This week, we start with a two-minute video with fresh data on how recent home sellers found the real estate agent to help them sell their home — important data to share with sales, marketing, and technology teams as you plan your growth strategy for better performance.
Sellers Continue to Choose their Sphere
No surprise, sellers continue to tap friends, family, colleagues, and the agent who helped them the last time for their trusted real estate professional. At 66%, the seller’s “sphere of influence” outperforms everything on the chart.
If there’s one message to get to salespeople, it’s that nothing leads to more sellers than keeping-in-touch with close contacts.
As for marketing and technology departments, they need to focus on messaging, channels, and tools that strengthen and enhance the connection between agents and their sphere — far more than “broad farming” for potential consumers nobody knows.
What about the Web?
We’ve been told for decades the internet would save the day. Well…. it’s not entirely untrue: Internet tools like email, e-newsletters, and video clips are helpful in maintaining relationships.
But that’s not “the internet” we were promised: Remember the fuss about search engines? Well, doing a search on the internet and going to a website without a specific reference isn’t a popular way to find their agent. That approach barely broke 4% — on par with the telephone, an undisputedly old-school tool.
If your salespeople are waiting for listing leads to fall from heaven (or Google or the portals), they better have a lot of savings.
And Social Media?
Social media did worse than the internet (by a factor of four).
Ouch. The question was specific: Did sellers see an agent’s social media page, reach out, and select them to be their agent? The results (1%) were about the same as the margin of error in the study.
Now, this doesn’t mean social media didn’t help maintain relationships with an agent’s sphere; but the idea that social media “marketing” generates significant listing leads is a clearly disproven proposition.
The Bottom Line for Home Sellers
As a leader, you help your agents see, interpret, and react to key data. Few salespeople have ever read the NAR Annual Profile of Buyers and Sellers; even fewer track their own marketing carefully enough to know — with data — what’s effective. That’s where you come in.
You have the time and experience to access research data, compare it to your firm’s results, and synthesize wise guidance to agents about their best and most likely routes to success in the real world.
Surely, it won’t be the first time they’ve heard you say, stay in flow with your sphere. But showing the data, and explaining how your marketing, training and tech align with those realities will save them headaches (and money) in the year ahead.
Whether it’s business planning season or simply time to adjust your sales strategy, knowing how sellers actually choose their agents can keep your firm focused on the true sources of opportunity every day.
Want some more seller insights? TLC members keep reading below for more surprising seller stats to drive sales strategy.
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More Seller Stats: How Many Agents Did They Interview?
The good news: The number didn’t change since last year.
The even better news: The number of sellers who interviewed only one agent proves that sphere of influence is going to win, win, win every time.
Check this out:
