Real Estate Success in the Technology & Information Age

There is a commonly ignored fact that is the 9,000 pound elephant in the room that many don’t want to address relating to being relevant and successful in the future.

by Rick LeForce

The ghoulish fact is that technology and information as we know it will massively change the very nature of the real estate industry as well as the consumer culture in the very near future. The reality of change is that it is a changeless state! Recent research measuring the amount of information and technology changes are projected to be at pace to double every 5 years!

If one was to this measure this massive compounding change, what will occur in the next 10 years? How will technology & information change the way we live, work in the real estate industry, as well as influence inter and intrapersonal behavior & dynamics? The main question I have for Washington D.C. is what is the future of global outsourcing!

The power of computers, telecommunications, Internet, and new technological improvements that will undoubtedly occur in the near future are set to change the stage of and create an incredible power shift between large traditional brokerages and franchises and small lean and mean technology savvy organizations.

The importance of what I am communicating to you is this. Either you figure out how to harness or keep up if not out pace with the changes that will occur in the real estate industry or you will be out performed by someone else and only be able to realize a basic subsistence. There is an entirely new hungry crop of Echo Boomers that will be graduating from high school and college that see real estate sales as an opportunity second to none. These new entries into the work force are computer sophisticated, techno savvy, and have no problems stepping on any one’s head.

The big question here is how do individuals keep up with all of this change? The answer is actually a very old answer and that is: traditionally individuals were able to join together to form corporations. The only new spin to this ancient answer is that these new work groups will have to adapt dynamic ways of communicating and collaborating and executing effective change within their businesses. This old rule with a relatively new spin of requiring more effective collaboration in business will affect all self-employed individuals as they work tirelessly to keep up with the incredible work load and burden that all too often is involved with keeping up with the inherent change that is occurring around us, whether we are aware of it or not in the realm of technology & information.

Basically we have two options:

1. We can hide our head in the sand like an Ostrich putting their head into a hole in the ground.
2. We can create effective networks and collaborate with like minded people to come up with creative solutions to out perform the markets in whatever industry we may happen to be in to reach our profit goals. IN OUR EXAMPLE IT IS TO SELL HOMES!

The guerrilla marketer, guerrilla manager, guerrilla, technician are all alive and well in the realm of the self-employed today. Often times they are self-isolated, so busy that they can not work on their business, only in their business. Stuck in a reactive, fire putting out mode, the captain of the ship is too busy swabbing the deck to steer the ship. No one is directing the boat clear of disaster. There is not a plan in place to adapt or implement massive change to be even more competitive since self induced isolation exists for the small business owner and it is often times no fault of their own.

The Answer:

1. Marketing Plan - Arguably he most important part of a business plan: Often times the most important issue for a self-employed person or small company is to retain their best clients as well as secure new business with entirely new clients (where there is actually a profit margin). Small business people often times do not understand the absolutely crucial element of how the marketing plan should be carried out and executed.

   The Good News!: Essentially if most small business people can adapt guerrilla marketing methods utilizing technology to keep costs lower and increase conversion of new client accounts in an orderly and measurable way to keep growing, 90% of the battle is actually won!

2. Creating a Client Centric, yet highly efficient client service system: So you have accomplished the overwhelming task of #1 which is building your marketing engine and are attracting profitable accounts. Now you need to more efficiently service these clients in a way that maximizes your time and energy. Utilizing new technology and customer centric yet profitable client service systems, one may actually balance out client demands with increasing profits.

   Although there are many other important points to running a self-employed or small business, effectively implementing the marketing plan as well as balancing meeting client expectations and being able to deliver those more efficiently utilizing efficient client service systems is the way to compete for market share in the real world.

   With the changes that will occur in the next decade, small business owners and entrepreneurs only have three main choices, retire, adapt & collaborate, or settle for being third or fourth place. The objective of all entrepreneurs should be to identify profit market segments, execute guerrilla marketing strategies, and collaborate inside their business to find more creative and effective ways to deliver goods and services to their clients.

   The writing is on the wall for the real estate entrepreneur. Either be willing to adapt an entirely new way of leveraging and implementing new efficiencies with technology and information systems to reach, maintain, and attract new clients or keep doing business the only way you know. Change is constant and organizations that embrace this rapid and dynamic force by utilizing effective guerrilla strategies will continue to out pace and out perform their competitors.