As far as I can tell, the RE.net has been advocating for better broker Web sites for as long as there has been an RE.net. Many articles and posts focus on the twin pillars of eCommerce — Search + Content — but many brokers still have Web 1.0 sites or, worse, Web 1.0 sites tarted up with gimmicks to look like Web 2.0 sites while offering the same old stove-piped database search of the same old IDX content.
I started my company to bring common sense eCommerce strategy and Best Practices to Real Estate. To be honest, it has been harder than I thought it would be to get brokers to play ball and, lately, I have been thinking about why that is.
I’ve found that brokers are unique creatures in many different ways, but the most frustrating thing for me when it comes to improving Web marketing programs is that many of them seem to operate on the principle that ignorance is bliss because its cheap. Our clients are the exceptions that prove the rule, but even among them the pace of acceptance and progress varies widely.
Let me put a finer point on that by comparing a project in the real world with what often happens in the Oz of Real Estate:
I just started a new integration project for UVEX Sports. This project will replace the Web-based Business to Business (B2B) platform they are currently using with one that is hosted in-house and tied directly to their enterprise management software. UVEX sees a huge benefit in making the information and functionality that their software holds completely accessible to sales reps and customers via the Web. This is a significant upgrade over the current platform and a really, really good idea.
This exercise is understood by UVEX’s management, consultants and vendors as an integration project. Integration projects have two basic components:
- Technology Integration: Integrating existing systems with new software and hardware.
- Business Integration: Teaching management, customer service people, sales reps, and retail buyers to use the new system and make room for it in their day to day running of the business.
Once the project is complete, Read more