One thing will always be true in our industry: change is constant. When the pandemic hit, we all had to adapt quickly as far as the way in which we were showing and marketing homes. Now that we’ve adjusted, it’s time to change once again. We don’t need another overhaul, but we need to make sure we don’t take the new expectations that resulted from the pandemic and try to force-fit them into the old models.
The biggest change for agents has been the increased reliance on written communication. Whether it’s emails, text messages or comments in a private chatroom, agents have had to find a way to convey the same warmth and friendliness they normally use in person. Too often, this has resulted in the overuse of exclamation points or the excessive use of superlatives when describing a property. Unfortunately, this can make agents come across in a manner that’s not always perceived as professional.
I have found success in emphasizing the use or function of specific features when pointing them out to clients or prospects. For example, if I was touring a home in person I would say, “there’s a beautiful patio,” and let the buyer come to conclusions about it on their own. But in an email, I’m more likely to say, “the patio can fit about 12 people with room to spare” and then add some more details about what else can fit in the space. This jumpstarts the buyer’s imagination in the same way it would if they were viewing it in person.
Prior to the pandemic, there was an expectation that video tours had to have a high production value. I recall many professional video services saying that we needed to tell a “visual story” of the property, which usually meant at least some camera effects and carefully chosen music. Otherwise, the general consensus was that a video would be considered too amateur, and the agent could be misperceived as being an amateur as well. As a result, video tours were usually reserved for luxury properties.
That all changed when the pandemic forced us to begin providing video tours or live walkthroughs using Zoom or FaceTime. It suddenly became normal to have videos be part of a showing or listing, no matter the price point of the property.
As we tackle a new year, I encourage all the agents in my brokerage and beyond to keep thinking along these lines instead of going back to the earlier precedent of heavily produced videos. It isn’t usually worth the time and cost it takes to create a video, and thankfully, videos with more of an authentic feel are just as acceptable as ones that are overly polished.
A year and a half ago, our jobs looked very different, and they will continue to change, perhaps even more quickly. Our marketing needs to keep up with the changes if we’re going to stay relevant.
Allen Alishahi is president of ShelterZoom, the technology company behind DocuWalk. For more information, please visit www.docuwalk.com.
