a professional is no longer recognized I suppose.”
That hit home. Big time. Especially as it relates to real estate.
Maestro
In 2004, I presented twenty-five very far-out predictions in a speech given for a large Realtor association. Slide nine read as follows: In the future you will no longer “own” any listings. A nice 3-D rendering of a product box was placed below the title. Across the top of the box the word “Maestro” was printed in bold. Underneath, it read: Orchestrate the entire process of selling your home – yourself.
Maestro included:
- A turnkey blog site that featured your home
- A unique URL based on your home’s address
- Map mashups with local data
- A huge photo library and video player
- Direct syndication to every listings site on the planet
Maestro was real estate marketing in a metaphorical box. It provided the homeowner tools to recreate everything an agent does — the many photos they should be taking, the compelling copy they should be writing and the web distribution they should be executing.
The premise behind Maestro fed into the notion that in the future, by virtue of handling all of their own marketing, homeowners would retain ownership of their listing and simply hire agents to coordinate the sale — i.e. show property, hash out paperwork, etc.
The audience booed. “There’s more to selling a home than that,” they barked. I knew that. Just like there’s more to capturing a moment than saying cheese and properly framing your SureShot. The problem was, four years ago, when homes were selling like hotcakes, I wasn’t sure the real estate consumer knew that.
And I’m not so sure that the consumer knows any better today.
Nostradavison
Several predictions from my presentation have now come to pass in real estate. And honestly, most of what I predicted seemed inevitable anyway.
A few, however, veered towards absurd.
Consider:
“Holographic Search” that allowed consumers to walk through a listing projected from a computer while sitting in their own kitchen.
“Caravan” was a device agents provided to their buyers. Think listing alerts meets GPS (I got this idea one evening waiting at a busy restaurant that handed out devices to patrons that lit up when your table was ready).
And of course Maestro.
I know they are borderline silly. They were offered to stimulate conversation.
But then today my inbox received a press release sent from the U.K. announcing the launch of EstateCreate, a self-publishing website built to help consumers list their home and market it everywhere.
Holy shit.
Blinders
You’ll think the product is simple. Regard it as a basic template website. With few bells and whistles. Much like most agent and broker websites are now. You may also shuck this as silly, much like some of my predictions, pay it no mind and think to yourself, well… even if a seller uses this, they’ll still need to sign their listing over to an agent for full commission.
Blinders.
Products like EstateCreate are trying to tap into the gaping holes left in the consumer mindset all the dog branding, bad websites, lack of transparency, poor search experiences, misguided marketing and lack of professionalism created and continues to create.
These are the gaping holes that today’s real estate brands continue to avoid filling with better information. Higher standards. These are also the voids that real estate innovators are trying fill with solutions offered to real estate folks who continue to shun the idea of spending a few dollars a month for new technology.
If vendors can’t sell their innovations to real estate professionals to help the consumer, my guess is they are going to start targeting the consumers themselves in greater numbers, tapping into their motivations to market, buy and sell their homes.
Think TurboTax.
I hurt for Nicole. Being taken out by the economy is one thing. But being replaced because the marketplace misunderstands your value proposition is something entirely different. I’m showing Nicole how to change that and save her business.
- Davison
Twitter: 1000wattmarc
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A mist of difference
Freaking...
Marc,
I also hurt for Nicole and am thankful you are there for her to walk with her through this transition. What timing, I had this same type conversation with my brother tonight. We all must learn to adjust and adapt…
Thank you!
Dale Chumbley
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
Spot on as usual Marc.
The book "Who Moved My Chesse" came to mind while reading this. As mentioned above, those that will adapt to the changing time are the one who will be relevant in the future.
OMG…Saturday night I was having this very conversation with a fellow agent/entrepreneur. I still think we're a ways off from the no agent transaction, but the new age of technology is definitely weeding out those not willing to change.
"If vendors can't sell their innovations to real estate professionals to help the consumer, my guess is they are going to start targeting the consumers themselves in greater numbers, tapping into their motivations to market, buy and sell their homes."
We are of like-mind regarding where the true opportunity lies, IMO – serving the consumer directly. I wrote about this issue in my post in December: http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=5983
I honestly believe a TurboTax-like approach is not only possible, it could turn this industry on its ear.
I've been screaming this in my head and to whomever would listen for a while now. I don't think new real estate technology will replace the agent (we all know there is so much more needed to sell a house than just marketing) but I believe it will drive agents unwilling to embrace it right out of a career. I am amazed how many agents do not even have a website! How are they staying in business? Sellers are definitely hearing the message that an agent needs to be at the forefront of marketing technology (particularly online)to get their house the most exposure in the market. Personally, I love all the new technology as it makes my job so much easier! It allows me to spend more time keeping up to date with the legalities of California real estate which in turn makes me a better agent.
