Attention Old Fart Brokers: Listen to the Young Farts!

by John Rowles

IDX Search Entrepreneur

Author website

At the risk of becoming the Seinfeld of Real Estate demographics; What’s the deal with broker/owners of a certain age ignoring the advice of their own Marketing Managers, Managing Brokers, and best agents when it comes to Web technology?

I often work with people who have been asked to manage or improve a broker’s Web presence. Its a process that starts before they are clients, and over the past 6 months, on several occasions, I’ve had bright people pick my brain, learn our program, and then go talk to The Boss only to have The Boss decide he knows more about Real Estate Web sites than the people he hired or tasked to run one.

Sure, there are legitimate reasons to take a different approach. I can respect that. But I have Zero respect for decisions based on ignorant assumptions that trump the recommendations of the people they hired to make judgments that they themselves are not qualified to make.

Example 1: Earlier this week I was contacted by someone who found me through this Blog. I love it when that happens, because if you are reading this Blog that tells me that we can have a substantive conversation from the get-go. He was shot down when he presented our solution to his boss because the boss wants to “own” his Web site and not pay for it on a “subscription model”.

“Subscription model”? What does that even mean in the context of a Web App? Nothing. What that broker is really saying is that he doesn’t want a monthly payment. He is equating a Web Application with a car loan or a mortgage, where, if you can afford a cash purchase you avoid the added expense of financing.

Large brokerages who have an in-house Web team developing a custom app “own” their program at the expense of salaries and overhead, so even they have a “monthly payment” in the form of paychecks and Web hosting. The reality is everybody else rents because its the smart thing to do: Our Software as a Service (SaaS) model makes it possible for a broker to benefit from a team of developers without having to shoulder 100% of the cost, so it is, in fact, several orders of magnitude less expensive than “owning” a custom app, but why should facts get in the way of a bedrock assumption?

Example 2: I’ve had two 30-something managers shot down by 60-something broker/owners because our App is “ugly”.

I prefer to call it a “simple aesthetic”: Since we differentiate our program by powering it with Google’s technology, we figured it made sense to emulate Google’s focus on function and simplicity. In a world (shout out to the late movie-trailer voice actor Don LaFontaine ), where Real Estate Web site UIs are increasingly laden with gimmickry and junk data to mask their lack of decent listing content, we feel that this design choice speaks directly to our strongest point of differentiation.

That, and it seems to be working OK for Google and Craig’s List.

But our Homepages don’t have pictures of golden retrievers, or cute kids, or cuddly kittens, or eagles, or snowy peaks — you know, all the stuff that the 94% of people who have shown up on your Web site looking for listings are really interested in, because you, Mrs. Broker, know what they want better than they do, and you know more about Web design than we do, even though your secretary still prints out your emails.

As obviously frustrating as this is for me, its worse for the would-be Bloodhounds who are trying to do the right thing. At least I can move on. It’s not that easy for folks who have a good job but are stuck dealing with sum of their boss’s assumptions knowing that they could do better, and I am sure that this dynamic extends beyond the Web site.

That makes good people feel powerless in their jobs and that, Mr. and Mrs Broker Knows Best, is the real tragedy here. You are in a fight for survival, and these people represent your best chance. If only you would listen.