The following statistics are provided by the National Association of Realtors (NAR):
- 90% of consumers did online research before they bought their last home.
- 36% of buyers found the home they ended up purchasing on the internet, while only 2% of buyers found their home in the newspaper.
- 63% of Agents marketing budget still goes to offline advertising (newspaper, flyers, etc).
- Consumers’ looked at an average of 12 homes over a period of 12 weeks before purchasing.
Are you staying in touch long enough to capture a relationship with an online lead?
- 89% of consumers said that response time was very important when choosing their agent.
- 56% of consumers expect a response from their agent within 30 minutes.
Online Consumers understand that the internet is an immediate medium. Are you succeeding with your online leads? Do you have a hole in your business model? What is your average response time?
- 88% of Buyers said they would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others (66% said definitely, 22% said probably).
- Only 10% of Buyers used an agent they had used previously.
- 81% of Sellers said they would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others (59% said definitely, 22% said probably).
- Only 24% of Sellers used an agent they had used previously.
The vast majority of consumers — 66% of buyers and 59% of sellers — say they would “definitely” use their real estate agent again or recommend that person to others. Yet only 10 percent of buyers and 24 percent of sellers say they used the same real estate professional that they worked with for their previous transaction. Why is there a disconnect? One reason, undoubtedly, is a lack of consistent communication.
Your day is busy and your time is important. Make sure that you aren’t letting your clients fall through the cracks. If you don’t have the time to maintain these high levels of contact, let a drip email system lend a helping hand. Consumers need constant reminders of who you are, what you do and what does that mean for them.
Make sure you provide the right level of contact.