I feel for you too
Marketing is only a portion of what we do as Realtors, but it is in our best interest to let people know what our value is. Technology is great and those of us who know how to use it for the best features it can offer, are generally way ahead of the curve. I look around my office and am amazed at how few really understand the power of the web. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn how to master this animal, the web, but it is so well worth it.
We are seeing the older agents leave the business and it can't happen too soon. I'd also like to see the ones who still don't quite have a clue about how to do things and how fast to respond. You do have a cell phone that can pull email, so why don't you use it? Why don't you respond in a timely manner? If you can't figure out how to use the tools you have, either pay someone to show you, or find a 10 or 12 year old kid to show you. But learn how to use what you've invested in or leave the room. For good.
It still comes down to what your value proposition really is. You must be able to sell this to the consumer or you are toast.
"In 1914 it took 100 men 2 weeks to unload a freighter in New York harbor. Today it takes 2 men 2 days" – (From Tom Peters' REIMAGINE)
Time marches on for every one of us. Whether we like it or not, we are all in the business of change, of creating multiple income streams and learning how to do it higher, faster, farther, with more energy, more enthusiasm, more innovation and more passion than the day before. Or else. I hurt for Nicole and others who are going through this…and hope that her example will drive me to stay ahead of the grim reaper.
Time is the great equalizer. With kids, a spouse, a job and more, is it realistic to believe that the majority of homeowners will have the time to handle their sale. Some will, but in Honolulu most won't.
Aloha,
Keahi
@Keahi. This is less about handling the sale as much as it is about what might it look like when the consumer finds they can trigger the listing of their home quicker, cooler and for almost no cost.
What is so special about Honolulu that makes you think homesellers who have grown up managing more than several social media sites of their own won't be bothered setting up sites and triggered the marketing of their listing in years to come?
That to me reads like the blinders are on. Am I alone here?
You nailed it!
The consumer owns the consumer.
Service preceeds Sales and interpretation is the skill set that provides value, not information.
Wonder if anyone is listening…
Best wishes.
I cringe at all the 'its not me' comments.
Regardless of whether you have a great web site, use social media or consider yourself a RE tech adopter the extremes Marc mentions here become more likely if you choose to not be an influencer.
As much as I think our clients view each of us as an individual to be measured based on our own actions, these 'threats' exist based on the Real Estate industry's performance as a whole. It is the consumers not currently engaged or employing a disengaged Realtor that will likely be drawn to these options.
Take the time to help your peers be better at what they do and maybe Realtors won't lose a piece of the pie…or the whole thing.
Stand around and cringe at what they do…all that will be left is the crumbs.
What I shared with Nicole is my disagreement that technology replaces a professional. If anything, technology should enable a real professional to go and gather more business. Where it gets dicey is when professionals don't understand the technology, don't understand their consumer and fail to connect their value regarding both through their marketing efforts.
Where it get even more dicey is my belief that if one does not understand, use or leverage the technology that moves their industry forward, that person may not qualify as a professional.
And where it's the diciest of all is how much this holds true in real estate.
What I think is one of the most interesting asides in this bigger conversation is the amorphous, always unsaid yet assumed to be easily understood, "we all know there is so much more needed to sell a house than just marketing" blanket statement.
We all believe it, but if you read 15,000 blog posts on Active Rain or listen to 300 listing presentations, will you find what exactly it is that Makes Real Estate Professionals so far superior to an out of the box do-all marketing software package?
I don't have the answer but I believe that the Indispensable-Realtor is passe.
Interesting. Take it one step further. Visit the grand volume of real estate websites and you won't learn what makes them indispensable either.
This is precisely why I wrote this piece. A great Realtor is indispensable. I know. I've sold homes. I seen some great folks perform miracles.
The problem is, as I see it, these deeds go sight unseen by the masses.
Until agents learn to master the technologies and platforms available to them today to broadcast, market, film, blog and leverage their magic properly these deeds remain secrets. And become overlooked.
As I reported, my friend went out of business because her talent remained confined within clients photo albums, her studio and distributed by newspapers ads and some WOM.
These are things no service person can depend on anymore.
I got jacked on ebay by some crook hiding behind a wireless line. Mofo was stunned when I got her contact info and made a house call lol!
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Did you hear what Briney Spears said about this?