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At a recent Ninja Selling workshop, a woman came up to me and asked if I was concerned about all the so-called industry disruptors\u2014Zillow Leads, Instant Offers, Open Door, Redfin, Purple Bricks, etc. She was obviously distraught and said, \u201cWe won\u2019t even have a chance to compete for the business. They will have the business before we ever get in the game!\u201d<\/p>\n
As she continued her rant, she suddenly stopped and said, \u201cYou don\u2019t seem too concerned! Why aren\u2019t you concerned?\u201d I replied that we have a different business strategy\u2014a road traveled by only 6 percent of our industry. The other 94 percent is trying to compete with or buy leads from the disruptors. Here\u2019s what the industry looks like.<\/p>\n
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The typical American household buys and sells a home every seven to nine years\u2014let\u2019s say eight years on average. The wheel above represents this eight-year cycle. Nearly our entire industry (94%) as well as the disruptors are focused on that last 12 months of the cycle (green section). Who\u2019s moving? How do we capture them? How do we sell (or buy) the leads? Lead generation, capture, and conversion is the name of the game here.<\/p>\n
At closing, the pattern starts over and the real estate professional runs back to the green section looking for leads and the next deal. According to the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report, only 6 percent of real estate professionals have a consistent (monthly) follow-up program with their customers after closing. An amazing 74 percent of buyers surveyed said they never heard from their real estate professional ever again after closing! Their real estate professional is back chasing the next lead in the final year of the eight-year cycle rather than building and maintaining a relationship.<\/p>\n