There is a debate going on among real estate professionals –

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To force registration, or not to force registration, that is the question. How you chose to answer it says a good deal about what your business philosophy is. Is one choice better than another? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Why do you have a website in the first place? Typically a realtor won’t go through the hassle and expense of creating a website only to let it languish. This is your sales booth, your office outside of the office, the one that can reach people from around the globe. When consumers or would be consumers visit your site, you know that they are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a chance to daydream about “what if”, but most of time, they are there because they are getting ready to sell or buy. This is your chance to reel in new leads, and the question becomes, do you sit back and hope they make that steady progression towards you or do you toss them some more bait and encourage them to bite?

With forced registration, you as the realtor or broker can make sure that whoever visits your site basically “pays” for the privilege of accessing your property listings information. You can decide what details you want, from name to shoe size, anything that will help you to better determine their needs and how you can best meet them. Sounds good, doesn’t it? You pay for the MLS data; doesn’t it make sense for the consumer to give something in return? Maybe, but first let’s look at the ways a forced registration can hinder the process.

Dummy information can be worse than no information at all. Yes, people aren’t always honest and when being asked for their information, even assuming that they have come to your site looking for your services, sometimes they just don’t want to give it up. So watch out for “John Doe”, “Mary Poppins” and “Yo Momma” as they can be a bit frustrating if you aren’t prepared. Others won’t even bother entering pseudonyms, they will simply move onto the next site that lets them in without a gatekeeper. With the slow down in the real estate market lately more and more websites are loosening these registration requirements, making it easier for consumers to seek out a non-restricted site much quicker and easier. This makes forced registration up front, a thing of the past…or does it?

Also, if you are a Realtor who prefers to have your customers come to you on their own time instead of tracking down the leads, then forced registration probably isn’t for you. Some Realtors also assume that a content-rich site will do all the work for them, or that email leads are from those who are less serious and may be a waste of time. Again, this depends on your point of view and what end result you are looking for. Forced registration can be seen as a “hard-sell”, but once again, that depends on your approach. Do you follow up with two calls a day, hounding them hard, or do you take it a steady pace, contacting your potential lead and assuring them that when they are ready, you are at their service?

Now let’s look at some of the positive aspects. Requiring registration gives you something to work with. Not only does it allow you to better predict the needs of your customers, it allows you to utilize traffic reports and lead generation tools. The flip side of the screening process is that those who do register can be seen as the more serious leads, the ones willing to put the ball in your hands, so to speak. With this information you can tailor the search even further, making sure that the consumer gets it packaged and presented in the most beneficial way possible.

What if, instead, you looked at this question in a different light? Instead of “forcing” registration, why don’t you establish trust and a relationship with your user before you “force” them to do anything. How refreshing would it be to move about a search page and find active listings in the market with no barriers to the data; until you have established that trust. Establishing trust online these days is critical, people are no longer willing to provide you any details about them until you first prove to them you have what they want. Your site and subsequently, your search tools need to establish trust in order to be effective. Internal studies at IDX, Inc. have shown that the percentage of quality leads increases dramatically with those websites that allow users to view a set number of property details before asking them for additional contact information. Although markets vary, quality leads increased over 70% when agents allowed their users to view a minimum of 5 properties before asking for more information. At this point, the term “forced” no longer applies, instead the user “wants” more info that you have to offer.

Pros:

  • Needed for follow up
  • It’s what the internet is all about
  • Teaser sparks interest acts as a lure
  • Registration screens the serious from the non serious
  • It’s a sales transaction, info for info, business is not a charity and taken more seriously
  • Games and software require it to screen out piracy
  • An open mls creates a passive scenario takes away the realtors power/control over the process, can’t interact, has to wait idly
  • Makes it easier on searcher, they can wait while the info they want is packaged for them
  • Forced registration is flexible and can be added at any step in the site visit
  • Can provide incentives to register, saves, contact info, detailed housing info, mapped searches

Cons:

  • Some will simply choose to find a site that doesn’t require registration
  • Time consuming – many users on the net are looking for a quick fix, don’t want to be held up by registration
  • Idea that a content rich site will attract leads all by itself (and keep them)
  • Providing information for registration doesn’t mean that they are interested in your services- could just be your information that they want
  • Assumption that email leads are less serious
  • Benefits mostly gained by realtor, low incentives for user. Visitors trying to avoid the hard sell by visiting site, (in lieu of an open house) Registration can be seen as hard sell
  • Fake information
  • Idea that page views increase when barriers are dropped (gateway instead of barrier)

Incentives:

  • Auto email updates
  • Relationship and trust building
  • Advanced searches
  • Extra detail (pics of yard, etc)
  • Map based searches
  • Ability to leave a comment
  • Access to forums