As the Texas coast was preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Ike, Texas REALTORS gathered in San Antonio, TX for their annual State Convention and Expo headquartered at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.   The meetings were kicked off on Tuesday, September 9th with a keynote address by fellow Texan and former White House advisor Karl Rove.  Mr.  Rove provided insight on how to apply lessons learned in politics to the real world of business. 

The format of the convention was changed from previous years in order to provide two full days dedicated to networking and education after two initial days of Governance meetings and general sessions.  On Wednesday and Thursday, September 10th and 11th over 20 educational sessions were offered to the attendees.  However, an unfortunate major distraction was on the minds of many attendees as meteorologists had defined the predicted path of Ike and preparations for the hurricane’s arrival were underway.  Many of the attendees had to depart back to secure their homes prior to the storm’s landfall on Saturday.

On the last day of the convention, I was privileged to spend two hours instructing a room full of both real estate brokerage managers and agents.  The topic was e-Lead Management.  It was an overview of how to manage the process from lead capture through the hopeful completion of a transaction.  During the session the participants were exposed to several websites that provide a new standard for consumer interaction.  The expectations of consumers have changed and few real estate companies are meeting those expectations. 

The first half of the course concentrates on generational identities, online behavior, significant trends and the current disconnects between what agents and companies offer and what the buyer and seller need.   The last half of the session shared best-practices in real estate web technology.  Some of the sites discussed were: John L. Scott, Weichert, REDFIN, Zip Realty, Real Living and RE/MAX.   Each site having its own strengths and weaknesses. 

After reviewing the sites discussion turned to a nine-step process for lead management and the development of standard practices surrounding lead distribution, follow-up and reporting within a real estate company. 

The course ended with a suggested list of current minimum standards that real estate organizations should be implementing in their online strategy.  In addition we took a quick glance at a proposed future of real estate websites by takings cues from the best practices and emerging solutions in the e-commerce world. 

Here is a list of the current minimum standards for a real estate website:

1.  Immediate search launched off the home page, no clicking to get to a search.  Advanced search with multiple search criteria including schools, street name, address, zip code, city, neighborhood, MLS#, map, price, bedrooms and others.  The message being that consumers should be able to search by the same parameters that agents use.

2.  Interactive mapping tools with multiple views, street view, satellite, etc.  Map should be clickable and offer both active listings, sold listings and comparable data.  All data is active and can be clicked on for additional information.

3.  Detailed property information that includes practically all the property information fields available in the MLS.  Multiple photos, virtual tours, corresponding documents — all the information period!  Agents should post sample purchase contracts, surveys, appraisal (if available), pre-inspections, neighborhood profiles, demographics and any other pertinent information.  If not, they can always link out to Terabitz.  Afterall they are providing great amounts of content direct to the consumer anyway.  Consumers should be able to scroll down through much of this information without having to click off or away from the listing.  RedFin is the best example of this ability.

4.  Website should offer a client or consumer dashboard with the ability for the registerd user to save properties, searches, favorites, notes, communications, documents, share files, alerts, new listing feeds, etc.

5.  Contact management or customer relationship manager functionality for the brokerage to utilize that would be complete with data from user online activity such as time spent on line, last log-in, communication, search patterns, favorites, campaigns, letter library, branded email and much much more.

6.  The admin area of the website should have a marketing module that can create branded flyers, emails, newsletters, campaigns, virtual tours and manage the agent/company listings.

7.  The website should be content rich with information and education on the process of buying or selling a home, community profiles, testimonials, liberal use of video, etc.  It’s not about the agent or the company….it is all about the consumer and their search for practical and useful information during their search.

8.  Listing syndication – Period – Everywhere – No brainer!  Yet so many do not take advantage of this powerful marketing tool.

9.  Customer interaction opportunities or lead attraction opportunities – - in other words, ways for them to raise their hand and ask for help.  Yes, forms.  No, I didn’t say mandatory information exhange or registration.  Here’s the bottom line, if you provide all the items mentioned in this list and you follow up immediately with consumers — you’ll get the business.  It’s about building an online relationship and having great customer service, not pushy sales techniques.

Why I stopped at number nine in this post, I don’t know.  Probably because the proposed list of must-haves is a huge leap for many.  However, I can tell you with certainty that those who are offering this level of online interaction are reaping the benefits.  Sure there are other things such as site architecture, navigation, aesthetics and the user experience, but for now, this should keep many busy trying to catch up with the best players.   If you have some other suggestions or items to add to the list, please feel free to let me know by commenting below.

Note:  Pictured in the photograph above are (from left to right): Jonathan D. Nicholas (Moi), Laura Duggan, CRB, CRS, CLHMS - West Austin Realty, Austin, TX and Danny Steed, CRB – Hirschi REALTORS, Wichita Falls, TX.

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