Is Agent Search the Next Frontier?
agent search is the next frontier
I’ve never really seen anything that leads me to believe a big percentage of people search for agents.
People search for houses.
Conversion from traffic to leads generally happens on the listing detail page — when buyers either want to see a home in person, or have a burning question they want answered now.
for the most important purchase most people make, they turn to those they trust the most, not a search engine.
I don’t disagree. I’d love to see data from any of the big sites that have agent directory/search, to know what percent of their traffic engages with it and if people are actually contacting agents from it.
While I’m sure some buyers will slowly realize not all agents are good, and do a deeper search, I’m not optimistic the average buyer will be doing that anytime soon.
What do you think?
PS #1: Another post worth reading from 2015.
PS #2: Tinder for agents anyone?
[Photo via http://vasmajstor.ba]
B.E. Ward
Posted at 09:37h, 19 MayI guess one question is determining how many people spend the time to look for the ‘perfect’ agent vs. the number of people who see the agent as just someone to handle the transaction for them, and as long as there are no major problems, it’s good enough.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 10:59h, 19 MayWe received 3,749 page views on our compare agents tool for the last 30 days.
Here is what this tool does as copied from my website.
“Compare Oahu Real Estate Agents – compares Total Sales, Sales Representing Seller, Sales Representing Buyer, Neighborhoods Sold In, and Price Range. Goes back all the way to 2009 for a year-by-year comparison.”
We don’t push this tool a lot. It is on our tools page and if someone happens to go there they might see it and use it.
Also, you can search my site for sold properties by agent name so many might be using that to decide what an agent is selling.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 11:38h, 19 MayAre personal recommendations the most popular? “Friend of a friend” kind of thing? Or maybe in Hawaii, it’s more popular to get calls from potential clients looking for an agent?
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 11:44h, 19 MayNot sure how to measure that, so I am not able to answer your question.
Even though my local board of Realtors called me on this page and said they believe it is an ethics violation, I have kept it going because I don’t think it is a violation, and I can see consumers really like it.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 11:51h, 19 MayOh, I thought there would be something like “how did you hear about us?” that most clients are asked. And it’d be interesting to see how many folks say “Well, I did a LOT of research into agents and you look like the best fit.”
An ethics violation to show how well you do your job? Hrm.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 11:54h, 19 MayWell for us most clients hear about us through our website, and then we get a certain percentage who are referrals. I have not measured it, but I would guess 85% or more is from the website, 15% referrals.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 12:01h, 19 MayYeah, I imagine Hawaii might be a tad unique in that regard.. as I suspect most purchases aren’t done by folks that are exactly kama’aina.
Drew Meyers
Posted at 11:54h, 19 MayThe industry has a vested interest for that not to be brought to light… because so many agents do so little actual sales. More transparency = fewer agents. Gotta get those membership dues.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 12:00h, 19 MayHey now.. this is starting to sound like the great Seattle Bubble blowout of 2016! ;D
Drew Meyers
Posted at 12:09h, 19 MayHa.
graymoment
Posted at 19:26h, 19 MayI have no data to back this up, but I would suspect that it’s a combination of the two. People are referred an agent by a friend and then Google the agent to see what they find. That might be reading reviews, looking at the agent’s website, bio, etc. I’m sure some people look only in the vacuum of online research, but I don’t find that to be the norm with people who are in community of some sort. I’m sure most practicing agents would agree that a personal recommendation is still the best hand in the deck.
I recently interviewed for a listing and the sellers asked how much business I do because they didn’t want a top producing agent. They wanted personal attention from an agent that would be their single point of contact, and who would be more attentive to them rather than on churning their home. Those are their words (paraphrased). I found that interesting.